Roof Top Tent Story: Hong Kong to Belgium Overland
This story starts in Hong Kong with an HZJ70 Landcruiser ‘troopie’ that, with a Belgian couple, begins an overland journey to Brussels, a adventure of 60,000 km (37,500 miles) spanning 14 months.
“We had been living in Hong Kong for several years and had asked ourselves: “What do we do when we leave Hong Kong?” Do we just pack our belongings and board a plane to fly to the next destination? Twelve hours in a plane seat to be dropped into a different world?
“On April 1st, we made it from Hong Kong across the border into mainland China and started our journey back to Belgium! The road lead us through Pakistan, India, Nepal and Iran before reaching Turkey. There we changed our plans and decided to check the Middle East instead of returning straight to Europe. One thing led to another and we visited part of North Africa as well! The trip turned out to be 14 months instead of 9 and 60,000 km instead of the 25,000 km planned!.”
We had been living in Hong Kong for several years and had asked ourselves : "What do we do when we leave Hong Kong ?" Do we just pack our belongings and board a plane to fly to the next destination ? Twelve hours in a plane seat to be dropped into a different world ? On the 18th of January 2001, our Toyota Land Cruiser sailed from Antwerp in Belgium to Hong Kong where it safely arrived 5 weeks later. We had planned to start our journey soon after. However, there was some delay in obtaining all necessary permits to enter China and we were obliged to wait in HK for 5 weeks. On April 1st, we made it from Hong Kong across the border into mainland China and started our journey back to Belgium ! The road lead us through Pakistan, India, Nepal and Iran before reaching Turkey. There we changed our plans and decided to check the Middle East instead of returning straight to Europe. One thing led to another and we visited part of North Africa as well ! The trip turned out to be 14 months instead of 9 and 60,000 km instead of the 25,000 km planned ! The main purpose of the trip was to improve relations between East and West, of course, and … to be able to tell our grandchildren a couple of terrifying stories.
“Trust us, after sleeping in a roof top tent, you will never want to pitch a classical camping tent on the ground again.”