Tales of my first time

Trans Asia 1975

The start, my first overland trip. In our own truck from England to Nepal, and back.

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Expedition to Nepal in our Bedford truck in 1975

This story is about a trip Pete Dryer and Ivan Hurst (me) made in 1975 from England to Nepal in our own truck.

This whole travelling thing started in March 1975. Pete and I were travelling to work one morning and we started talking about how far you could travel by road once across the channel. We had heard about the Grand Trunk Road and thought it would an adventure to drive along it in our own truck. That was it, the decision was made. However, it was not quite as simple to translate the decision into actuality. The internet was not invented and information was a lot more difficult to find. Mass long distance travelling had not really taken off and unless you knew how and where to find it there was little help to be found. Mobile phones were not available so general communications were limited to letters, telegrams, or very rarely telex, unless you met face to face and had a conversation.

Pete and I had met at college and were at the time working for the same company, Percy Bilton Ltd, at the same road construction site in north London. We had one company mini van between us as we both lived in different parts of Hatfield, having not moved away since attending college there. The van was a treat, not an entitlement. On the way home that day we talked about next steps. Pete asked his fiancée what she thought about the idea. I asked my girlfriend. When Pete picked me up from my home the next morning we compared notes. Pete and his fiancée were up for the trip whilst my girlfriend would stay at home. So the crew was set at three.

Over the next few weeks we asked around friends and got offers of help and a couple of additional people interested in the trip. We also discussed the route and what sort of vehicle we should take. One of the new team had recently passed his navigation exams. So our most ambitious route involved a boat. We would drive to New Delhi and then to South West India where they are famous for the quality of the boats they build. Not luxurious western style but thoroughly seaworthy, and considerably cheaper than a UK built boat. We were going to take a marine diesel engine in the back of the truck to put in the boat as that is the difficult part to acquire in India. The trip would then recommence as a sea voyage hugging the coast all the way to China. After that the plans were somewhat vague. That plan started to fall apart when we realised that we would be at sea during the cyclone season. It was totally canned when our navigator dropped out of the trip.

Oh dear, Burma is closed. OK, the destination is Nepal

We re-planned the trip again, still New Delhi and then across the north of India, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos and China. So back to the concept of the Grand Trunk Road, which is still acknowledged as a major highway of the world. Another trip to the library required. Oh dear, Burma is closed. OK, the destination is Nepal. And that is where we went for my first ever trip abroad apart from a trip to Ireland with my parents when I was a kid.

Back to the choice of vehicle. We did not know the condition of the roads we were going to encounter. We wanted something tough, easy to maintain and easy to get spares for, wherever we where. We considered the ubiquitous Land Rover but decided it would be too small. We found a old Bedford TK truck previously owned by Kraft. It was a box truck used for chilled foods and was insulated. Only thinly, not as thick as a frozen food truck and instead of a heavy door it had a roller shutter. The insulation would be beneficial in the hot countries. It weighed less than 7.5 tons so we did not need a HGV license to be able to drive it. The equivalent 4x4 Bedford MJ has a GVW about two tons more, and that is for a soft top. We wanted a hard box for reasons of security.

We bought that truck for about £300 after a friend, a truck mechanic, had looked it over. He also prepared it for the journey, repairing the worn out bits and a giving it good service. We found some very old truck, split opening front windscreen in a truck scrap yard and fitted them as windows to the front of the box above the cab. Add some side windows and an elevated platform with two pairs of coach seats and we have room for a crew of seven. Its amazing how versatile some surplus 4x2 timber and external ply can be in skilled hands. Put up some blue curtains, and you have cosy.  Although the curtains did approach horizontal with the truck on tarmac roads with the front windows open. We also built a storage box along the side of the box for our food and stuff. It also served as a single bed. Otherwise, the floor was the bed. We did not go for luxury.

We slowly found out about international driving licenses, visas, and inoculations, and got them sorted. We started taking malaria tablets and Vitamin B12. Apparently the latter makes you smell unattractive to mosquitoes. We decided against salt tablets as this could be sorted out on the road. We gave up sugar in tea and coffee so that we did not miss it on the trip. Just in time we found out about Carnet de Passages en Douane and obtained one from the RAC. The place on the ferry was booked. We also found out about the travel service the RAC offered. I remember my Dad using it as well. We wrote to the RAC with our destination, paid them some money, and they would plan your route from say Southampton to Aberystwyth, mark it on a map,and post the map and directions to you. All done by hand. Well, our destination was Kathmandu. They did the same service, for the same fee, just a little further. I still have bits of the RAC map from our second trip.

In the meantime the crew had dwindled back down to three. We had all resigned from our jobs, packed up our rented homes, and were generally ready.

We did the shopping and filled the truck and parked it up ready for the morning. It is fun pushing around six trolleys around the supermarket, and then asking to speak to the manager, to get a discount. I arrived at Woolworth’s car park in the centre of Hatfield ready for our early departure and waited for Pete and Chris to arrive whilst warming up the engine. I think it may have been raining lightly. Eventually Pete turned up, but without Chris. That morning she had decided than she was not coming. She would stay in the UK and wait for him to return. Pete and I discussed this and then, all things sorted out, we departed for our Grand Tour, our first grand adventure.

Day one of our Grand Tour

We did the shopping and filled the truck and parked it up ready for the morning. I arrived at Woolworth’s car park in the centre of Hatfield ready for our early departure and waited for Pete and Chris to arrive whilst warming up the engine. I think it may have been raining lightly. Eventually Pete turned up, but without Chris. That morning she had decided than she was not coming. She would stay in the UK and wait for him to return. Pete and I discussed this and then, all things sorted out, we departed for our Grand Tour, our first grand adventure.

So, not such a good start to day one.

We had only planned the departure, everything else was in the lap of the Gods

We had a ferry to catch. Not a huge amount of discussion about our latest drop out. No recriminations, either about Chris or any of the others. In fact it was better not to come if your heart was not in it, if you were not sure. If you are going on a trip, or anything else for that matter, and you are only doing it because of a perceived duty, or because some time in the past you said you would, it is difficult to maintain a front of enjoyment. This is even more acute when that trip is for six months or more. We had only planned the departure, everything else was in the lap of the Gods, as it were.

Anyway, as I write this, I am thinking, thanks Chris for not coming, How would three have worked? Yes, there were three seats in the cab, so that was not a particular problem, just a bit cozy. Would Pete and I expect Chris to do all the cooking and cleaning as we were the only drivers? Then there is the question of the nights. There were no separate bedrooms in the back of the truck. It was totally open plan, and I mean totally. Everything that was to happen would be in full view of anybody else. There was no privacy. How long would it be before relationships would have become strained? Or would it have evolved into nightly threesomes? So, all in all, I think Chris made the right decision, both for her and the trip. Enough of the now, and back to the then.

Hatfield is a small town North of London. Currently it has the A1(M) running through it with a shopping centre built above part of the motorway. At the time there were discussions going on about what to build and what to demolish. Consultation papers were distributed around the collage. The most extreme proposal appeared to be a 16 lane wide road. This sounds unbelievable, but it was made up of the motorway, junction roads, the existing bypass and distributor roads. A simpler solution was eventually found. Graham Byles, our friend who was to be our navigator, in previous iterations of this trip, lived in one of the blocks of flats that were due to be demolished. As I recall, he was of the opinion that anytime would not be soon enough to get rid of the rat infested, ... flats, that were just an eyesore on the horizon.

Well that is what happened, in the future. We left the town centre car park,  it was to be early in the morning, before the traffic started to pickup, but ended up later than planned. A short drive got us to not the Grand Asian Truck Road, I must stop calling it that, its proper name is Grand Trunk Road, but to the Great North Road. A roman road between London and Scotland. Follow the sign Hatfield and the North.

Then just head south on the A1 towards London, as the traffic slowly built up. Crossing London was uneventful, joining the A2 / A20 and off towards the port of Dover. Dover Ferry Photos Forums - past and present. A posible contender for the ship is MV European Trader More research required. Another possibility is the Townsend Thoresen Free Enterprise IV, with poscard below.

We arrived at the port in plenty of time at the paperwork was processed without hassle. I seem to recall that Customs put a dog in the back of the truck, all very friendly, but added, "it's just so you know, and are not tempted to bring anything back." Fair enough!

The trucks go on to there own deck on the car ferry, away from the cars, and are strapped down, in case of rough seas. The deck hands ensure maximum use is made of both the space and the strapping down points. It was our turn. I was driving, Pete in the passenger seat. We were pointed to a particular lane and I squared up inside it, driving slowly up to the truck in front, which was already in its final position. The deck hand waved me forward, we were obviously not close enough. He stood in front of me and guided me closer to the truck in front.

Suddenly, he was absolutely stationary. Eyes wide open!

Suddenly, he was absolutely stationary. Eyes wide open! His head was literally pinned between the drive knuckle of the wiper blade, right in front of me, and the back of the truck in front. I had stopped. He was motionless. He could not move. I could see the wiper blade pushing against his cheek, watching it change colour. I was petrified! He had a seven ton truck resting against his cheek. If I moved forward as a minimum I would crush his face. I could kill him. Just the roll forward as I released the break would cause him harm and pain. If I fail to find reverse gear and went forward ... ( It is more difficult to select gears in a truck of that vintage, than it is in a car or truck today).

Another deck hand came up to see what was happening. I managed to get both right and move slowly backwards without further injury. He was quickly led away. I was visibly shaking. I finished parking, and jumped down. I asked how he was, still with the image of his eyes, just there, pleading, please don't kill me. "Oh, he's OK, just a bit shocked. It's his own fault, he's been trained not to stand between the trucks. Wave from the side.

Quickly out on deck, in the see air. Still in dock. Time for a stiff Brandy.

It was just as well it was a long crossing, it took a while for me to recovery.

I suspect he had a good bruise, but hopefully nothing more.