• 
• 

Published on July 22, 2007

Halim Abdul Rahman, a Malaysian pioneer of four-wheel drive motor sports, made an overnight stop in Bangkok last Friday as part of the seven-country Petronas South Asia 2007 expedition, which started out in Kuala Lumpur on July 8.

His 24-car entourage, sponsored by Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas and other corporations, should have already arrived in Lijiang, China by today, according to the programme's itinerary.

The next major stop will be in Lhasa, Tibet, the "roof of the world", followed by Kathmandu, New Delhi, Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.

Of the 15,000-kilometre, two-month journey, which will end on September 1, Halim, 55, said: "It's all about cross-border friendship, adventure, teamwork, fun, charity and promoting the adoption of needy kids as well as supporting a good multinational corporate image."

Halim, founder of Adventure Sports Manage-ment, has been going out on similar annual expeditions for Petronas for the past nine years.

A chartered secretary by profession, Halim began focusing full time on his four-wheel-drive hobby after helping to form the Petronas Adventure Team in 2000.

This year's event was flagged off in Kuala Lumpur on July 8, and Halim promised severe challenges for both participants and their machines.

"I told them it wouldn't be a walk in the park even for seasoned veterans. Unpredictable weather, extremely high altitudes, horrendous road conditions and long hours will make this expedition a tough one," said the team leader.

According to the programme's itinerary, participants will mainly use off-road routes, rather than the usual highways, as they seek to explore hard-to-access areas in the places they plan to visit. "Overall, the journey will cover Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Nepal, India and Pakistan. It will take a total of more than 60 days to complete the trip.

"From Thailand, we will go up to Laos's Luang Probing via Thailand's Nong Khai province, where we expect heavy rains along the way.

"Then, southern China, Tibet, Nepal (Mount Everest), India, then up north into Pakistan before ending the expedition in the port city of Karachi on August 31.

"On September 1, all the 24 vehicles will be shipped back to Malaysia. That will take about a week. However, the 65 participants will fly back home to Malaysia on September 2.

"Along the route, temperatures will likely be worst in both India and Pakistan. In northern India, we're expecting an extreme temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius but in the deserts of India the mercury could shoot up to over 50 degree Celsius.

"In addition, we've got to drive through mountain passes well over 5,000 metres in height, making the threat of acute mountain sickness a real possibility.

"Yet, the trip will also pass through some of the most scenic and romantic places on earth, including world heritage sites like the Tag Maha in Agar, the old city of Lijiang, the Petal Palace in Lhasa and the Gilgit region in northern Pakistan," said Halim.

Besides adventure and fun, the entourage will contribute to the societies they visit along the way. There are community programmes in Thailand, China, India and Pakistan for children's foundations, children hospitals and orphanages.

Previously, the team embarked on eight other expeditions. For instance, in 1999 it undertook the "Passage to Tibet" and became the first four-wheel-drive group to enter the world's rooftop following a 16,000-km, 45-day journey.

Then in 2001, on its "Silk Road" expedition, the team went from Turkey to Malaysia on a 20,000 km, 59-day trip.

In 2002, a new challenge was the Siberian expedition, taking participants to the ancient realm of Genghis Khan from Dalian on the Chinese eastern seaboard.

The journey covered a total distance of 13,000 km as participants drove through Siberia and Lake Baikal, crossing the Gobi desert and the homeland of the Mongolian people.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nop1122@yahoo.com