Route Notes Day 1-4 Through Northern France, the Black Forest of Germany and Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg, to our first rest day in Budapest. The Buda Palace and Matyas Church sit up on Castle Hill close to the turreted folly of The Fishermens’ Bastion from where there is a magnificent view across the Danube to the Parliament Buildings and the cobbled boulevards of the Hapsburg Empire’s second city. Day 5-7 A long drive through part of the former Yugoslavia and into Bulgaria where our Sofia hotel is close to the golden domes of the cathedral, The next day we pass through Plovdiv with its ancient merchants’ houses and take a quick visit to Bachovo Monastery where the oldest church dates from 1604. Across the Thracian Plain to Istanbul with a rest day to visit the sultan’s Topkapi Palace and the Aya Sophia, which was for a thousand years the largest enclosed space in the world.

Day 8-9 Mostly motorway to skirt Ankara and reach Cappadocia, where a rest day enables us to explore the fairyland of eroded rock formations fashioned into dwellings, churches and and underground cities. When Arab armies invaded in the seventh century, the Christians retreated into their underworld Day 10-11 Across Eastern Anatolia to the fortress city of Diyarbakir on the Tigris with it’s huge black basalt walls, past Lake Van towards the Iranian border just beneath Mount Ararat. Day 12-14 Conservative dress required for our entry to Iran where we negotiate the frantic traffic through the Zagoras Mountains. A boat trip through the Ali Sadr caves may cool things down a bit Day 15-16 A double rest day in Esfahan where the hotel is a richly decorated former caravanserai. Time to service the vehicles and investigate the huge bazaars, ornately-tiled mosques and palaces or sip tea on one of the beautiful old bridges. Day 17-20 A visit to the ceremonial centre of the ancient Persian Empire at Persepolis where subjugated nations offered tribute in the stone-columned audience hall which held 10,000 people. Alexander the Great burnt the city in 331 B.C. It was buried under sand until excavations began 70 years ago. We spend the night in the relaxed city of Shiraz with its quiet gardens that inspired many poets and songwriters. The following day we travel the starkly beautiful desert road to Kerman to rest before passing the mud citadel of Bam which was destroyed in the recent earthquake.

Day 21-24 Into Pakistan and across the Baluchistan Desert to the army town of Quetta. A diversion South to the huge barrage across the Indus before we follow the river North towards Lahore. We stop at Harappa where excavations are revealing the intricate lives of one of the first urban, literate civilizations, the Indus Valley people c.2500 B.C. Day 25-27 Two days in Lahore to fettle the cars and visit the huge fort and the treasures of one of the centres of the Mughal Empire. On our way to the capital, time to call in at the deserted Rohtas Fort. Day 28-30 After a luxury hotel in Islamabad, we tackle the Karakoram Highway winding along the Indus and Hunza Rivers between towering mountains from which glaciers make their remorseless way down to the edge of the highway. We stay next to the old polo field in a village nestling in the foothills and visit Baltit Fort dominating the Hunza Valley. Day 31 We drive the Khunjerab Pass, at 4730 metres the highest metalled road pass in the world, to reach China where we are issued with Chinese number plates and driving licences. Day 32-37 In Kashgar, famed for its Sunday market, we prepare the vehicles for skirting the Taklamakan Desert and dropping down into the Turfan Depression, the lowest spot on the planet after the Dead Sea. Turfan is a pleasant oasis town famed for sun-drying the local grapes to raisins. Time to visit the ancient ruins of Jiaohe, a natural cliff fortress.   Day 38-42 Across the Gobi Desert where we encounter the first remains of the Great Wall including the gate fortress of Jiayuguan. We enter the cooling green hills before reaching Xian. Day 43-44 Two days in Xian. After blowing the dust out of the vehicles, we can visit the Terracotta Army and the old city walls and monuments of the city. Day 45-48 Through heavy traffic into the green, misty hills of Yunnan, populated by minorities in their local costumes and the odd panda. Day 49 Rest day in Lijiang, setting for Channel 4’s ‘ Beyond the Clouds’ and a World Heritage Site with its cobbled alleys, bubbling canals and rickety wooden buildings. Day 50 An easy day to Dali with an old town and ancient pagodas reflected in the beautiful Lake Erhi. Day 51-52 Long, winding roads through this tropical rainforest area with a huge range of flora and fauna. Day 53-55 Into Laos and on to bone-shaking roads through tiny settlements to Luang Prabang, a small town bursting with elaborate Bhuddist monasteries. Monks in their saffron robes collect offerings of food each morning and hill people in their colourful dress sell their wares overlooking the Mekong River. We stay in a French colonial-style building in the capital, Vientiane. You can buy a fresh baguette before crossing the Mekong into Thailand. Day 56-60 After fighting through the Bangkok traffic to the riverside hotel, enjoy a day visiting the spectacular Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Then take a long-tailed boat along the khlongs to see the waterside wats and floating market. Heading South through Thailand’s holiday beach region, we reach Malaysia and cross the bridge to Penang, the earliest British settlement. Rest day to visit the multi-cultural heritage of Georgetown. Day 61-63 A stop in the colonial-style hill station of the Cameron Highlands amongst tea plantations and rare floral species before heading to Kuala Lumpur to stay close to the Petronas Towers. Day 64-67 Complicated formalities are involved in the drive into Singapore before we reach the hotel by the waterfront. Two days of cleaning are required to reach the exacting standards of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service before the vehicles are loaded onto the boat. A few days R&R need to be arranged before flying to Darwin.

Day 78-82 Unloading, Customs, AQIS and safety inspections are required in Darwin before we are let loose on the roads. Day 83-87 We head in to the red interior down the Stuart Highway all the way to Alice Springs watching out for ambushing roos and road trains. Rest day in Uluru to snap the vehicles in front of the big rock. Day 88-90 Completion of North to South crossing when we arrive in Adelaide for a rest day via Coober Pedy, the opal mining town with underground buildings. Day 91-93 On to Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road with its rock stack formations including the Twelve apostles. This road has been listed as one of the top ten drives in the world ( along with the Karakoram Highway). Day 94-95 Continuing along the Sapphire Coast until we drive into Sydney and park up at our hotel close to the Opera House.