The Oxford & Cambridge First Overland 2010 Expedition is sadly having to announce a delayed departure..

The main reason for the delay is our Iranian visa's still have not arrived. The second reason is the new generation of self-adjusting glasses which are being produced by Oxford's Centre for the Developing  World, are not 100% ready yet. They have had a machine fault which has led to a delay in manufacture. The last reason is because we have not yet fully met our budget of £33,000 - we are close though and there are a lot of loose ends that need tying up to bring in those extra £££'s.

The departure is expected in 2011 and we will update this website as soon as our plans are finalised.

Thank You
First Overland 2010 Team



55 YEARS AGO, six students from Oxford and Cambridge made history as the first team to drive over land from London to Singapore – an epic expedition across half the world. Departing in 2010, another team from the two Universities will set out to rediscover ‘First Overland’.

Faithfully retracing their route, we will cross 20 fascinating and beautiful countries including Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Myanmar (Burma), before finally arriving in Singapore in February 2011.

We aim to achieve an authentic recreation of the original journey and in doing so capture the impact of change over 55 years - documenting a rapidly vanishing world, and preserving a record for the future.

There are many ways of life between London and Singapore, and we hope that by observing them intimately from the ground, we will point not only to the differences between cultures, but also the similarities uncovered by this continuous journey. Travelling in the dry heat of the desert and the humid air of the tropical Far East, between developed city and war-torn rural village, our expedition will offer a narrative unavailable to the modern tourist flying from one destination to another.

We hope to leave a lasting legacy in those developing communities we visit through our charitable project ‘Seeing is Essential’. Our team aims to expose the challenges faced by communities that lack adequate eye care and we plan to champion the innovative adjustable eyeglass technology produced by our partner Global Vision 2020 through following specific individuals on their unique journey back to sight


Read on to discover more about our expedition history, our team, our vehicles, our objectives, our route and our sponsors.




First Overland 2010