The Turtle Expedition enters final Count-Down for The Trans-Eurasian Odyssey Lift-Off

[Monika Wescott]

The Turtle Expedition is on the move. We, Gary and Monika Wescott, are packing! It’s so easy to get stuck in “civilization”, otherwise know as “the Real World”. Breaking loose is like sitting in a space shuttle as you leave the gravitational pull of Earth. Suddenly, you’re floating free.

We will be lifting off this Spring on The Trans-Eurasian Odyssey, driving from Lisbon, Portugal to Shanghai, China through 26 countries and following the legendary Silk Road, an adventure we expect will take at least three years. While The Turtle V is undergoing final mechanical facelifts, our Tortuga Expedition Camper is seeing some modifications for the long road ahead. Out with the microwave and the oven. In with LED lights to reduce head and conserve amps. Adding a FlatPlate heat exchanger to work with our Espar D5 Hydronic for hot water was a major improvement.

Do we have a plan and a fixed route? Well, ----- sort of. As we have for 40 years of backroad exploring, we follow a tip from John Steinbeck’s book, Travels With Charlie: "Don’t take the trip. Let the trip take you."

Follow us on www.turtleexpedition.com. If you would like to keep up with our adventures, ---and misadventures---, sign up for “Subscribe to News” on our home page. You will get an email message when a new blog is posted.

[Christian P.]

Gary/Monika,

Please let me be the first one to welcome you on the forum.
There is no doubt that you are one of the first travelers to inspire me and give me this overlanding passion, which has never left since.

We all be following your adventures with great interest!

[SChandler]

I would like to say that I am eagerly awaiting updates on your latest adventures, in particular, your experiences in the Middle East and in China. I have always enjoyed following your travels in Four Wheeler magazine and on your blog, since the days of the Trans-Russia trek. I spotted the Turtle IV in a truck stop in California a long time ago and I felt like I'd spotted a celebrity. Good luck.

[Ray Hyland]

So looking forward to watching this one unfold. I love the Silk Road. Remember to try to go through Turpan in the grape harvesting season if you can, the city looks so cool with the grapes drying everywhere.

Ray

[Scott Brady]

Fantastic! We will watch with great interest.

Just don't eat the armpit cheese in Tajikistan - don't ask me how I know. . .

[Gary Wescott]

Must be like the Gamalost cheese we ate in Hardanger, Norway. It's made from skimmed cows milk. The cheese is rubbed with mold which is then allowed to cure, (rot), for 4 to 5 weeks. You need to have a hang-over or a long stick to get near it. It smells worse than the gooey stuff between your toes after a long hike and four days without a shower or a change of socks. Norwegians love it and eat it for breakfast often with eggs and beer.

[Rot Box]

Yahoo! Looking forward to this one :wings:

[MattScott]

Must be like the Gamalost cheese we ate in Hardanger, Norway. It's made from skimmed cows milk. The cheese is rubbed with mold which is then allowed to cure, (rot), for 4 to 5 weeks. You need to have a hang-over or a long stick to get near it. It smells worse than the gooey stuff between your toes after a long hike and four days without a shower or a change of socks. Norwegians love it and eat it for breakfast often with eggs and beer.

http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/9/127099/8281581/BaconAmericanFlag-vi.jpg

This image will cover my thoughts on Gamalost cheese and eating it for breakfast.

[WheresMurph]

Hey Gary and Monica,normally,I would be very jealous,but,i'm heading to EU in March with the bike for a sidecar conversion and pretty much a similar route east over a 2 yr period myself.
I'll look forward to keeping up with you and will try to see if we can meet on the road somewhere like we did the first time at Bonneville.

Regards to you both,

Murph.

[Monika Wescott]

Hi Murph. It would be fun to bump into each other somewhere in route!
Happy Travels,
Monika

[Monika Wescott]

I haven't forgotten, Ray. Our route planning is still in progress.
Monika

[Ray Hyland]

Cool.

And on the food topic, in the border area between Kazakhstan and China they do these small cold sausages of Jellied camel and horse hooves, they are really awesome. Definitely try those.

[Redline]

It's great to see you both here. :)

Will be following along.

James

[medicfernando]

Hi Gary and Monika. Its Fernando Rivero from Salt Lake City Utah. I have enjoyed chatting with you the several times we have run in to each other (Moab and on the way back from Rubicon...) and have enjoyed reading about your trips for many years. I will be following the blog of this journey intently. I wish you a very safe and amazing journey and look forward running into you both again some day. I am currently overlanding in a built Range Rover Classic or my BMW GSA. All that reading of the "Turtle Expeditions" I guess has definitely influenced me. Heres a couple of pics from the last time our paths crossed. My best, Fernando
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