History
It was one of those first beautiful days in spring, March 2007, when Roman Giger and Nico Schmuckli stopped mesmerizing and sealed their decision to let their dreams become true.
They wanted to drive by own car from ‘heimat’ Switzerland all overland to Malaysia in Southeast Asia.
Nico went looking for the perfect vehicle to undertake such a demanding trip and after many test-drives he bumped into ‘Frido’. Being a Toyota Landcruiser from 1985, Frido appeared for both as the perfect partner for their dream trip. Next one and a half year they shaped their project and prepared the car, bought and mounted the right off-road and travel equipment, started organizing visas, dealt with insurance companies, canceled contracts, stored their belongings and much much more…
Until finally the day came, that as well the team and vehicle were completely ready to hit the long road to Malaysia and cope every challenge that would come with it. On the 1st of July 2008 Nico and Roman, started the engine of their Toyota Landcruiser ‘Frido’, and headed off into unknown territories.
403 Days of a nomadic outdoor life stood ahead of them… 43 053 km of unfamiliar road, 22 countries to cross and the privilege to meet up and melt with a huge array of different cultures all around the European and Asian continent.
On their way from Switzerland to Malaysia they crossed Switzerland – Austria – Slovenia – Italy – Croatia – Serbia – Montenegro – Albania – Greece – Turkey – Iran – Turkmenistan – Uzbekistan – Tajikistan – Kyrgyzstan – China – Pakistan – India – Nepal – India – Bangladesh – Malaysia – Thailand – Malaysia and they had to spend about 4500 US Dollars on visas and permits to do so.
Travel Facts
403 days on the road
22 countries
4 world religions visited
43 053 km on the road
7 292 photos taken
5 416 m above sea level (highest point reached by feet)
4 721 m above sea level (highest point reached by car)
5 broken washing machines
4 times they were able to bake their own bread
2 times food poisoning
1 stove brake-down in Iran
1 Malaria infection
1 hitch-hiking mice in the car for about 1 month
321 nights in the tent
minus 15 degrees in Tajikistan
plus 40 degrees in Iran and Bangladesh
multiple monsoon rains
thunder storms (Slovenia, Greece and Malaysia)
hurricane winds on the Nemrut Dagi in Turkey
Sleeping spots’s at interesting venues; on the beach underneath palm trees- on mountain tops- in the streets of Teheran and Tashkent- in deserts- on dried out salt lakes- at the sea- next to lakes- on petrol stations- at schools- next to rivers- on high altitude plateaus- on farmer’s fields- on the grounds of factorys- in parks- at hot springs- in villages- in stone mines - in the jungle- and many more stunning places
Toyota Facts
5’947l. Diesel
average. 13.8l. / 100km Diesel usage
1 set tyres
4 times oil change
1 flat tyre ?! :o)
broken suspensions in the front (Tajikistan)
broken mounting of the air compressor
broken clutch
broken fan pulley in India and Nepal
and more …
