Journey of Discovery

8000 MILES / 50 DAYS 1,000,000th DISCOVERY

BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING OVERLAND

8000 MILES / 50 DAYS

1,000,000th DISCOVERY

BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING OVERLAND / 03

FOREWORD In my experience, the most interesting parts of this planet are often found a long way after its roads end. Its most threatened habitats and its most vulnerable people are usually to be found a long way away from asphalt and concrete and smooth highways.

Reaching these places and reaching these people takes a special kind of vehicle, and it’s no coincidence that people like me - people who make their livings far away from civilisation, and people whose lives depend on their equipment - have been using, trusting and driving Land Rovers for more than half a century.

To celebrate the production of the millionth Land Rover Discovery, and to showcase the vehicle’s unique versatility and breadth of capability, Land Rover embarked on one of its quintessential expeditions – a Journey of Discovery covering over 8,000 miles in under 50 days from its birthplace in Birmingham, UK to one of its fastest growing markets, Beijing in China.

The journey passed through 13 countries and raised vital funds and awareness for a crucial water and sanitation project in Uganda, run by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

I was lucky enough to join this project - Land Rover’s biggest modern-day overland expedition - for a few days and, as someone who learnt to drive in a Series III Land Rover and grew up captivated by the Camel Trophy, this was not only the culmination of a boyhood dream, but also a reminder of just how unique Land Rover’s vehicles are.

BEN SAUNDERS

POLAR EXPLORER

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CONTENTS

8000 MILES 50 DAYS THE JOURNEY IN NUMBERS 8

FOUR GENERATIONS OF DISCOVERY 10 A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE 18 PROVIDING SAFE WATER AND SANITATION 22 THE SOLIHULL LAUNCH 24 THE JOURNEY STARTS HERE... 30 WESTERN EUROPE 32 THE GREAT EXPLORERS - SIR RANULPH FIENNES 40 UKRAINE 42 THE GREAT EXPLORERS - BEAR GRYLLS 60 RUSSIA 62 THE GREAT EXPLORERS - RAY MEARS 78 KAZAKHSTAN & UZBEKISTAN 80 THE GREAT EXPLORERS - BEN SAUNDERS 98 KYRGYZSTAN 100 THE GREAT EXPLORERS - MONTY HALLS 114 CHINA 116 THE CREW 132

“ A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS

WITH A SINGLE STEP ”

LOA-TZU, CHINESE PHILOSOPHER (604 BC - 531 BC)

FROM BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING IN NUMBERS...

ACTUAL MILES TRAVELLED

TOTAL PEOPLE ON EVENT

11,531

112 INCLUDING CREW

GALLONS OF WATER

PUNCTURES

& JOURNALISTS

5000 4

DUE TO RUTTED ROADS

78

CITIES VISITED

MILES IN CHINA ALONE

2000

BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING OVERLAND / 09

+33째 -15째

3

IMAGES TAKEN

PASSPORT STAMPS

TEMPERATURE RANGE

17,500+

TRANSLATORS

(+ GOOGLE...)

140

HIGHEST POINT

3700M

(TORUGART PASS, CHINA) LOWEST POINT

10M

BELOW SEA LEVEL

(TURFAN, CHINA)

FOUR GENERATIONS, ONE GREAT DISCOVERY The Discovery 4 is one of the world’s most versatile vehicles. It can seat seven passengers, has a load space volume of up to 2500 litres and is packed with technology including Land Rover’s award-winning Terrain Response System, which adapts the vehicle to respond to differing terrains and driving conditions including snow and sand.

Now in its fourth iteration, the Discovery is an unparalleled vehicle with class-defining versatility and all-round capability. Since it first came to market as a third Land Rover to sit between the luxurious Range Rover and the rugged Defender, it has carved its own market segment and become an international success story.

Discovery has picked up more than 200 awards around the world and 2011 saw record sales of almost 45,000 units across 170 worldwide markets. It also stands as an excellent example of UK design, engineering and manufacturing, with 83 percent of production being exported from its West Midlands manufacturing base.

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COMING DOWN THE LINE...

After 23 years in production, the millionth Land Rover Discovery rolled off the line at the state-of-the-art Solihull factory in February 2012.

It was just the very start of an epic journey that would see the car – the lead in a four-vehicle team - prepared for one of the great Land Rover challenges: an 8000-mile odyssey from Birmingham to Beijing in time for the Chinese capital’s motor show on April 23rd.

MARKS, SET... GLUE! Before they were loaded with kit, the cars were decorated in their unique Journey of Discovery livery.

With the route map clearly defined within the design, the magnitude of the task ahead was clear to everyone who saw the team motor past.

SCAN THE CODE TO VIEW THE LIVERY TIMELAPSE

THE KIT THAT THEY TOOK WITH THEM...

DRY POWDER

EXTINGUISHER

FIRE BLANKET

FIRE

5

5

RESCUE GLOVES

STANLEY KNIFE & HOOK BLADES

DUST MASKS

3

HEAD TORCHES

CHARGER FOR BATTERIES

RESCUE

SMALL

RATCHET STRAP

OGURA COMBITOOL & 2 BATTERIES

1 PAIR OF SIDE CUTTERS 5 MEDIUM DRESSINGS

5 LARGE DRESSINGS RESCUE GLOVES 3 DUST MASKS CHILD NECK COLLARS 2 TRAUMA DRESSINGS

RING CUTTER

2 EYE PATCH DRESSINGS

5 SMALL DRESSINGS

SELECTION OF PLASTERS

LEATHERMAN TOOL

WOUND CLEANSING WIPES

SELECTION OF TUBULAR BANDAGES

2 SAFETY GLASSES FOLDING PRUNING SAW

2 ADULT NECK COLLARS

SELECTION OF MEDICAL GLOVES 3 TRIANGULAR BANDAGES

TWEEZERS SELECTION OF NONCONFORMING BANDAGES

2 BURNS DRESSINGS SPHYGMOMANOMETER

STERISTRIPS

TRAUMA SHEARS

2 COMBAT APPLICATION TOURNIQUETS

MEDICAL BAG

PULSE OX

3 COOL PACKS

2 BONJELA TUBES 2 PACKS OF PRO-PLUS 4 PACKS OF IBUPROFEN

10 PACKS OF DIORALYTE MEDICINE PELI CASE

MEDICINES

BABY WIPES

4 PACKS OF PARACETAMOL PLUS

3 PACKS OF LORATADINE

CONTACT LENS CLEANER 2 PACKS OF PARACETAMOL

CO2

6 LITRE

EXTINGUISHER

12

3

SEAT BELT

HIGH VIS VESTS

5

AQUEOUS FILM-FORMING FOAM EXTINGUISHER CUTTERS

1 MAKITA RECIP SAW

SAFETY GLASSES

1 BOX OF MEDICAL GLOVES

3

1RATCHET LARGE STRAP

GLASS PUNCHES

PELVIC SPLINT YELLOW MED DISPOSAL BAGS

HIGH VISIBILITY VEST

SEAT BELT CUTTER

AIR BAG PROTECTOR DOOR RATCHET

G3 AED DEFIBRILLATOR, ASPIRIN, RAZOR AND PADS

BP CUFF

BLOOD SUGAR TESTING KIT

ELECTRIC BP CUFF

2 BLANKETS

CARRY SHEET

3 LM AIRWAYS

EMERGENCY DENTAL KIT

POCKET MASK

HEAD TORCH

PATIENT REPORT FORMS

5 OP AIRWAYS

ADULT BAG, VALVE & MASK

2 PUPILLARY RESPONSE TORCHES

3 SPLINTS

2 ADULT O2 MASKS

O2 KIT

ADULT VENTOLIN MASK

SUCTION DEVICE

CHILD BAG, VALVE & MASK

SURGICAL BLADES

EYE WASH

CHILD O2 MASK STERILE SYRINGES/CANNULAS PACK FOR HOSPITAL TREATMENTS CHILD VENTOLIN MASK

GLASS HAMMER GLASS PUNCH

1 BOLT CROPPERS

2 BATTERIES & BLADES

3 NASAL AIRWAYS

HYDROCORTISONE CREAM 3 PACKS OF CETIRIZINE HYDROCHLORIDE

ANUSOL CREAM 3 PACKS OF DIOCALM

GLYCERYL TRINITRATE SPRAY STERICLENS SPRAY

2 SALBUTAMOL SULPHATE INHALER 2 GLUCAGEN HYPOKIT

PACK OF ATROVENT

PACK OF TRAMADOL TABLETS

PACK OF ASPIRIN 3 DIAZEPAM RECTAL TUBES

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The Journey of Discovery is the latest in a series of epic expeditions that have cemented Land Rover’s reputation for building the cars of choice for generations of adventurers and explorers. In celebration of the production of the one millionth Discovery, Land Rover decided to undertake a great overland journey – from its base in Birmingham to the Chinese capital Beijing. The expedition took inspiration from one of Land Rover’s original globe-trotting adventures – the 1955 overland journey from London to Singapore undertaken by the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition.

While the intervening decades of progress made the modern expedition slightly less arduous, it would turn out to be no less fascinating, with the team experiencing the cultures of 13 different countries over 8000 miles.

Like so many of the boldest ideas, the original 1955 trip had its genesis late at night, in the Cambridge rooms of Adrian Cowell and Tim Slessor, who were looking for a challenge following their degrees. The pair were joined by fellow Cambridge students Antony “BB” Barrington Brown, Henry Nott and Pat Murphy. Finally an Oxford man, Nigel Newbery signed up, allowing the expedition to live up to its name.

Obviously the Land Rover was the only choice and Cowell worked his charm on the Rover car company, which agreed to provide him with a pair of Series 1 86-inch Station Wagons. The cars were equipped with tropical roofs and sun visors, drum winches and jerry cans for water mounted on the front bumpers, additional 50-gallon fuel tanks, roof racks and a hatch over the front passenger seat. One car was painted in the dark blue of Oxford and the other in the lighter hue of Cambridge. Maps of Europe and Asia along with the proposed route were painted on the rear window, a motif repeated by the 2012 Journey of Discovery vehicles.

A river crossing on the 1955 London to Singapore overland journey.

SO MANY OF THE BOLDEST IDEAS, THE ORIGINAL “LIKE1955 TRIP HAD ITS GENESIS LATE AT NIGHT...”

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In all, 80 companies and organisations supported the expedition in terms of equipment and funding.

“BB” persuaded the head of the BBC Exploration Unit, a certain David Attenborough, to provide them with the money to buy a clockwork camera and limited film stock; more would be provided if the first reel was up to scratch.

In the end there was enough footage for three programmes.

The team set off on September 1 from the Grenadier pub near Hyde Park Corner, having had a Scotch Egg and ‘one for the road – to Singapore’. Almost immediately the two cars got separated by London traffic and the team discovered that they had maps for every country from France to Malaya, but none for England.

However, they managed to rendezvous at the airfield for their flight over the Channel. There it was discovered that the cars were too tall for the transporter plane but by deflating the tyres and unloading the roof racks they were squeezed in and 15 minutes later the expedition landed in France and was underway.

Their route took them through France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and India. Up to this point the route was a known quantity but from there the team would be on more uncertain ground in the jungles of Assam.

The team knew of the existence of the Stilwell Road, a supply route built during World War 2 that would connect them to the Burma Road and then on to Thailand and Singapore. Unused for a decade it was passable – just...

Spanning 10 major rivers and 155 streams, there was a rickety wooden bridge to be tackled on average every three miles. In the event, only one river crossing proved problematic and that had been the Brahmaputra in India where the Cambridge car had to winch out the Oxford vehicle.

In fact, the expedition had fortuitously fallen within a timeframe outside of which it would have proved impossible.

The Stilwell Road was washed away in 1958 and for decades the border into Myanmar has been closed.

Six months and six days after setting off, the team arrived in Singapore, having climbed mountains, crossed deserts and hacked through jungles to become the first people to drive from Europe to the furthest point in Asia, covering more than 12,000 miles as they travelled. Three weeks later they turned round and drove back again…

Just the sort of trip every Oxbridge graduate should embark upon...

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PROVIDING SAFE WATER AND SANITATION The Journey of Discovery presented Land Rover with the opportunity to launch its most ambitious fundraising project yet by aiming to raise £1million for the company’s Global Humanitarian Partner, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The money will be used to support a much-needed water and sanitation project in Uganda.

This is in addition to the three-year global initiative “Reaching Vulnerable People Around the World”. This initiative, launched in 2010, provides additional support for IFRC programmes in over 15 countries worldwide.

Bekele Geleta, Secretary-General of the IFRC, who joined Land Rover in Geneva, said: “Lack of safe water is the most common and preventable underlying cause of disease in the world today and Uganda is one of the countries worst affected. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are working in Uganda to provide safe water and sanitation, reaching 90,000 people in the last four years. This joint initiative between the IFRC and Land Rover aims to reach an additional 45,000 people in Uganda.”

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LAUNCH / BIRMINGHAM 8000+ MILES TO GO...

Land Rover’s Solihull workforce gave the Journey a proper send-off.

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The Journey of Discovery was launched on 29 February 2012 at a special event for employees, hosted by Quentin Willson and held at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull manufacturing facility, where the Discovery is built. The vehicle was bid farewell at a reception that included some of Britain’s greatest explorers and adventurers, all of whom have put their faith in the Discovery in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Those who attended included Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bear Grylls, Ray Mears, Monty Halls and Ben Saunders.

Phil Popham, Group Sales Operations Director, Jaguar Land Rover said: “Discovery is an extraordinary vehicle and it deserves to be unleashed on an extraordinary journey.

There is no better vehicle to tackle all weather, all terrain than the Discovery 4. This gruelling expedition will be visiting 13 countries and covering 8000 miles, and it’s a fitting initiative to celebrate the one millionth vehicle.”

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HIGH SOCIETY SEND-OFF After leaving Solihull the expedition headed to the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) for a gala dinner.

Guests included (clockwise from the top) Tim Slessor and Patrick Murphy from the original 1955 London to Singapore expedition, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, skier and TV presenter Graham Bell, Bear Grylls, Zara Phillips, Ben Saunders and crew members Michael Bishop, Toby Blythe, Phil Jones and Richard Kearney.

THE JOURNEY STARTS HERE...

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The millionth Discovery takes pride of place on the Land Rover show stand in Geneva.

The Journey of Discovery officially began its European leg with a grand send-off at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

In front of the world’s media and luminaries from the automotive industry the expedition was unveiled in style before its vital fund-raising role – a £1million target for a water and sanitation project in Uganda – was explained by Robert Fraser, senior officer for water and sanitation at the IFRC: “780 million people still have no access to safe water. It is arguably the biggest killer of children worldwide. Under fives are particularly at risk, especially as coming from the world’s most deprived areas their immune systems are already weakened by poor diets. A stomach bug from bad water really is a matter of life or death for them.”

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DAY 1 / GENEVA / 8000 MILES TO GO

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WHERE WE’RE GOING WE DON’T NEED ROADS...

This water-going Discovery was built by Land Rover’s Special Vehicles Department to promote Land Rover’s sponsorship of Cowes Week in 1990.

The amphibious Discovery – and many other models from the Land Rover heritage fleet – were available for special drives on the shores of Lake Geneva during the motor show as the Journey of Discovery headed east across Europe.

As the Briton with more solo Arctic miles trekked under his belt than any other, Ben Saunders has a keen understanding of the forces that shape and control snowscapes. So when the Journey of Discovery team was offered the chance to observe – and even join in with – the work of the Aosta Valley avalanche control team, Saunders was the man for the job.

The job of the avalanche control team is simple: stop uncontrollably large and life-threatening natural avalanches by triggering them while they’re small enough to be safely neutralised. Some 150 people are killed every year in avalanches, so while the job description may seem simple its importance cannot be overstated. The job requires a highly trained crew with intimate knowledge of the mountains and a dizzying array of tools from snow gauges and examination kits to dynamite.

“The biggest snow dangers for me when I’m skiing in the polar regions are fast, heavy blizzards that reduce visibility to near zero and sap energy,” Saunders says.

“What these guys are dealing with is completely different, but it’s a vital job and they do it brilliantly.”

Christian Cesa, one of the Aosta Valley avalanche team’s most experienced members shows a potential hotspot to Saunders by digging down into a drift, exposing a section of snow and pointing out three clear layers. On top is the most recent snowfall.

Then comes a thin crust, created by a few sunny days and freezing nights coupled with no fresh snow. Beneath that lies a metre or so of very light powder. Put this lot on a steep slope, overload that top layer and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a massive avalanche if left unchecked.

Finding hotspots can be a daily business depending on weather conditions. Once identified, the team destroys them by provoking a controlled avalanche triggered using explosives deployed via helicopter or snowmobile. If caught in the early stages, the team can predict with pinpoint accuracy how much snow will move and exactly where it will fall. If nature is left to its own devices, the resulting avalanche will be much bigger, as will its potential consequences.

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HOW TO CONTROL AN AVALANCHE

CONTROL ON EVERY SURFACE On day three, the Journey wound its way east into Austria where the crew took invaluable lessons from the Austrian Land Rover Experience crew and Paris-Dakar rally veteran Ernest Loidl.

High in the Alps above Salzburg these experts in ice and snow driving taught the team skills that would prove essential later in the journey on remote Asian passes. It wasn’t all serious stuff though as they got to try their hands at some car sledging too‌

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes - the only man to have topped Everest and both poles.

THE GREAT EXPLORERS

SIR RANULPH FIENNES

I

n the annals of modern exploration, one name rises head and shoulders above all others. Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ intrepid spirit was fostered in the Special Air Service where he served as a demolitions expert. Having led hovercraft expeditions up the White Nile and a Norwegian Glacier, in 1979 Sir Ranulph and two fellow SAS members set off on the Transglobe Expedition. Never attempted before (or since…), the three-year trek took the men around the world on its polar axis, including navigating the infamous Northwest Passage in an open boat.

Sir Ranulph followed these achievements with a 93-day trek across the Antarctic continent in 1992 with Dr Mike Stroud. In 2003 the pair were reunited for the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge, during which Sir Ranulph ran seven marathons on seven continents over the course of a week. The feat was accomplished just four months after Sir Ranulph suffered a heart attack and underwent double bypass surgery...

Three years ago Sir Ranulph became the oldest Briton to climb Mount Everest – overcoming a lifelong fear of heights – and the only person ever to have visited the highest summit in the world and both North and South Poles. Also renowned as an author and historian, Sir Ranulph has raised millions of pounds for charity in the course of his career.

Named the ‘Greatest Living Explorer’ by the Guinness Book of World Records, Sir Ranulph Fiennes continues to be an inspiration to adventurers of all ages across the globe.

DAY 06 / 1200 MILES GONE

UKR

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50˚30’ N / 30˚28’E THE SECOND LARGEST COUNTRY IN EUROPE, UKRAINE IS A UNIQUE BLEND OF EAST MEETS WEST. ITS HISTORY HAS BEEN INFLUENCED BY CHRISTIAN ORTHODOXY, A ROLE AS ONE OF THE FOUNDING SOVIET REPUBLICS AND NOW AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION WITH TIES TO EUROPE AND RUSSIA. IN UKRAINE THE JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY WOULD VENTURE INTO CHERNOBYL, TOUR A SECRET COLD WAR SUBMARINE BASE AND VISIT ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST APOTHECARIES.

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In the Ukraine the team visited the Massandra vineyard in the Crimea, whose cellar of sweet wines date back to 1775.

GOT ANYTHING FOR A STIFF BACK...?

This remarkable apothecary is to be found in L’Viv in the Ukraine. Built in 1735 it is a labyrinthine sprawl of rooms and subterranean passages where chemists would brew their potions and remedies. Today it still serves customers but with modern medicines no more prosaic than a paracetamol‌

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DAY 8 / CHERNOBYL / 1500 MILES The scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl remains a deserted site 26 years after its fourth reactor suffered a catastrophic meltdown. The team from Land Rover’s Journey of Discovery was one of the first western groups to come within sight of the actual plant itself and also visited the now deserted town of Pripyat, once a bustling city of 50,000 Ukrainians. .

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The Journey crew toured the plant with Valeriy Zabayaka, a Chernobyl plant worker who volunteered to take on the awful job of clearing the radioactive disaster zone. He and the other brave workers were given the title ‘liquidators’, a name even more heavily laden with foreboding when Valeriy explained that just six of his 20 colleagues are still alive today.

“I was young and Pripyat city was like the motherland to me,” Zabayaka reflected. “Today, maybe I would make a different decision but back then there was only one.”

Pripyat lies just three kilometres from the stricken nuclear plant and is a town frozen on the date of the explosion – April 26, 1986. Before the disaster Pripyat was one of the most affluent areas in the Soviet Union. You could even buy Chanel perfume with the roubles earned by the well-paid workers at Chernobyl.

Twenty-six years later Pripyat is a ghost town, its streets and buildings emptied forever; although its inhabitants left in the expectation that they would be able to return a few days later. Tragically, the town remains contaminated and hence as eerily empty today as it became after that fateful day in 1986.

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THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was reached on day nine of the Journey of Discovery. Here in the hallowed Orthodox Monastery of the Caves – a UNESCO World Heritage site – is one of the most unusual art galleries imaginable. The museum of micro miniatures is the work of craftsman Mykola Syadristy, a sculptor of seemingly impossible works of art that would, quite literally, fit on the tip of a match. Syadristy jealously guards his secrets, admitting only that he uses special diamond and ruby-tipped tools to fine-tune his models, which include the 3.5-millimetre Santa Maria sailing ship, carved from 400 separate gold parts.

WORKS OF ART “HIS INCLUDE A SAILING SHIP THAT IS JUST 3.5 MILLIMETRES LONG BUT IS MADE OF 400 SEPARATE GOLD PARTS.”

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DAY 12 / BALAKLAVA / 2100 MILES In 1953, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed the plans for a top secret nuclear submarine base that would become the operational home for the mighty Soviet Black Sea fleet.

Hidden inside the base of a mountain in the port town of Balaklava on the Crimean coast, the facility took nine years to build and was entirely hidden from view. Capable of withstanding a direct nuclear strike, the base could shield 3000 Soviet sailors for a month and the fearsome submarines could slink in and out of the base entirely submerged and away from prying spy planes and later satellites.

Discovery meets the Cold War in Balaklava’s secret submarine base.

Once the most secretive of Cold War hotspots, the base is now a museum into which the Journey of Discovery vehicles were given unique permission to enter. Inside the base a 1000-metre long canal splits the facility into two halves – one was an operational area for the fleet, the other the secret warhead arming area. Incredibly, staff that worked in the operational area of the base never knew that on the other side of the channel sat enough nuclear missiles to obliterate much of western Europe… And that Cold War paranoia even extended to the removal of Balaklava from all Soviet maps (it would be 1992 before it miraculously reappeared…).

Balaklava in 2012 is a very different place. Where once sat brooding black submarines now sit glittering white yachts and locals throng at the water’s edge to fish and sip a few beers. In the Crimea, the Cold War appears to be a relic of yesteryear.

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Born survivor Bear Grylls relies on Land Rovers on his travels.

THE GREAT EXPLORERS

BEAR GRYLLS

B

ear Grylls’ journey into exploration and adventure began at a young age on the Isle of Wight, where he learnt climbing, sailing and martial arts. His insatiable appetite for excitement led him to join the armed services, where he served in the British Special Forces, with 21 SAS. There he specialised as a combat survival instructor and was also trained in evasive driving, parachuting, demolitions, unarmed combat, jungle warfare and as a trauma medic.

In 1998, Grylls entered the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest Briton, at 23, to reach the summit of Mount Everest. This was an even more extraordinary accomplishment as it was completed just 18 months after Bear had partially crushed three vertebrae in a freefall parachuting accident in Zambia.

Grylls’ worldwide acclaim arose through his many TV appearances. In Escape to the Legion, he went through simulated basic training with French Legionnaires in North Africa and his series Born Survivor: Bear Grylls featured daring escapades including climbing cliffs, parachuting, paragliding, ice climbing, running through a forest fire, wading rapids and eating snakes. The show took place in some of the most inhospitable deserts, jungles and mountains on Earth and has fed the public appetite for adventure television with an estimated 1.2 billion viewers across the globe.

Off-screen, Bear has lead record-breaking expeditions from Antarctica to the Arctic, which in turn have raised millions of pounds for charities and good causes around the world. In July 2009, he was appointed the youngest ever Chief Scout at the age of 35.

He is just the tenth person to hold the position and the youngest Chief Scout since the honorary role was created for Robert Baden-Powell in 1920.

Grylls remains an ardent supporter of Land Rover and praised the marque’s spirit of adventure at the launch of the Journey of Discovery: “Land Rovers are totally synonymous with adventure. You need kit you can rely on out there and you’ve definitely got that with a Land Rover.”

DAY 13 / 2575 MILES

RUS

SIA

RUSSIA – THE LARGEST COUNTRY ON EARTH – COVERS AN AREA OF MORE THAN 17 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETRES. HOME TO MORE THAN 138 MILLION PEOPLE, IT IS THE WORLD’S NINTH MOST POPULOUS NATION. A PLACE OF EXTREMES, ITS CLIMATE RANGES FROM THE PERMAFROST OF FRIGID SIBERIA TO THE WARM SUMMERS OF THE BLACK SEA COAST AND THE 5633M HEIGHTS OF MOUNT ELBRUS TO THE SHORES OF THE CASPIAN SEA, 28 METRES BELOW SEA LEVEL.

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55˚45’ N / 37˚36’E

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MOTORING BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN Having crossed into Russia via the border town of Belgorod on Day 13, the expedition headed 300 miles north to Tula - famous as the birthplace of novelist Leo Tolstoy. Just outside the town, several miles down a rutted, off-road trail covered in three feet of snow, the team encountered what must be the most remote car museum in the world.

This 300-strong car collection – in the loosest sense of the word, as many are no more than rusting hulks – was put together by former Moskvich factory tester and rally driver Mikhail Krasinets to ensure that Soviet Russia’s automotive legacy is preserved. Whether discussing a Politburo limousine or a Zil army truck, Krasinets is equally knowledgeable and passionate and the array of vehicles provides a fascinating snapshot of motoring as it was behind the Iron Curtain.

STRIP OFF AND STEP INSIDE MY TRUCK Saunas are so much a part of the Russian way of life that one enterprising enthusiast created a mobile version in the back of a 1976 Zil army truck which the team felt obliged to try outside the capital, Moscow.

An initial acclimatisation to the heat is followed by a session in the chillout room of the truck before returning to the sauna itself. Here the team was treated to a traditional whipping with birch twigs before running outside to plunge themselves into the snow.

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DAY 16 / MOSCOW / 3000 MILES GONE Once the exclusive preserve of the Soviet elite, the Journey of Discovery crew were given special dispensation to drive into Moscow’s Red Square where they were met by a throng of Russian media for a press conference and an update on the trip so far.

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Bolshoi ballet legend Andris Liepa met the crew before a tour of the Kremlin.

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A DISTANT TWIN Following the terrible suffering in World War II, the Russian city of Volgograd - then Stalingrad - was twinned with the Midlands city of Coventry, home to Jaguar Land Rover’s global headquarters.

The crew were charged with delivering the Mayor of Volgograd a pennant and letter from the Lord Mayor of Coventry. They then paid respects at the memorial to the Battle of Stalingrad, where nearly two million soldiers lost their lives, and stood in awe beneath the enormous statue of Mother Russia - nearly twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

THE FLAT PLAINS “ON OUTSIDE VOLGOGRAD

ROADSIDE FUEL STOPS WERE PLENTIFUL AND SURPRISINGLY WELL STOCKED.”

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Ray Mears is a world authority in bushcraft survival techniques.

THE GREAT EXPLORERS

RAY MEARS

R

ay Mears is a world authority in bushcraft, conservation and survival techniques. He developed his enthusiasm for the great outdoors by learning to track foxes and other fauna in local forests and often camped on trails using only resources from his surroundings for shelter.

In 1983, at the age of just 19, Ray began his professional career as an outdoorsman when he founded Woodlore, the School of Wilderness Bushcraft. Ray continues to teach survival skills and has adapted his tuition to meet the needs of his students, both civilian and military.

Mears is known across the world for his television series, in which he has covered a wide range of topics from the traditional culture of indigenous people to the heroes of Telemark and leopard tracking in Namibia. Mears has written a number of books that accompany his TV series and standalone pieces to share his broad knowledge of survival.

In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University.

DAY 20 / 3900 MILES GONE

K A Z A K H S TA N &

& U Z B E K I S TA N BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING OVERLAND / 81

51˚10’ N / 71˚26’E

A LANDLOCKED COUNTRY, UZBEKISTAN IS HOME TO THE ARAL SEA, ONCE THE FOURTH LARGEST INLAND SEA, BUT WHICH HAS NOW SHRUNK TO JUST 10 PERCENT OF ITS ORIGINAL SIZE.

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HOME TO VAST NATURAL RESOURCES, KAZAKHSTAN IS LARGER THAN WESTERN EUROPE AND FOR MUCH OF ITS HISTORY WAS RULED BY NOMADIC TRIBES. IT WAS ALSO THE SETTING FOR THE HISTORIC 19TH CENTURY POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN BRITAIN AND RUSSIA KNOWN AS THE “GREAT GAME.”

The expedition took to the soft stuff to circumnavigate an endless queue of trucks at the border.

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WHERE THE ROADS RAN OUT...

For a clue as to how lengthy the border crossing into Uzbekistan could be, the team needed to look no further than the hand-painted sign that simply read ‘Good Luck’ as the team left Kazakhstan territory. However, the delays had begun several hours earlier when the expedition found themselves at the tail end of a queue of lorries stretching to the horizon. With many miles to go and only an hour until the border closed, the team made full use of the capability of the Discoverys. Selecting maximum ride height, Mud and Ruts mode and disengaging the traction control, the drivers plunged off the torn tarmac and onto the even rougher terrain surrounding it.

Encountering ground ranging from desert scrub to deep sand and wet bogs, cars and drivers were equally tested as they picked their way through the wild and unmarked territory in the fading daylight.

The break for the border having proved successful the Kazakh customs checks were relatively swiftly despatched but a wait of several hours then meant the convoy didn’t enter Uzbekistan until the small hours of the morning.

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BED AND BREAKFAST UZBEK STYLE Pitch darkness, a howling blizzard and lack of accommodation meant the team members were mentally steeling themselves for a freezing night under canvas when the Journey of Discovery finally crossed the border into Uzbekistan. However one of the crew who had travelled in the region before and experienced the wonderful Uzbek hospitality hit on the idea to knock on a few random doors. They were rewarded with tea and a hot meal from their extremely generous hosts who even shared the local vodka with the non-drivers. Despite the blizzard still raging the next day, the cabins of the Discoverys proved just as welcoming and by evening the convoy had reached the shores of the Aral Sea, a desolate and haunting wasteland of abandoned ships with not a soul in sight.

DAY 22 / ARAL SEA / 4600 MILES GONE

Its name translates as “The Sea of Islands� because more than 1500 once dotted the surface of what was the world’s fourth largest lake. Today those same islands are distant hills in a desiccated, poisoned landscape through which toxic dust storms blow.

Once covering an area of 68,000 square kilometres, the Aral Sea is now just a tenth of its original size.

In fact, the name is misleading in more than just scale as there are now four separate bodies of water separated by stretches of desert known as the Aralkum. The two larger bodies of water are known as the North and South Aral Seas.

This devastation has its roots in the 1960s when Soviet agricultural policy dictated that Uzbekistan would become a major cotton producer. Rivers that fed the Aral Sea were diverted into a series of poorly constructed, leaky irrigation canals to water the fields. In a further blow, as the waters retreated, the land left behind was tainted with pesticide and fertiliser from the intensive farming methods used to cultivate the cotton.

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Next to the Aral Sea, the team visited Muynak, once a thriving town of 30,000 people and Uzbekistan’s only port. Previously the hub of a thriving fishing industry that provided a sixth of the USSR’s catch, Muynak is now miles from the coast and surrounded by poisonous scrubland dotted with the rusting hulks of trawlers left high, dry and useless by the receding waters. The local climate has also changed as the waters receded, with the town subjected to stifling summers and harsher winters.

However, the remaining residents of Muynak are still fighting to save their livelihood. The team met with a group of fishermen netting fish from a small lake before transporting them in a tanker lorry to a cleaner stretch of water kilometres away in the hopes that one day the Aral will be restored to its former glory.

SCAN THE CODE TO VIEW THE CREW’S VISIT TO THE ARAL SEA

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DAY 24 / THE SILK ROAD / 4900 MILES GONE Despite its legendary name, the Silk Route was not one single road nor was trade along it limited to cloth. The interlinking series of roads – more than 4000 miles long – and its accompanying sea routes, had its beginnings more than two millennia ago.

The Silk Road connected China, Southeast Asia and India with Europe and what is now the Middle East.

The flow of trade, technology, philosophy and religion along the road contributed to the rise and fall of empires including the Roman, Egyptian and Persian, as well as providing a route for the Black Death to enter Europe.

The crew hit the legendary Silk Road at Khiva in Uzbekistan.

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Still the Silk Road but not quite the image that springs to mind...

KHIVA AND BUKHARA The Journey of Discovery joined the Silk Road at Khiva, whose 10th century, inner walled city Itchan Kala was the first site in Uzbekistan to gain UNESCO World Heritage status. In its central square is a tall blue tower. Legend has it that this was intended as a minaret for the mosque until the Khan who ruled the city argued that the dome on the top would overlook his harem and it was never completed.

From Khiva the crew drove 100 miles to Bukhara on a challenging mix of tarmac and ravaged terrain that looked unchanged from the days of camel caravans. Bukhara was officially founded in 500BC but the oasis around which it was built had already been inhabited for at least 2500 years previously.

Bukhara became a key centre for the exchange of trade and culture between east and west and as such was often fought over. Alexander the Great captured it from the Persians before it passed into the hands of the Kushan and then Samanid Empires. It was in this last period that Bukhara become one of the world’s greatest cities, with a population of 300,000, and was effectively the centre of the Islamic world until it was razed by Genghis Khan in 1220.

Another UNESCO World Heritage site, the city’s architecture spans millennia and includes more than 300 mosques, 100 madrasahs and several covered markets where you can still find spice trading families that have occupied the same premises for hundreds of years.

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SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT One of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world, Samarkand is the second largest in modern Uzbekistan with a population approaching 400,000. Like Bukhara, it was conquered by both Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, the latter conscripting 30,000 men of fighting age and the same number of craftsmen from the population.

Marco Polo described it as “a very large and splendid city” which shortly after his time became the capital for the empire of Timur the Lame, which stretched from India to Turkey and which had been conquered at the cost of a million lives.

Tashkent was settled in 500BC but didn’t acquire its present name, meaning ‘Stone City’ until the 10th century by which time it had fallen under the control of several groups including the Chinese and Persia. It was, unsurprisingly, sacked by Genghis Khan in 1219, just five years after suffering the same fate at the hands of the Persians. But by the 19th century the city had a population of 100,000 and was considered the richest in Asia before being conquered by the Russians and becoming the capital of Turkistan.

The city was destroyed by an earthquake on 26 April 1966 but rebuilt by the Soviets and today is the country’s most cosmopolitan conurbation with wide, tree-lined boulevards, fountains, monument-filled plazas and pleasant parks – plus the largest ever statue of Lenin...

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Ben Saunders, the world’s most accomplished polar skier.

THE GREAT EXPLORERS

BEN SAUNDERS

B

en Saunders was educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and, aged 19, spent four months walking and climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas, before working as an instructor at an adventure training school in the Scottish Highlands.

As a polar explorer and a record-breaking long-distance skier, Saunders has five North Pole expeditions under his belt.

He is the youngest person to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton.

Since 2001, Ben has skied more than 2500km (1500 miles) in the high Arctic, which he recently worked out equates to two percent of his entire life living in a tent.

Saunders is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, a Patron of the British Schools Exploring Society, an honorary member of the Cordon Rouge Club, a Fellow of the British American Project, and supports the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Orchid Cancer Appeal.

Saunders is currently preparing for one of the most ambitious polar expeditions in a century. Between October 2012 and February 2013 he will lead a three-man team setting out to retrace Captain Scott’s ill-fated return journey to the South Pole on foot.

On the centenary of Scott’s last expedition, this four-month, 1800-mile expedition will be the longest unsupported polar journey in history, finally completing Scott’s journey.

DAY 30 / 5800 MILES GONE

KYRGY

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Z S TA N

42˚52’ N / 74˚36’E

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THE LAST STOP IN THE ‘STANS FOR THE JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY WAS KYRGYZSTAN, THE FINAL ASIAN BORDER TO BE CROSSED BEFORE ENTERING CHINA. ON THIS PART OF THE ROUTE THE CREW WOULD EXPERIENCE SOME HEAVY-DUTY SOVIET SPA ACTION, HELP TO BUILD TRADITIONAL YURT TENTS AND EVEN TURN THEIR HAND TO WEAVING SOME FLOOR MATS FOR THEIR DISCOVERYS.

GORGEOUS GORGES Looming large above the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek are the Ala-Too mountains. Here dramatic gorges set within the Ala-Archa National Park reveal vertiginous drops and dramatic ridges that are lined with juniper plants. Rather than distilling gin with them, the locals burn the plants as incense to bring good fortune to their homes.

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DAY 31 / LAKE ISSYK / 6000 MILES GONE With a name like Aurora, you might have expectations of a pleasant spa experience but the Lake Issyk spa and Biosphere Reserve is, in reality, something straight out of 1970s Soviet central casting. Central Asia’s answer to St Tropez, the resort is supposedly buzzing in high summer but in the off-season the Aurora sanatorium – once host to Soviet presidents Brezhnev, Gorbachev and Yeltsin – is a throwback to another era.

Its 1970s design can only be described as brutalist, with spartan rooms, austere staff and a military timetable for treatments and meals. And the treatments are equally old school, with everything imaginable on offer from ‘lavage of the intestin’ (sic) to ‘gum massage’ and ‘denture workshops’.

The intrepid crew ventured in, only to be subjected first to an examination that included heart rate checks, blood pressure, electrocardiograms and other less obvious diagnostics that resulted in reams of tickertape print outs.

Then came the treatment: first a trial bath in sulfurous mineral water to ward off any mild cold symptoms. Next came a breakfast of shredded beetroot, rice pudding, roast chicken and boiled cabbage topped off with some nasal UV treatment delivered through a machine straight from an episode of Dr Who. Only then were they placed in the hands of the mud ladies, Ainogul and Jipara, who covered them in a thick layer of black mud and basted them at 42˚C for 20 minutes. The result: a lightly steamed crew ready for the next stage of the Journey of Discovery.

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“Lie still or my friend will send you to sleep the hard way...”

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TO ALL INTENTS IT’S A YURT...

Approximately 20 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s five million population are semi-nomadic. Although most now live in villages, the traditional portable dwellings known as yurts are still used for special occasions such as weddings or, in this case, the arrival of the Journey of Discovery. The team was to spend the night in one of the circular constructions. The first challenge was to erect it. A feat their hosts assured them could be accomplished in less than two hours. And here’s how…

START – The yurt arrives on a trailer. The door is the first thing to be erected as it anchors the latticework walls. Six of these panels are expanded and lashed together to form a circle.

30 MINS – The centre point of the roof – a wooden disc with holes around its circumference – is hoisted aloft on a wooden pole.

The 74 willow spars that make up the roof ribs are slotted into the holes in the disc and their other ends tied to the lattice walls.

55 MINS – Brightly coloured decorations in pink, green and yellow are suspended from the

bottom of the ribs while bulrush matting is wrapped around the framework of the walls.

1HR 10MINS – The heavyweight insulating layer of felt is wrapped around the outside of the bulrush mats. In the past this was made of sheep’s wool but is now supplied ready cut to size from a factory near Bishkek.

1HR 45MINS – The yurt is completed with the two large pieces of felt that make up the roof pushed into place and the inside made cosy with coloured rugs, wall hangings and quilts.

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KYRGYZ RUG CO-OPERATIVE Kochkor is the centre of the traditional Kyrgyz rug-making industry.

Surrounded by the snow-capped Tian Shan peaks, a 60-strong co-operative, almost entirely women, makes up to 100 rugs a year.

The most intricate take 12 months to complete but the team was presented with a very special design, commemorating the Journey of Discovery, which five members of the co-operative had produced in an astonishing six days.

Marine conservationist and presenter Monty Halls.

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THE GREAT EXPLORERS

MONTY HALLS

A

former Royal Marines officer who worked with Nelson Mandela to ensure a peaceful end to the apartheid regime in South Africa, Monty Halls left the armed services to pursue a passion for marine biology.

Graduating with a First Class Honours degree in the subject from the University of Plymouth in 1999, Halls spent the next decade leading multinational expeditions, during which time he circumnavigated the globe four times.

These expeditions included an anti-poaching project in Malawi, the discovery of a sunken city off the coast of India and, in association with the Natural History Museum, the underwater filming of a rare crocodile species in Belize. In 2002 Halls was awarded the Bish Medal for Services to Exploration by the Scientific Exploration Society.

Halls has also become a familiar sight on TV through his Great Escapes series, which explored life in remote regions of the British Isles and a recent BBC series exploring the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Halls is involved with a number of marine conservation charities and is a patron of Help For Heroes. He continues to organise and lead expeditions and diving trips and has written a number of books, primarily about the marine environment.

C HI DAY 35 / 6250 MILES GONE

I NA

THE WORLD’S MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY, CHINA WAS THE FINAL NATION TO BE CROSSED ON THE JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY, YET IT WOULD STILL BE 10 FULL AND HARD DAYS OF DRIVING BEFORE THE EXPEDITION REACHED BEIJING. ON THE WAY THEIR ROUTE WOULD FOLLOW THE HIGH DUNE DESERT THAT EXTENDS INTO MONGOLIA AND THEN THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, WHICH WOULD LEAD THEM TO THE THEIR DESTINATION, BEIJING.

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39˚55’ N / 116˚25’E

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THE FINAL FRONTIER The Journey of Discovery passed into its 13th and final country of the tour when it reached the border town of Kashgar in China on the 35th day of the expedition. Home to the Turkic-descended Uighur people, the town is a mix of bustling bazaars, Arabic signs and general hubbub. As a Muslim-dominated territory it still feels far from the heart of China and geographically it is, for although they had come a long way there were still 2000 miles of the journey to be completed.

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DAY 39 / TAKLIMAKAN DESERT / 6800 MILES GONE Deep in the heart of China’s wild west lies the Taklimakan Desert, an area of shifting sands and desolate beauty that covers 337,000 square kilometres. Two branches of the Silk Road cross the desert and on the northern spur the Journey of Discovery crew met up with the Xinjiang Extreme Rallying Society, for whom the rolling sands are their recreational stamping ground of choice.

After 6800 miles this was a chance to test the Disoverys in a true sand playground and the cars did not disappoint. The crew enjoyed an afternoon of dune-riding before bidding farewell to their hosts and heading east to meet the China Exploration and Research Society – one of Land Rover’s humanitarian and conservation partners – in Dunhuang.

SAND DOCTOR In the south-western Xinjiang region of China the crew met Professor Abdirahman – a man of medicine, but no ordinary doctor.

The tools of his trade were not stethoscopes and antibiotics but a spade and desert sand, which was not in short supply.

The professor is a noted practitioner of sand therapy, an ancient healing art that has been practiced by the Uighur people for more than 4000 years and is renowned for its ability to cure not just aching joints and arthritis but also skin diseases, male infertility and post-natal depression.

Over the course of an hour and 20 minutes the patient is gradually buried in sand that can reach temperatures in excess of 50˚C. The result was, according to the crew, incredibly relaxing but they wished they’d used some sunblock before the burial…

BIRMINGHAM TO BEIJING OVERLAND / 125 SCAN THE CODE TO VIEW THE TEAM OFF-ROADING IN THE DESERT

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CHINA EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH SOCIETY CERS founder and legendary explorer Wong How Man led the crew on a tour of the world-famous Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. Commonly known as the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas, the shrine of Buddhist treasures is spread through 735 caves. The society’s fleet of nine Land Rovers has been invaluable in aiding their conservation work.

A gala dinner in Dunhuang marked the arrival of the crew.

The Great Wall of China at its western-most point in the central Gansu province.

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HOLE IN THE WALL GANG...

A significant milestone on the journey was reached when the crew arrived in Jiayuguan – the most westerly point of the Great Wall of China. Located in the Gobi Desert, a gigantic yellowstone fort marks the terminus of perhaps the world’s most iconic structure; and the thread that would lead the expedition to its finish in the capital Beijing.

In existence as a walled city for at least 3000 years, Beijing first took its name when it was made the capital of the Ming Dynasty in 1421 and has kept its prominence ever since.

Home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites, Beijing’s major landmarks are famed throughout the world – the Forbidden Palace, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, the Ming Dynasty Tombs and the Peking Man site where some of the earliest human fossils were unearthed.

The centre of Chinese culture and art and a modern economic colossus, Beijing provided an awe-inspiring backdrop to the finale of the Journey of Discovery and something of a swift return to reality for the team as the Discoverys were absorbed into the bustle of 19 million people. Their one-in-a-million Journey of Discovery had reached its destination.

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BEIJING / JOURNEY’S END...

THE LAND ROVER JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY CREW

SCAN THE CODE TO VIEW THE ROUND-UP FILM OF THE JOURNEY

Car 1 (Millionth Discovery) Phil Jones - Land Rover Experience Rob Clacy - Land Rover Experience Steve Purvis - Land Rover Experience Car 2 Toby Blythe - Land Rover Experience Car 3 Richard Kearney - Vehicle Technician Darren Fielding - Vehicle Technician Car 4 Marvin Verheyden - Land Rover Experience

8000 MILES 50 DAYS

Writers: Jeremy Hart Warren Pole Ian Belcher Gary Jones Videographers: Andrew Wassall GainPaolo Lupori Photographers: Anthony Cullen Nick Dimbleby Adam Dean Medics Andrew Harriss Jim Cladingboel

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CREDITS

Journey of Discovery - commissioned by Land Rover Ltd. All text, photos and artwork Copyright Š Land Rover Ltd. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. While we strive for utmost precision, we cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies.

Published in 2012 by FP Creative Ltd 8 Vine Yard London SE1 1QL www.fpcreative.com ISBN: 978-0956801319

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WWW.LANDROVER.COM/MILLION