First Overland

Cambridge and Oxford Universities have a history of their name being used by students over a summer break, or in a gap year making an expedition, subsidised by sponsorship, but largely funded from their own pockets, and by selling the rights to a book describing their expedition.

I must have read 10 such Cambridge Expedition to [<>] books, most published by the Travel Book Club, and all are infectious with their youthful enthusiasm. This book is no exception. Written by Tim Slessor, but with contributions from his fellow expeditioners - five from Cambridge, and one from Oxford - which catalogue their 1956 Cambridge and Oxford Far Eastern Expedition, better described as the First Overland Expedition from London to Singapore by Land Rover, and back - a journey never previously completed in one direction, let alone in return. Add in some research projects relevant to their studies, and they have a plan that they can approach others with.

Lent two new Land Rovers by the manufacturer, gifted a huge amount of kit on the basis of testing, trialing and publicity, and provided with a grant from the Royal Geographical Society, the boys add in their disposable cash and go with in. As they travel they were writing articles and shooting cine film to generate income to keep going - having sold the rights to a book and a BBC film before leaving. Some quick research and preparation, and then they are off.

One thing to note is that this book describes their outbound journey, but not the return journey, on the basis the book would be too long, and there was a fair amount of repetition. There is however, an Epilogue chapter which summarises the return voyage. Overall they took a year.

The first few chapters are introductions to the six men, some light weight travelling through Europe, and some descriptions of their routines and organisation of the roles and responsibilities. It is a good general grounding, which for me struck the right balance of explanation without becoming mundane. The Route was loosely England, France, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia) Greece & Turkey.

From there, things get more detailed, and the travel more testing. The Middle Eastern section was Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran, then the Indian Subcontinent section of Pakistan, India & recently opened Nepal, before heading into Burma, where there were no roads, only left-over elephant tracks and abandoned military roads. From Burma (Myanmar) they entered Thailand, then Malaysia and finally Singapore. The route back varied only a little with time spent in Afghanistan, Italy and Monaco.

Along the way we share all the details of visas, border crossings, mechanical breakdowns and repairs, the relationships of the team living in each others pockets for a year. The author mixes in explanations of people they meet, places they stay, the food they share and a multitude of other details. There are also brief histories, cultural and political interludes - short enough not to be troublesome, but adding to the story. All obviously occurring before communications became easy and reliable, and they were therefore dependent on the mail system, and a support team back in Cambridge.

Interestingly, at least two of the team carried on to more travel and wrote books, two of the three I know of, I own, but have not yet read.

So overall, a great piece of nostalgic writing, especially for Land Rover enthusiasts. Yes it is dated, and very British, but that is part of the appeal of these types of books (for me anyway). As usual, with these types of books, it is somewhat saddening to know that so many of these countries are no longer accessible or safe to travel through, in our current times of turmoil.

5 stars.