Welcome to the Sommer Travelling Blog Home Page!

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We’re David & Charlotte - once ordinary travellers, now full-time overlanders picking routes as we go, changing plans when reality demands it, and writing it all down honestly as we pass through. Expect culture, chaos and beautiful places that don’t feature on glossy lists. This is our roadbook from the real world: what happens when you set off overland with a bit of planning and a lot of curiosity. 

• If you’re new here: This was the original post Made it to Morocco and 15 minutes of fame You can start there and work through, but just know it's not a complete account (yet) until you get to From Paperwork to Pastures: A Hard Lesson in the Road Ahead. Which is where we really doubled down to improve the quality and volume ( we blog now twice a month).

• If you’ve been before: latest posts are at the top - good to see you back!

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Blog Link	Country	Points of Interest
Thailand Pt2: No Alternative Route – Driving Blind Through Thailand’s Floods	Thailand (Southern)	active flooding, impassable roads waist-deep road crossings submerged vehicles, invisible roads petrol station refuge emergency boats, displaced residents instinct vs judgement, survivor guilt forced flight toward Malaysia
Thailand, Part 1: An Easy Country, Until It Isn’t	Thailand (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Khuek Khak)	temples, selfies, sacred queues monk chants White Temple, gold palaces, spectacle staged villages, souvenir traditions Phuket bars, expat bubbles tsunami ruins, beach memorials
https://www.sommertravelling.com/post/india-part-two	India (Varanasi, Ganges River, Delhi, New Delhi Railway Station, Jaipur)	burning ghats, death at arm’s length Diwali smoke, fireworks, and collapsing air tuk-tuks, street logic, and rented survival rats, flies, and drawing personal limits
India Part 1: Ziro to Kolkata – At the Fading Edges of India	India (Hyderabad, Ziro Valley, Kolkata)	tribal tattoos, vanishing traditions Durga Puja chaos vs quiet hills rickshaws, dignity, and biryani regret
A Christmas Thankyou…	Journey recap + what’s next (Europe → Middle East → SE Asia; next leg: Chile / South America)	Maps of our journey so far Map of next leg
Between Borders and Brothels: A Brief Drift Through Laos and Thailand	Laos (Boten, rainforest, Vang Vieng, Vientiane) Thailand (Bangkok)	SEZ sleaze and karaoke brothels rainforest nights and red-mud roads paperwork derailing “freedom”
Seventy-Two Bends and a Few Too Many Tyres	China / Tibet (Khunjerab Pass, Tibet, Lhasa, Nujiang “72 Bends”)	oxygen masks and prayer flags riot police outside holy temples tyres exploding, visas expiring
China: Border, Control, and the Long Road to Tibet	Pakistan → China → Tibet (Khunjerab Pass; across China; into Tibet)	map interrogation, deportation threats SIM cards as surveillance a 34-hour mechanical race against visas
Escorted Across Pakistan: Guns, Landslides and a Narrow Escape to China	Pakistan (Gilgit, Hunza, Karakoram Highway, Sost, Khunjerab Pass)	armed convoys and sirens mountain roads that kill sneaking under live power cables
Tea with the Taliban: An Overlander’s Passage Through Afghanistan	Afghanistan (border region, Kunduz, Kabul)	Taliban tea and “customer feedback” razor-wire hotels and AK-47 dinners secret schools and banned books
Tajikistan – On the Roof of the World	Tajikistan (Pamir Highway, high-mountain villages, Panj River)	diesel alarms at 4,500 metres villages burning cow dung for heat Afghanistan across the river
From Paperwork to Pastures: A Hard Lesson in the Road Ahead	Kazakhstan → Kyrgyzstan → Mongolia → Turkmenistan → Uzbekistan (Bishkek, Ulaanbaatar, Silk Road cities)	lost at the Kyrgyz border visa chaos and forced separation archers, deserts, and broken air-con
All change – people, places and weather	Türkiye (Pontic Mountains) → Georgia (Batumi, Tbilisi, Gori) → Spain detour → back to Georgia → Armenia (Yerevan) → Russia (Astrakhan) → Kazakhstan (Almaty)	snowbound, Stalin Museum, visa limbo, steppe
Back in Saudi and heading for Iraq...	Oman → Saudi Arabia (Al-Ula, Jeddah, Dakar Rally) → Jordan (Aqaba, Wadi Rum, Petra, Dead Sea) → Iraq (Baghdad, Babylon, Samarra) → Türkiye	Petra, Babylon, military escort, desert camps
Leaving Iran and starting on the Arabian Peninsula	Iran (Bandar Abbas) → UAE (Dubai/Sharjah) → Saudi Arabia (NE) → Bahrain → Qatar → Oman (Muscat, Nizwa, Wadi Bani Awf)	oil wealth, malls vs. bazaars, desert shock
Iran	Türkiye → Iran (Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz)	hospitality, mosques, headscarves, paradox
We are off… To an uninspired start	United Kingdom, Europe	Europe dull after Africa, long transit
We are ready to go!	The Scarborough Arms pub, Sunderland Street, Tickhill, Doncaster (UK)	restart, pub car park, community
400 + days and counting	UK (Doncaster; planning: Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Mongolia)	truck repairs, twisted chassis, waiting
We didn’t have 1.25 million dollars in cash strangely?	Kenya (blocked) → Zambia → Namibia (Caprivi Strip) → Angola → DRC → Congo → Cameroon → Nigeria → Benin → Togo → Ghana → Côte d’Ivoire → Guinea-Conakry → Morocco → Spain → UK	16,000 km detour, gangs, corruption, despair
It’s been a while since the last one…	Tanzania (Mbeya) → Kenya (Nairobi) → Uganda (Kampala) → Rwanda → back to Tanzania	Rwanda cleanliness, Nairobi extremes, fatigue
What is it with Elephants and Chilli?	Zambia (Livingstone northwards; rural maize fields)	elephant deterrents, chilli, maize fields
Hello, I’m Fabulous, pleased to meet you	Zimbabwe (Victoria Falls)	Victoria Falls, resilience, currency chaos
Gimme hope Jo’anna, give me hope	Botswana (Francistown, Maun, Okavango Delta, Makgadikgadi salt pans, Chobe, Kasane)	elephants, lions, salt pans, wild camping
Red Red Wine	Namibia → South Africa (Cape Town, wine country)	vineyards, comfort, repairs, “a different Africa”
Send a bolt of lightning. Very very frightening me!!	Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville, jungle tracks)	storms, rivers, isolation, raw nature
Life is full of surprises!	DRC (towards Kinshasa)	corruption, mud, bribes, survival
It’s life Jim, but not as we know it!	Senegal (Dakar, coastal towns) Angola (Luanda, rural roads, waterfalls area)	first West Africa, heat, traffic, culture shock, malaria talk, police kindness, washed-out bridge
It’s been a while…	Senegal (Ziguinchor) → Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia → UK	catch-up, road rhythm, settling into Africa, Balkans, war scars, daughter’s wedding
All change!	The Gambia (Banjul) → Guinea-Bissau	border crossing, desert, sense of isolation, yellow fever jabs, visas, constant resets
Cooling down, wind in our hair…	Western Sahara (Atlantic coast) Senegal (east) → The Gambia (Banjul, Atlantic coast)	coastal drive, wind, relief from heat, river country, heat, fantasy cocktails
Hitting the road in Senegal and turning up the heat	Senegal (Dakar, Bassari region, Atlantic coast)	arrival, bureaucracy, intense heat, Bassari initiation, flamingos, village life
Moving on, shipping out	Morocco (Tiznit, Casablanca) → Senegal (Dakar)	shipping the truck, paperwork, waiting game, drone hiding, first separation
Travels through Morocco and Western Sahara	Morocco (Tangier, Tiznit, Agadir, Taroudant) → Western Sahara (Atlantic coast)	long drives, sand, first taste of Africa. Berber wedding, sandstorms, hospitality, visa limbo
Made it to Morocco and 15 minutes of fame	UK (Doncaster, Harwich) → Netherlands (Hook of Holland) → Belgium → Luxembourg → France (Normandy) → Spain → Italy (Genoa) → Morocco (Tangier Med)	arrival, press attention, excitement, media, Channel 5, emotional departure, Covid border dash