The Final Leg on the Asian Continent

I have to admit that when we decided to drive to the Cameron Highlands I had imagined a green sea of tea nestled in the cool forested mountain air with colonial buildings dotted in between each plantation. Our drive from Alor Setar to the highlands started off well, as we had the most fantastic drive moving inland from the humid coast. Before long we found ourselves in the middle of a torrential downpour and later on an immaculate road weaving through dense forest towards the legendary highlands, where we resumed our snake spotting tally. With the excitement of the colonial destination looming, I began imagining that I was a colonial going on a weekend retreat and so I started mimicking in an imaginary voice: “Chrissy, did you pack my shotgun old girl because I’m going to have a jolly good go at shooting the hell out of something this weekend, what, what…by the way mine’s a G&T old chap” and so on and so on.

Unfortunately, I was to find that my imagination needed updating to the twenty-first century. In actual fact upon arriving at the Cameron Highlands we came across hill tops that had been deforested; leveled out and replaced by row upon row of poly tunnels that were growing everything from exotic lettuce to enormous strawberries. When we reached the highland towns we were met by a bustling hub of growers; tourists and hundreds of old Land Rover 110’s (that worked the steep slopes). Instead of seeing colonial buildings we passed hotels that climbed towards the sky and that used neon lights to attract their guests. We later found out that the consequence of the increased population and agriculture is having a huge impact on the environment here. The Cameron Highlands is an enormous catchment area for rain water, however, even so this huge area is unable to sustain the extra demands and water has actually become a scarce commodity in the highlands.

After paying to sleep in our van, outside a gargantuan hotel that was nestled at 3500ft in the town of Tanah Rata, we set out on what was to be our final days drive on the Asian continent. In front of us lay a relatively straight forward 300km drive to Port Klang; a dock situated southeast of Kuala Lumpur. However, we didn’t drive far before we stopped off at one of the Cameron Highlands famous tea plantations for an authentic cup of home grown ‘Rosie-lee’ and matching curry puff. Chrissy outdid my Colonial impersonation with some of her classic pinkie-extended tea drinking style. If there is ever a place to enjoy a cup of tea this has to be it: a modern day veranda overlooking the steep sided Cameron Valley slopes, which are blanketed in a patchwork of evergreen tea bushes.


Having downed our tea we showed the latest small crowd that had gathered around my window how my hand controls worked. We noticed that unlike in other countries where explaining the hand control mechanisms had been enough, since reaching Malaysia we were now asked to pose for photos and disclose our facebook id’s. We then hit the winding road destined for a forty foot container with Miranda’s name on it and I started singing songs about the curries in Ringlet (another Cameron Highland’s town) which burnt the ringlets of many a curry fan – sorry about the poor jokes, but we have learnt to laugh easily on an overland journey of this epic proportion. As we went from one hairpin bend to another we passed umbrella like ferns - that looked like they had been crocheted from green silk - and enormous trees that seemed to have only one purpose in life – to grow as tall as possible, as fast as possible. We made most of the descent, as we knew we would soon be on the motorway heading towards the capital of Malaysia where we had scheduled a rendezvous with a guy called One Dollar, who was going to help us ship Miranda to the land down under.

One Dollar
Meeting One Dollar turned out to be a trump card. We had been given his contact details by an overlanding couple (Simon and Megan) in a fleeting conversation from one window to another, whilst parked up in Khoa Yai National Park in Thailand. We only had one question and that was, ‘Why is he called One Dollar’ to which they replied ‘His name is so long that nobody can remember it’. Apparently, he was a shipping agent in Port Klang who could prepare and send vehicles to Australia, which included fumigating and cleaning them to try and meet Australia’s strict import standards. Weeks earlier we found out that we weren’t allowed to drive our vehicle into Singapore. This is because any vehicle that is classed as a campervan (or has a gas stove or even a bed) is banned from entering Singapore. Knowing this plus how difficult the process of shipping to Australia can be, we decided to contact One Dollar.

On receiving a reply to my email it was clear that I would never remember the long name displayed at the footnote of his reply, therefore, I thought it would be far simpler to call him One Dollar. To date he is the first person I’ve met who signs off on an email with ‘Long live adventure’. This is a motto he seems to have developed from boyhood and conjured up as a result of the many overland adventures (by motorbike and 4x4) that he has undertaken. Indeed he has clocked up travels to over eighty countries! One of his adventures included leading a group of motorbikers from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia on a Haj challenge. According to One Dollar he has been the recipient of many acts of kindness during his journeys and it is for this reason why he likes to help overlanders. We later heard that during overland expeditions One Dollar is charged with the job of clearing customs because he has a certain ability to talk his way through any administrative border.

It turned out that One Dollar’s father migrated from India to Malaysia in the early twentieth century and that is where One Dollar and his three brothers had grown up ever since. After meeting him at his offices in Klang it was plainly clear that he could help us ship Miranda at a very competitive price. What is more, although he had only just met us he invited us to stay at his house whilst we prepared the van for shipping. We accepted his generous offer for one night and followed him to his home where we met Alina his Russian wife. We then followed them out to dinner, where we met his brothers and a few of his closest friends. The experience was fantastic! They all welcomed us warmly, shouted us food and the banter flowed like cold Singha beer.

Sitting in a street restaurant with One Dollar et al, the Malaysian mix of cultures was evident by the mix of races I saw as I looked around. Malaysia is made up of a number of different ethnic groups, which include Malay, Chinese, Indian, Tamil and indigenous Orang Asli. From a first hand point of view it was great to see how the main groups mixed so freely. This was reiterated by One Dollar’s brother Abu a few days later who said, ‘I believe that the main races here get on so well because we all think of ourselves as Malaysian and we don’t think one race is better than the other.’

One Dollar and his friends had a great sense of humour and loved a good practical joke. They proudly relayed many of these, for instance the one where they took Vj’s brother – with a needle phobia – to the Doctors for a Tetanus injection and told him that the least painful place to be jabbed was on the gluteus maximus. I can still picture the immitated scream he let out! Being around One Dollar and his friends reminded me that it is important to laugh more often and to not take everything in life so seriously.

Miranda’s birthday at Blackhawk Garage

That night One Dollar introduced us to a friend of his called Double Zero (nicknamed because he was so dangerous that he could flatline at any minute) who would be able to help us get Miranda in ship shape condition before packing her off to Australia.

Double Zero (aka Artek) is a small shareholder and mechanic in the Land Rover Enthusiast’s garage that he works in. On the weekends he goes into the jungle with one of his beloved Land Rovers; his wife (incidentally another Alyna) and their two boys. In previous years he has run extreme 4x4 jungle challenges and has taken part in several overland expeditions acting as the chief mechanic.

Whilst getting to know Double Zero he told me that his friends always asked him, ‘How do you find time to go into the jungle and on expeditions?’ He said they asked him so much that it made him wonder, ‘Maybe I am abnormal?’ Apparently, these questions made him reflect on his life. He concludes that the reason why he is able to take time out to do the things he likes doing is because he has been able to keep his level of commitment in his life low. Instead of choosing to commit to keeping up with the neighbours by buying the latest 92 inch plasma television; replacing his car every year and buying a huge house he has opted out of these ‘stereotypical’ lifestyle choices. Instead he spends an enormous amount of quality time with his family and friends off-roading in the Malaysian jungle. The effect this choice has had is obvious. Double Zero’s family are extremely close. Double Zero’s qualities are matched by Alyna’s. She is a down to earth yet adventurous soul, a great mum and proficient catering manager – keeping all of the boys well fed. Both of their boys are able to drive; carry out basic first-aid (witnessed when Chrissy slammed her fingers in their Land Rover door) and basic mechanical jobs despite being only fourteen and ten years of age. What’s more they are bursting with confidence.

Double Zero and Alyna’s conscious decision to choose what some people may think is an alternative life confirmed two things to me. Firstly, that you only get one chance to live life. Secondly, that given the means to do so, we all have the ability to choose how we want to live it. A fitting conclusion to these thoughts can be seen stuck to the bonnet of many a Land Rover and that is ‘One life, live it’.

Everyone at Blackhawk garage (Moktar & Lee; and even overland bikers – Diego and Maria) did so much to help Chrissy and I over the few days that we got to know them. This included lifting my heavy ass up two flights of stairs into our accommodation; lifting me into and out of the back of a 110 Land Rover; spending countless hours getting Miranda ready; cooking delicious food for us; sharing their dinner table with us and inviting us out for some great lunches/ice tea etc. Even Double Zero’s boys helped us prep Miranda. Yet again, we owe a huge amount of thanks to the people who have helped us so much on our journey and we hope we can repay the favour in the future.

During our time at Blackhawk Garage, Diego and Maria, a Spanish couple who have been overland biking around Asia said something that struck home: ‘Before we left on our journey across the world we wondered what the world is really like. From the people we’ve met we think it’s a pretty good place. Maybe we have just been lucky.’ After our experiences at Blackhawk Garage, at One Dollar’s place, in Malaysia and on the rest of our journey, I think Chrissy and I agree with you, the world is a pretty good place.


Miranda The Sweat Box, Really is in a Sweat Box now
The morning of Miranda’s imminent departure into a shipping Container (40 foot sweat Box) began manically. One Dollar had grilled us on finicky Australian customs officials: “I pray you don’t get a female customs official because then you are screwed” and so we had spent some time degreasing, buffing, polishing and vacumming every one of Miranda’s crevices clean. Chrissy was devastated that she even had to throw out all the food, including some of her delicious oats. It got to the point that Double Zero as an avid overlander became slightly concerned that the next time he or anyone else shipped their cars to Australia they would be barred from entering because of the new benchmark we had set.

In actual fact Miranda was far from ready and there were lots of last minute jobs waiting to be completed e.g. cleaning the water filter and scraping the bug friendly chipboard from the roof rack – the latter which we yet again had Double Zero to thank for as Chrissy who had jammed her fingers in the car door a day earlier was operating with three fingers down.

Luckily One Dollar had organised a team of men to swarm over Miranda and help us clean and load her into the matching blue container. It was sod’s law that after we got her pressure hosed it started raining along the dirt track which led to the container yard, but we were pretty impressed at her state, regardless. As the doors closed on the container, it quite literally marked the end of our first driving chapter all the way from London to Port Klang.

Because Miranda wasn’t allowed into Singapore, it meant that the shipping route we had kept our eyes on from Singapore to Darwin was no longer feasible. Shipping a car from Port Klang to Darwin is possible but it costs four times the amount and takes 30days (time is now our enemy). So we made the decision to ship her to Brisbane, a more frequented route. This means that pending any Cyclone Yasis, Miranda is due to arrive on Australian shores on the 9th February, where we hope to reunite with her for the final leg of our overland journey.