The point of it all

AS the sound of 18 diesel engines died away for the last time in Casablanca on Oct 7, a wave of relief swept over every member of the Petronas Trans Sahara 2004 expedition. There were also feelings of triumph, and a sense of personal achievement and team accomplishment.
“We made it!” “Well done, you did it!” Congratulations were in order, and everyone went around shaking each other’s hands and patting one another on the back. There were tears of joy, and eager anticipation of the journey home to much-missed loved ones so far away.
Now, safe and sound at home at last, with all the creature comforts and the great Malaysian food that we craved for while out there in the desert, there has been time to reflect on the meaning of life, the universe, and what the whole Sahara experience has been about.
It was one great adventure. For some lucky members of the Petronas Adventure Team (PAT), there will be other places to visit in time to come, but many of us will remember this trip as a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we were fortunate enough to have been a part of.
The Trans Sahara proved to be many things to many people. It was a journey of exploration, a long trek through nations and environments that couldn’t possibly be more different than the lush world that Malaysians know as home.
It was a test for each individual participant, who had to dig deep into his or her reserves to find the patience, the perseverance and the tolerance to put up with all the unexpected trials and tribulations that came along. Some of the challenges included seemingly endless waiting to cross borders, long hours of driving, extreme heat, gritty sand getting into everything, and having to go for days without a bath.

There were always some people you liked and some you did not, but everyone had to learn to get along, for the good of the entire group. When everyone was forced to spend so much time in such close proximity, the strain could blow the smallest misunderstanding out of proportion and spark off tiffs. But, in the end, the close bond forged by the shared experiences won through.
There were happy moments when things were great, when the scenery was dazzling or the mood enchanting, just as there were times when everything that could go wrong did. We all passed the test and, looking back now, the good times far outweighed the bad.
It was an opportunity for Malaysians, as individuals and as a group, to let other cultures know about us even as we were getting to know them. Initially, the curious locals of North Africa always mistook us for Japanese, Koreans or Chinese visitors. But when told that we were Malaysians, the reaction was always one of warm welcome.
Invariably, their faces broke into broad smiles, their thumbs went up and they shouted, “Malaysia very good, very nice people, welcome!” It felt really great to be regarded in such a pleasant light, even if we discovered along the way that such welcoming salutes were often ploys to lure unsuspecting tourists into souvenir shops.
As travel experiences go, a PAT expedition is not really the best way to visit interesting places. All too often, the need to keep to a schedule or having to pick up the pace to make up for lost time meant that we had to bypass many interesting places. While the 39 days allocated for the expedition might seem a long time, it still did not allow for much leisure because the convoy had to cover more than 10,000km, much of it over difficult terrain. There were stretches of the route which required eight hours of driving to cover just over 100km of ground.
While it was understandable that the needs of the whole caravan took precedence over the wishes of individuals, it did often lead to the frustrating feeling that one had travelled so far under such difficult conditions only to whiz past some place of great significance, such as historic battlegrounds like El Alamein and Mersa Matruh in Egypt, or the remnants of ancient Roman settlements in Libya.

The expedition did enable us to see plenty of interesting sights along the way. Even if the experience was often shallow, most of us agreed that it was ultimately better to have had these glimpses, however brief and fleeting, than not to have seen these wonderful places at all. That was another lesson: you can’t have everything your way all the time, so you should enjoy whatever you can get.
In the main, the expedition served to raise Petronas’ profile in the foreign countries where they have joint-venture operations, such as Sudan, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. Wherever possible, the PAT members took part in community relations projects at local institutions such as children’s hospitals and village vocational centres, which receive support and aid from the Malaysian oil company.
For other sponsors such as Ford Malaysia, which sent along their 4X4 Everest and Ranger vehicles, and Korean tyre-maker Kumho, the gruelling expedition was as an ideal trial by ordeal that proved their products’ toughness and reliability, beyond all doubt. After all, they survived the kind of conditions and abuse the average consumer’s car and tyres would never have to undergo, even in 20 years of normal usage.

Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world ---

FOR those who know Casablanca only through that great movie of the same name, it is a city synonymous with new beginnings. Here, on Thursday, the adventure ended for the Petronas Trans Sahara 2004 expedition, and the 44 participants felt it was an appropriate place to look back on how it all began.
There is now a special bond among us, the kind that only comes from having survived an extended period of trials and tribulations together, as well as the excitement of shared discovery and exploration.
It has been a bumpy ride, literally and figuratively. The journey has taken the Petronas Adventure Team through six North African countries, plus a brief detour through Spain that entailed two overnight ferry rides for the expedition members and their 18 vehicles. Overland border crossings are always a tedious, time-consuming affair involving plenty of paperwork and patience. But serious differences between Algeria and Morocco mean the border is closed, thus making the trips across the Mediterranean Sea necessary.

A Roman fort in Tunisia.

With only a few rare exceptions, each day had begun early and ended late. In between, there were many hours of driving, more often than not over difficult terrain that took a heavy toll on vehicles and occupants alike. The rewards, however, were opportunities to behold numerous natural wonders that few Malaysians have seen before.
Spirits have remained high for most of our journey although there have been the inevitable moments when normally suppressed tensions broke through and tempers flared; and, of course, there was the melancholy as homesickness crept in towards the last few days of the long trek.
Everyone remained in good health for a surprisingly long time, considering the long days spent in the desert, camping without any water other than what had been carried in bottles and jerry cans.
However, just when everyone thought expedition medic Khairuddin Mohd Ali was having a relaxing holiday, the bugs bit with a vengeance. After nearly a month going through countries with ever-present hygiene concerns without major problems, about 90% of the team were hit by food poisoning, which led to severe diarrhoea and some vomiting, shortly after we disembarked in Alicante, a port in Spain – ironically, the cleanest country we had been to thus far. The prime suspect was the orange juice served during breakfast on the boat from Oran, Algeria.
On the morning after, “How are you?” became a question of concern rather than the usual, mechanical greeting. Another greeting frequently heard throughout the hotel corridors was, “How many times did you do it last night?”
Things were looking better as the sun rose over Nador, the Moroccan port where the team returned to in North Africa. But a dozen or so of the team members still looked ashen and less-than-enthusiastic adventurers.
The drive to the historic city of Fez got off to an inauspicious start when the local handler’s Land Rover suffered a broken timing belt barely two hours into the journey up the famous Atlas Mountains. It could not be repaired immediately and had to be left behind in the nearest town.
The Moroccan landscape turned out to be a dramatic and welcome change from the harsh, arid desert we had been passing through earlier. For a start, there was plenty of green everywhere and the silver glint of sunlight reflecting off the leaves on thousands upon thousands of olive trees got the cameras clicking.
The vegetation gradually changed from sparse shrubs to tall pine and spruce trees as we climbed higher, and the temperature fell to a pleasant average of 23°C.

Underground dwellings called 'troglodytes'.

Expectations were high in Fez, but the team was disappointed, mainly because there was not enough time to enjoy the old-world charms of this ancient town’s medina or bazaar. We were herded from one overpriced shop to another by the handler, Azeez, whom everyone suspected was more interested in his commissions from the vendors than our interests.
At no other time had we felt more like the typical tourist – precisely what the expedition did not wish to have happen. Justice was served when the rogue was dismissed and kicked out of the convoy several days later for running off to sleep in a nearby hotel while everyone had to camp in a rocky, dry riverbed.
Things improved somewhat as we set off higher into the mountains for three days of camping. The rocky ground proved tough going and the temperature fell to below 10°C at night. Freezing feet and toes made getting a good night’s sleep difficult, but there was some joy to be found in a roaring campfire.
The scenery was nothing short of spectacular. Most of the Atlas Mountains comprise sedimentary rocks formed in layers over hundreds of millions years. Geological forces have pushed the layers up this way and that, and countless millennia of weathering have exposed the many layers at all angles and shapes, and in many colours.
Our vehicles had to negotiate frighteningly narrow and bumpy tracks that clung precariously to the sides of steep cliffs. This was mountain goat territory, and there were plenty of these hardy animals around to stare at the unfamiliar sight of 4X4 vehicles crawling through their turf.
Traversing a pass took the convoy to nearly 2,700m above sea level, and into yet another amazing landscape which could be called Morocco’s own Grand Canyon. Deep gorges cut by rivers over millions of years have created a scene that resembles different varieties of layer cake (like the popular kuih lapis) in a bewildering array of colours and shapes.
This was also the area where the convoy encountered the phenomenon of rural Moroccan children, who have learned that visitors passing through meant handouts of food and other treats.
When there were only one or two children by the side of the track, giving them a packet of biscuits or some sweets was a pleasure, if only for the satisfaction of seeing the joy on their faces. However, when there were large numbers, they behaved more like an aggressive mob, chasing after and pounding on our moving vehicles. Some even climbed onto the cars and clung on desperately with one hand while using the other to take items by force. Some flung stones at vehicles whose occupants did not meet their demands.
Earlier, many of the expedition members had been anxious to know the local inhabitants better. But passing through the villages soon became a harrowing experience. It was with relief that we drove out of the mountains and into Marrakech, Morocco’s second biggest city and most popular tourist destination.
What joy! No more camping, no more going days without a bath. PAT members may be tough adventurers who enjoy roughing it out, but there comes a point when enough is enough, and everyone is ready to appreciate the creature comforts and niceties of civilisation again. A day of sightseeing and shopping for souvenirs in the huge, vibrant bazaar at Marrakech’s famed medina got everyone cheerful and upbeat again.
As the convoy rolled closer towards the final destination on the final day, many of the expedition members took turns on the two-way radios to address the group, thanking each other for the good times, for the little gestures of kindness that would be remembered forever, and apologising for any offence they might have caused.
There was emotion in the air, mixed feelings of relief because the end was near and we would be going home to loved ones soon. Yet there was sadness at the thought of the impending parting of ways for a motley bunch of people of all ages and walks of life who, for the past six weeks, had been closer than family.
There is always next year’s expedition to look forward to, and it’s a safe bet that everyone will leap at the chance if asked whether he or she would like to “play it again”.

Ya Humar!

Today's lesson in Arabic is the phrase "Ya Humar". It means "You Donkey". Or, "You Ass". On the Trans Sahara, it is a daily award presented to the participant who made the silliest or funniest mistake the previous day.

AS the Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) ticks off the 30th day of the Trans Sahara 2004, the gruelling marathon starts to take its toll on both people and machinery.
Tensions rise – not quite up to boiling point, but it simmers – as homesickness creeps in. The absence of roaming cellular phone services in countries like Algeria and Libya deepens the depression.

It's not all sand ...

The most trivial misunderstandings can spark off tiffs between the closest of friends, but everyone usually makes up and has a hearty laugh over them later.
Cars are beset by more problems day by day. These gremlins test the expedition mechanics’ skill and ingenuity, but pose no major challenges.
In the early days, dawn brought exciting prospects of new places, experiences and landscapes; unusual dwellings and friendly natives, and a dozen or more varieties of sand. As time went by, the novelty wore thin and the 34th new experience was significantly less awe-inspiring than the fourth, and the 67th left you totally unmoved.
Anticipation used to be the order off the day. But now, each kilometre chalked brings joy because it means we are moving closer to the day we’ll return home and see loved ones again.
But these difficulties are an intrinsic part of long overland treks, PAT veterans say. Expedition medic Khairuddin Mohd Ali (call sign Kilo Delta), who modestly admits to having studied psychiatry “only on a superficial level”, notes that mood swings and mild depression are normal when a group of people spend so much time in close proximity, and under stressful conditions. His prescription: Patience, tolerance and a sense of humour.
It also helps that the PAT begins each day with a touch of home; they have a roll call, raise the Jalur Gemilang and sing Negaraku, heartily.
There is usually a light moment with the presentation of the Ya Humar (Arabic for “you donkey”) award to the participant who had committed the silliest or funniest mistake the previous day. Answering a phone call by pressing the two-radio’s microphone to the ear; trying to top up lubricant by pouring oil into the engine’s filler cap instead of the hole; complaining that a car’s air-con is faulty when the thermostat has been switched off; and an avid rock collector picking up dried camel dung thinking they are stones are some of examples of “Ya Humarism”.

An unexpected sight in the desert ...
wreckage of an old Italian biplane.

Messages sent by loved ones at home and well-wishers from all over through the website (www. petronasadventure. com) have been a great boost for morale. Everyone is agog whenever Harun Rahman (Mojo) goes on air with the latest greetings from 10,000km away. So keep them coming, Malaysia.
The vehicles are holding up well, considering the pounding they have been subjected to since being flagged off from Khartoum, Sudan, seemingly an eternity ago. Think about the abrasive quality of sandpaper and you’ll get an idea of what it’s like for finely-machined components to have to cope with wind-blown sand particles of all sizes getting into their every crack and orifice. Other challenges include jammed fuel injectors; dirty fuel or fuel contaminated with water; a broken pulley and alternator; a couple of punctured tyres; and broken engine mounts and roof luggage racks.
The most serious mechanical breakdown to date has been the failure of the automatic gearbox of expedition leader Halim (Echo Lima) Abdul Rahman’s Land Cruiser. It had to be towed 1,200km to a repair facility in Tripoli, Libya. Even then, there were worries about whether replacement parts were available because automatic versions of the vehicle are not sold in Libya. Somehow, the mechanics came through and got it fixed.
Algeria is a beautiful country and the people seem quite friendly. But the government’s security concerns (which, to some PAT members, border on paranoia) has forced the convoy to travel everywhere with ever-alert gendarmes (well-armed paramilitary police) as escorts. Thus our freedom to move around and interact with the locals is restricted.
There is little pleasure in getting up early every day, climbing into our vehicles and driving from one town to the next, without stopping at any of the villages we passed through other than to refuel or pee. We didn’t see much of towns like Ouargla, Ghardaia and Tiaret. Camping is out of the question, and everyone is confined to hotels at night, with policemen toting AK-47s patrolling outside.
However, the PAT participants appreciate the great lengths to which the Algiers government and their security personnel, in particular, went to ensure the safety of everyone.
Since crossing over from Tunisia, the convoy has been greatly aided by Abdul Wahab Arifin (Orang Minyak), a Kelantanese from Tanah Merah, who has been project accountant and the No. 2 man with Petronas Algeria for the past three years. He and his Algerian colleagues have been invaluable in liaising with the local authorities and providing insights into the landmarks and distinctive features of the country he is in.
As the convoy moves north towards the sea, the scenery around us has changed from the oh-so-familiar sand dunes to a gentler, milder Mediterranean landscape. The temperature has dropped progressively from 40°C to 20°C; as night falls, it dips way below that. The air is cold and Arab-style garb is giving way to thicker, warmer clothes as we move into a sunny yet chilly autumn.

The natives are friendly. And armed.

The convoy is heading for the Algerian port city of Oran, where our vehicles will be shipped by ferry to the Spanish port of Alicante. The expedition is forced to make this detour into Europe because the border between Algeria and Morocco is closed, and the only way into our final destination is by sea. It has been a long, often difficult, journey so far, but spirits remain high and optimism reigns.

Oil everywhere, not a drop to be found

The Blast From The Past series continues with an ironic problem. In an oil-rich country where electricity is so cheap that the people leave their light bulbs on all day, the Petronas Adventure Team runs out of fuel deep in the desert.

With the cars running on fumes and no Petronas station in sight, set up camp.

AN oil crisis is the last thing anyone expects in Libya , where petroleum supposedly oozes from the ground. Yet, that was exactly what the Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) had to cope with as the sun set on Sept 13, 2004, Day 15 of the Trans Sahara 2004.
The convoy comprised 18 four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles, rigged with extra fuel tanks and jerry cans that can carry about 200 litres of diesel each.
That evening, every driver had been mesmerised by the amber low-fuel warning light; it didn’t help that the nearest fuel station was at the oasis of Waw el Kabir, 178km away as the crow flies, but there are no crows deep in the Sahara , and no one here travels in a straight line for long.
The problem began when the convoy rolled into the oasis of Tazerbu, about 650km south of Benghazi , the scheduled refuelling stop, on the night of Sept 12. Unfortunately, the petrol station was out of diesel.

The scrounger score some diesel, but not enough.

The PAT’s scrounging skills worked, though, and the local fuel supplier sent four 200l drums to the camp at midnight. Each car got a ration of 65 litres, which was not a lot; nevertheless, the participants headed into the desert anyway, to explore an extinct volcano.
The difficult terrain resulted in higher fuel consumption than expected, and most vehicles were running on fumes by the time the convoy pitched camp as night fell, still 200km from the nearest source of diesel.
Expedition leader Halim Rahman then decided to collect every jerry can and fuel container available, pool every last drop of precious diesel to fill up a couple of cars and send them to Waw el Kabir to buy more diesel. It was a six-hour round trip.

While the quest for fuel continues, some
 people find time to practise their golf swing.

Meanwhile, the guys (and three women) took advantage of the rare leisure time to catch up on vehicle maintenance chores, such as cleaning the air filters. Expedition sergeant major Asst Supt Mohd Shahidan Mohd Mahmud, who had brought along 100 golf balls, finally got the chance to polish his chipping and sand trap skills, while the others played rugby and football.
The fuel eventually arrived and the convoy moved out just after 4pm, way after the usual 6.30 or 7.30am starts. The wait proved to be a good opportunity to experience the Sahara during the day. Temperatures there can soar to over 40°C, but, surprisingly, it was pleasant in the shade, especially when the wind blew, which seemed to be most of the time.
Several days earlier, the convoy had crossed from Egypt into Libya near the town of Salum and made smooth progress on sealed roads to the port city of Tobruk. This city was the scene of two major World War II battles – that between the German-Italian forces led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, a.k.a. the Desert Fox, and the British and Commonwealth troops who distinguished themselves as the Desert Rats. Unfortunately, there isn’t much left for history buffs to see today, except for a small French military cemetery.

All hands on deck to help with refuelling.

Along the way, the convoy rolled through El Alamein (now called Al Alamayn by the Libyans), site of the British victory that proved to be the turning point for the Allies.
My first impression of Libya was that of overwhelming filth: there was garbage strewn as far as the eye could see. Plastic bags, in particular, looked like crops growing on the ground; many hung from the numerous barbed wire fences.
Libya could just as easily be dubbed the “Land of Green Doors”, since nearly every squarish house is either sand coloured or unpainted concrete, and has green doors. Apparently, the colour is popular because the Libyan flag is a plain green rectangle, and it seems to be effective in scaring away flies!
En route to Tobruk, the long line of uniformly-coloured PAT cars drew admiring stares from everyone, including the unfortunate drivers of two cars which collided with a mighty bang when the man in front slowed down to gawk, and the driver behind him, who did the same, did not slow down. Assistance was rendered immediately by Khairuddin Mohd Ali, the expedition doctor,who examined the injured drivers.

No fuel, never mind, we have authentic
Italian pasta cooked by authentic
Italian chef Alessandro Arada

The Sahara reputedly springs surprises on the unwary: well, there was heavy rain and floods in parts of the deep desert that the expedition was supposed to visit, thus forcing a change of route. It hardly ever rains, but when it does, the water does not seep into the ground. Instead, it is channelled into narrow riverbeds that are normally dry.

Is that a Petronas station ... nah, just a mirage.

“After lunch, the local guides will lead us through the minefields,” expedition leader Halim Abdul Rahman announced over the radio during a refuelling break just before the convoy was due to enter the real Sahara desert.
That certainly got the adrenalin pumping, but as it turned out, we did not have to drive through any minefield. However, the convoy did go near many thick barbed wire entanglements that marked out areas where there might still be mines left over from WWII and the subsequent border conflict between Libya and Egypt.
The Sahara proper is a fascinating landscape, vast and varied in textures and hues. It is not all just sand dunes, although there are many of these. There are also large areas of hard-packed sandy and rocky ground, strewn with stones which vary in size from pebbles to huge boulders. Colours range from white to beige to dark brown and black.

The expedition vehicles travelled over soft sand dunes that resembled the huge waves of a storm at sea, as well as perfectly smooth flat sand that afforded We drove through powdery dust (like talcum powder) that severely taxed the engines and cooling systems.
The Sahara is beautiful in a stark, wild kind of way. It is enchanting and entrancing, yet totally unforgiving because a traveller can go hundreds of kilometres without seeing a blade of grass, or so much as a beetle. There’s no life there, except that which passes through on the backs of camels, or in 4WD vehicles, like us.

More photos here

An extinct volcano in the middle of the Libyan Sahara (at 24°55'9.67"N 17°44'45.88"E).

City of contrasts

How many countries do you know of that have been studied so much by so many clever people that they actually have a name for the specialist field of study? Egyptology, Egyptologists ...
The Blast From The Past series takes us to one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

TIME seems to stand still in Egypt, birthplace of one of the most ancient civilisations on earth. While traffic and humanity zip around frenetically in the apparent chaos of modern Cairo, other things proceed at a pace that the Pharoahs’ loyal subjects might find familiar if they were reborn today.
The Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) had looked forward to exploring many of the wonders along the road leading northward from the Sudanese border to the Egyptian capital, such as the Valley of the Kings and the temples at Luxor.
The Trans Sahara expedition’s 18 vehicles had made it safely across Lake Nasser (which the Sudanese call Nubian Lake) after a 48-hour voyage on two barges, and the adventurers were raring to continue with their journey. However, the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly in this part of the world. There is red tape, more red tape and, just when you think there cannot possibly be any more paper work, there are yet more documents to be filled and processed.
Three whole days passed before border officials released all the vehicles, which were finally allowed to be driven on Egyptian roads with the appropriate number plates in Arabic. Each day, the participants checked out of their hotel and waited in the lobby for their vehicles to emerge.
Each afternoon, they had to check back in because there was no sign of their vehicles, nor any indication as to when these might be allowed out.
The team members followed a tight schedule, and the delay at the border meant that they had to skip many of the splendid sights along the way, much to their disappointment.

The convoy rolled into Cairo on the afternoon of Sept 7, and pulled up at the lovely Oberoi Mena House Hotel, in the shadows of the great pyramids of Giza, minutes before I arrived after a long flight from Malaysia via Doha, Qatar.
Cairo is a hive of activity, a sprawling metropolis of some 25 million residents and millions of foreign tourists drawn by the splendours of ancient Egypt. The country’s unique charms certainly justify its status as one of the top tourist destinations in the world, but modern Cairo takes some getting used to.
Traffic is best described as chaotic, with cars going slow on the left lane (the equivalent of the fast lane in a left-hand-drive country), and fast in the middle and right lanes, or any lane, for that matter. A no entry sign may be interpreted as you cannot go this way, or you shouldn’t but you can if you must, or it’s to be ignored. Headlamps are apparently optional; you can turn them on at night or otherwise, use your parking lights, or do whatever you feel like doing.
The roads are crammed with old and battered Fiats and Peugeots jostling for position with newer cars, mostly from Asian manufacturers like Hyundai, Daewoo and Toyota, semi-trailers and donkey carts, plus the occasional camel, especially in touristy areas.
Security is tight everywhere, and policemen toting AK-47 assault rifles are conspicuous at many intersections. The Egyptian authorities are taking no chances with their main source of income, following several deadly attacks on tourists by fanatics and anti-government groups in the past few years.

Special tourism police, smartly dressed in tailored suits and with barely-concealed submachine guns tucked into holsters, have been assigned to accompany the PAT team during visits to, among others, the light and sound show (pic above) at the Sphynx, and a drive through Giza plateau, home of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
At the pyramids complex, the PAT veterans had a reunion of sorts when they bumped into some travellers whom they had crossed paths with on Africa Trek 2003, their expedition through southern Africa.
There is plenty of time for the team to take in the sights, sounds and smells of Cairo, and shop for the obligatory souvenirs. One of the highlights of the stay here is a dinner cruise on the Nile, complete with performances by belly dancers. The technical crew have been busy searching for parts for some vehicles that have encountered minor problems.

After Cairo, the expedition will head for Alexandria, where Petronas has substantial investments in petrochemical facilities. The PAT team members will help entertain and educate handicapped children in a community relations project there. Next up is a drive along the coastal road, which will take participants through World War II battlegrounds such as El Alamein and Marsa Matruh. They will then across the border into Libya, where the first night’ s stop will be at Tobruk.

Gearing up for the trek

Another old tale in the Blast From The Past series, leading up to the longest and most demanding overland trip that I've ever had the privilege to be a part of - the Petronas Adventure Team's Trans Sahara 2004. This article was published in The Star in the run-up to the event proper.

THE average family car travels 15,000 to 20,000km in a year. The typical Petronas Adventure Team (PAT) expedition covers about the same distance in around six weeks. While the difference may not seem too dramatic to some, consider that your car rolls over smooth bitumen all the time whereas the PAT like to venture off the beaten path.
In addition to the difficult and often unpredictable terrain, the adventure-seekers can expect no outside help if anything goes wrong, or when equipment breaks down. There are no spare parts shops at hand where they go to play, no AAM to call for assistance, no petrol stations, no 7-Eleven stores, nothing. Out there, nothing is certain, other than Murphy’s Law, which pessimistically prophesises that “if anything can go wrong, it will”.
Reliability is the most important factor when choosing equipment for overland treks to places far, far away from civilisation, and the adventure begins with the choice of vehicle. It has to be reliable; it has to be rugged, and spacious enough to carry up to three occupants and their essential gear in reasonable comfort for many days at a stretch.
Four-wheel-drive (4WD) is a must, given that the trail will surely serve up challenging obstacles such as soft sand or gooey mud or steep inclines. The ability to spread the engine’s power among all four wheels instead of just two means that each wheel on a 4WD vehicle is less likely to lose traction and spin, and thus, is more capable of making it through difficult terrain than a conventional 2WD vehicle.
The most popular choice among PAT members is Toyota’s big Land Cruiser, favoured because of its legendary reputation for ruggedness and reliability and its capacious cabin, which can hold all the stuff – camping and cooking gear, clothing, spare parts and tools of all shapes and sizes, plenty of food and water – needed to survive several weeks in the wilderness. It also has a big, stout six-cylinder diesel engine displacing over four litres to lug all that weight around.
When there is a sufficient “critical mass” of Land Cruisers, it becomes logical for newcomers to choose the same make and model to simplify maintenance and repairs in the field. The mechanics on the expeditions become familiar with the Toyotas and have an inventory of spare parts for a single type of vehicle.

Such is the reputation of the PAT trips as an excellent test of vehicle reliability that Ford Malaysia promptly agreed when invited to be a sponsor. It will be sending two Everest SUVs and a Ranger 4X4 pick-up, along with adequate spare parts, as official vehicles for the Petronas Trans Sahara 2004 expedition.
“This is a tremendous challenge that will test man and machine to the limit, and we are absolutely thrilled to send our 4x4 vehicles along to help ensure the event is successful,” said Ford Malaysia managing director Mike Pease.
History buffs will be thrilled to learn that Ford 4X4 light trucks, such as the F30, have performed with distinction in the Sahara as far back as 1941. They were the mounts of the British 8th Army’s Long Range Desert Group, better known by their acronym LRDG, during their daring behind-enemy-lines raids that were such a thorn in the side for Germany’s Desert Fox, General Erwin Rommel.
Ford’s modern 2.5l turbodiesel 4WD vehicles have proven their worth in everyday use in Malaysia, but the Trans Sahara will be a different ball game altogether because no vehicle in standard form is capable of surviving what the PAT has in mind, not even the Land Cruiser.
“There are a number of modifications that are compulsory for all vehicles,” says PAT’s technical co-ordinator Stiven Sim, who has over a dozen years' experience in the 4X4 equipment business.
Taking on the vast expanse of the unforgiving Sahara is an endeavour not to be taken lightly (no pun intended). All the necessary equipment add up to nearly two tonnes, Sim says, so the vehicle’s suspension must be upgraded to cope with the extra weight as well as to give better ground clearance and wheel travel.
From past experience, he says, the constant pounding over hours on end would cause standard shock absorbers to overheat and fail within a couple of hours.
It's going to be very hot where they're going so the vehicle cooling system must be upgraded.
Every vehicle has to be fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank to boost capacity from the standard 70-80 litres up to around 150 litres of diesel because of the great distances between fuel stops. It also needs to have two extra jerry cans for another 40 litres of fuel; one jerry can for water; heavy duty bumpers front and rear as well as side steps; shovels, high-lift jacks, and a robust roof rack to hold the assorted gear.
Even 4WD vehicles can get bogged down. If they don’t get stuck at all, the adventurers will probably complain (at least during the early days, when everyone is fresh and energetic) that the track is too easy. So, each vehicle has to carry a comprehensive array of equipment and tools to get stuck vehicles mobile again.
A useful bit of kit on any off-road vehicle is the electrically powered winch, usually bolted solidly to the front bumper. Since a winch draws large amounts of current from the vehicle’s 12V battery, prudent off-roaders often install a second battery, just in case.
“To do up a vehicle up to the minimum specifications for an expedition can cost RM25,000 to RM30,000,” Sim reckons, “but there are people who have spent more than RM50,000 ... they have fridges, TV screens and DVD players built in.”
There are a couple of dedicated service vehicles crewed by experienced mechanics and stocked with tools and spare parts. But each vehicle also has to carry its own spares, including fuel, oil and air filters, inner tubes, hoses, shock absorbers, fan and timing belts, bulbs, clamps, fuses, prop shaft ... and the list goes on.
There are also items deemed essential for personal survival, as well as navigation and communication equipment. These include GPS (Global Positioning System) units, two-way radios, goggles and headscarf (for protection in the event of sandstorms), first aid kit, torch and whistle. For the Sahara trip, the expedition doctor has advised every participant to drink at least five litres of water a day to ward off dehydration. So each vehicle has to carry 60 to 100 litres of potable water, sufficient for three people for up to seven days.
If the average family car is akin to a jogger who runs two kilometres a day for three weeks, a PAT vehicle is the Olympic marathoner who covers the same distance – 42km – in just two-and-a-half hours. That’s the difference.

What doesn’t kill you…

Yet another blast from the past, this one from 2004, BEFORE I went off to the Sahara with the Petronas Adventure Team (which, sadly, no longer exists).
I dedicate this to the memory of the late Halim Abdul Rahman (pic above, with leg up), the inspirational leader of PAT who made it all happen. This was a story I wrote as part of the run-up to the PAT Trans Sahara 2004.

MANY of us dream of adventure. Of travelling to far-off lands and experiencing exotic cultures … and then we wake up to the harsh realities of bills and mortgages and deadlines and commitments.
Then there are the people who actually live those dreams. A nice holiday for these people, known collectively as the Petronas Adventure Team, might be a 20,000km drive over 60 days or so from Istanbul, along the historic Silk Route, and back to Kuala Lumpur. Or, how about a trip through China, Mongolia and Siberia over a month and a half?
Names of places that most Malaysians would know only from National Geographic are memories for them, and photographs of scenes we know only from the magazine’s pages are their holiday snapshots.
Each year since 1999, the intrepid Malaysians members of the Petronas Adventure Team have been setting out to explore remote places in their rugged four-wheel-drive vehicles, brightly painted in the colours of Petronas, their main sponsor.
The programme was the brainchild of Halim Abdul Rahman, who first made headlines as an adventurer when he made the cut for the first Malaysian team to take part in the Camel Trophy in Madagascar, back in 1987. After several years of organising local 4WD events as a business, the adventurer in Halim longed to venture further and wider.
“The world is such a big place, and I wanted to see more of it,” said Halim, adding that, “quite a number of people shared the dream.”
With backing from the national oil company, he and several partners put together an expedition to Tibet. The success of the trip, entailing 15,000km in 41 days over some of the toughest trails in Asia, prompted Petronas to sign on for the long haul and the Petronas Adventure Team was officially launched under the auspices of Petronas Motorsports in June 2000.
Since then, team members have driven through Indochina (2000), along the Silk Route (2001), and through Siberia (2002) and Southern Africa (2003).
Now, final preparations are being made for what could be the toughest challenge to date, the Trans-Sahara 2004 that will flag off from Khartoum, Sudan, on Aug 30, and trek through Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, ending in Casablanca on Oct 7 – if everything goes according to plan.
The team’s members go forth in search of experiences beyond the ordinary and, more often than not, find challenges in the most unexpected places.
Crossing from Myanmar to Tibet, for instance, the entire expedition of 1999 were placed under “house arrest” by suspicious Chinese local authorities, who had never had to deal with so many travellers in foreign-registered vehicles before. Each day, the team members would pack their gear and load up their Land Cruisers, climb aboard and wait for permission to leave. They repeated this routine for five days, and each time, they had to dismount despondently after hours spent sitting in the cramped confines of the heavily laden vehicles. The confusion was eventually sorted out and sets of local licence plates were flown in from Beijing, clearing the way for the adventure to continue.
It takes a special kind of person to be an adventurer, Petronas Adventure Team-style. Physical stamina, mental endurance and patience are essential traits, obviously, as well as a sense of humour (to maintain sanity) during gruelling journeys that often, by choice, take the road less travelled.

It also requires money, lots of it. Even with the generous sponsorship of Petronas and other big firms such as the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation, participants have to come up with over RM20,000 each “for the privilege of suffering,” as one team veteran put it.
That’s in cash (to cover airfares, insurance, hotels and other expenses, excluding pocket money), on top of the considerable expense of buying a suitably rugged 4WD vehicle. Count on spending between RM100,000 and RM140,000 for a Toyota Land Cruiser. The big rig, known affectionately as the “Ninja Turtle” because of its rounded lines, is the team’s vehicle of choice because it is famous for reliability and has the capacity to lug around the copious amount of food and water, clothing, camping gear, spare parts and other miscellaneous equipment needed to sustain the adventurers for up to two months.
This is not to say that other 4WD vehicles can’t cope, but it makes sense for everyone to use similar equipment in order to cut down on the quantity and type of spare parts that need to be brought along. For the coming Trans-Sahara, Ford Malaysia is sending along two Ford Everests and a Ranger.
Then, there’s another RM30,000 to RM50,000 needed to modify the vehicle with protective bumpers and roof racks, winches, extra tanks for fuel and water and assorted paraphernalia, and a heavy-duty suspension system to hold up all that extra weight.
Once a vehicle is suitably kitted out for the rigours of an expedition, it is no longer suitable for use as daily transport because the suspension would be too hard without a load, and it would probably be too tall to enter any basement car park.
But the reward can be enormous: journeys not only to foreign and distant places but also voyages of self-discovery in which they find out how well they hold up under stressful conditions that are so far removed from routine normalcy. Try to imagine, if you can, what it must be like sharing the confined space of a vehicle with two other people, up to 12 hours a day, for 45 to 60 days. And enduring all this while traversing alien landscapes that range from desert to snowy mountains to mud, and coping with vehicle breakdowns or getting stuck in mud or sand, and, basically, facing many more trials and tribulations than most Malaysians endure in a lifetime.
Those who return for more are living proof of the adage “that which does not kill you, makes you stronger”.
When Petronas Adventure Team members say their motto is “no obstacle too difficult, no challenge too arduous”, believe it because they are not mere daydreamers. They do have dreams as well, though. There is always the next long trip to look forward to.

Next up: What type of car can withstand the rigours of a Petronas Adventure Team trek?