 | Home > Off Topic > 60,000 miles around the world in Minis |
 
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018   
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So do you really need a large 4x4 to do a world trip?
 Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge More photos and full story here: https://www.classicandsportscar.com/featur...orld-minis |
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2nd May 2021 5:50am |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5836  
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Fantastic.
When I see photos of worldwide trips like this it just makes me think what a shame it is that the world has gone to pot. So many countries or regions are more dangerous, violent or corrupt than they were when these global expeditions were first undertaken. I'm not saying the world was bucolic and safe back in the 50s/60s, but if you keep an eye on global security today there are simmering (or boiling) risks everywhere. Look at the London to Cape Town options. Full overland requires a trip through Syria, skirting past Chad, avoiding Mozambique. Even Sudan, and parts of Northern Kenya now pose a risk to Western travellers. Choose the ferry option via Gibraltar and you have to be careful of Torremolinos (  ), but then the belt that stretches across Saharan Africa, almost West to East, including Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali etc. Either route risks a face to face with Islamic Fundamentalists and risks kidnap and ransom or worse.
Similarly if you drive to Singapore and have to negotiate the pinch point of Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan or drive up South America and head through the pinch point of Central America; less fundamental dangers, more economic or criminal. In any case, so many more risks. Shame everyone is so bl**dy angry these days.  Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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2nd May 2021 8:06am |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018
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I know where you are coming from but wonder if the risks back in the day, whatever that day was, were there albeit perhaps in less well know or remembered guise?
Even in the Mini trip they had to deal with: "the war-torn region between Algeria and Morocco was deemed to be too dangerous to travel, so the Minis were driven to Marseille for shipping to Algeria." In Nairobi "the cars and camera equipment had been impounded and it was a week before they were released." "the route from Kenya through Tanzania to Malawi raised safety concerns and, after several warnings, Clarke decided that the safest course to take was through the Serengeti National Park." "the team was concerned that increasing troubles in Iran and Iraq would rule out access." "We were eventually taken off to an army detention centre where we were held while our passports and travel reasons were checked." |
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2nd May 2021 8:38am |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5836
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I think the difference between dangers then and dangers now is the desire to target Western civilians and the 'asymmetric' threat meaning you don't know who your enemy is. We all know that civilians live in the middle of war zones, so in theory driving through one (albeit cautiously) is viable. You can spot uniforms, weapon systems, front lines. Dangerous but viable. Driving through the badlands of Mali, where everyone dresses and looks the same, terrorist and civilian alike, poses a much greater risk especially when considering the PR value of capturing a Westerner. And once captured, back in the day in Iran and Iraq you might have done something prison time, perhaps been roughed up, but you'd 'normally' survive and be released, either after exchanging some dollars to your local police Captain or at the behest of a FO official in his off-white linen suit. But now you might be held captive in awful conditions for years and used as a bargaining tool, (think Somali pirates), and there is an almost guaranteed chance of extreme violence, torture and even grisly death at the hands of your captors. Dangers will be ever present to the global traveler, from pickpocketing to murder, but travelling to some regions and staying in them for a protracted period, is 'asking for it' if you're a Westerner. Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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2nd May 2021 10:37am |
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