Just before Lunch yesterday Reg and I headed to the Customs house and port to collect Penny.

We arrive just before lunch to sign some paper work and promise to pay the Thai government 3,000,000 Baht if I didn’t take the car out of Thailand in 30 days. Just as the paperwork was signed we where told that we then had to wait till after lunch to come back at 1.30. The shipping agent took us to the port office staff canteen for lunch which was like a food market were we walked around and decided on our local lunch. Reg and I chose some rice and fried mackerel pieces which turned out to be cold. We were a little apprehensive but to our surprise it was a great meal – as we still had it 2 hours later!!

On return to the customs houseafter lunch there was more signatures and photocopying before we headed to the warehouse and port for car collection. We waited in the shade of a tree for an hour for a reason that became clear in the end. Our agent had to find the custom inspector that was to release the car. When he turned up I was expecting that we would need to unpack the car for an inspection, but he was only interested in a photo shoot and a couple more signatures. before we where on our way.  

When we where taken to Penny in the warehouse I was most relieved to finally be reunited with her and for her to start with the first push of the button. Even the customs inspector was excited with how well she started.

It was then a 7.2k drive back to the hotel! How-ever this became a 15.8k  trip with a couple missed freeway exits and poor instruction from the GPS.

Hopefully we will sort our Navigation before heading north on Saturday.

Tomorrow is the first day of the next great car adventure with Penny.

I fly to Bangkok to meet the rest of the group and start the clearance of my car through customs on Wednesday morning ready for the planned departure on Saturday morning.

I’ll try and send out a post with Pics every couple of days once we are on the road at the weekend.

 Here is the plan!

We head north from Bangkok in Thailand crossing through Loas up to the Chinese border. Heading north in China till we turn left to travel around the Taklanman desert to Kasghar in western China before crossing in to the Stan’s.

We enter Kyrgyzstan for one day before crossing Tajikistan on the Parmir highway and the Wakhan Corridor along the Northern Afghanistan border then off across Uzbekistan and Kazakstan into Russia.

Early plans had us crossing the Ukraine but this was all changed; and now we are going to stay in Russia and across Belarus into Poland to head north through Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to re-enter Russia to visit St Petersburg before crossing into Finland to finish in Helsinki.

This should all take 60 days!

Once we arrive in Helsinki I’ll decide where to from there. If Penny is still going very well and I feel she’ll make the trip to the UK, I’m heading off from Helsinki with Reg and Mitchell Toohey and their car, back to the UK to put Penny away in a friends barn till our next adventure!!!

Here is the makeup of our group on this crazy adventure from Bangkok to Helsinki…

Reg Toohey and his son Mitchell will be traveling in a 2014 Toyota Landcruiser station wagon so they are traveling in luxury

Peter and Sue Wilson will be traveling in a 1970’s Peugeot 504.

Frank Bird and Ross Oakman are traveling in Frank’s latest Toy which is a 1939 Willys body mounted on a Mazda BT 50 chassis with a Holden 202 motor (Frank likes his holden motors).

Garry and Joanne Williams along with Ross’s wife Belinda will be traveling a 1990’s 100 series Toyota Landcruiser.

Maurie Smith and myself will be in Penny; my 1923 23/60 Vauxhall from many trips across the globe!