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Char Is Far

Overlanding & 4×4 Travel

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  • Destinations
    • Africa
      • Morocco
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      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Indonesia
      • Kazakhstan
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      • Laos
      • Sri Lanka
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
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    • Europe
      • Albania
      • Austria
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • France
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      • Germany
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      • Montenegro
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  • Road Trip Cambodia
    Asia,  Cambodia,  Destinations,  Expedition Overland

    Overland Journal Day 159-172: Cambodia Road Trip to Phnom Penh, Koh Rong & Angkor Wat

    April 24, 2025 / No comments

    We leave behind what’s said to be the most corrupt border crossing in Asia and roll into Cambodia. At this point, we’ve been on the road for five months and have covered 27,000 kilometers. We dive headfirst into the comforts of city life in Phnom Penh, soak up the easygoing island vibe on Koh Rong, and – maybe the biggest milestone yet – we drive our own car…

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  • rooftop tent kyrgyzstan
    Asia,  Destinations,  Kyrgyzstan

    Holiday to Kyrgyzstan: The Ultimate 3-Week Road Trip Itinerary (+Wild Camping & Off-Roading Tips)

    April 16, 2025 / No comments

    Planning a holiday to Kyrgyzstan? This breathtaking Central Asian country quickly became our all-time favorite, and for good reason. Towering mountain ranges, vast valleys, and rugged off-road trails make Kyrgyzstan the perfect destination for an adventurous road trip. We’ve explored Kyrgyzstan twice now: once by flying in and renting a 4×4 with rooftop tent, and once by driving all the way from The Netherlands in our own Toyota…

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  • Overlanding Laos with your own vehicle
    Asia,  Destinations,  Expedition Overland,  Laos

    Overland Journal Day 143-158: Laos Road Trip

    February 9, 2025 / No comments

    After 143 days and 24.000 kilometers, we drive into Southeast Asia—marking the final chapter of our overland expedition. It’s time for a road trip through Laos. The transition is striking after China’s fast pace. Life here is slower, the roads are rougher, and tourists suddenly seem to be everywhere. Yet, Laos also feels familiar. We traveled here as backpackers seven years ago and recognize the emerald rice terraces,…

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  • Overland Itinerary Europe to Asia and back
    Asia,  Destinations,  Europe,  Expedition Overland,  Middle East

    Itinerary Update: The Expedition After Singapore

    January 27, 2025 / No comments

    We have arrived in Singapore — it feels unreal! While we’ll share several more blog posts about our experiences later, for us, this moment has already become reality. So, what’s next? After much thought and consideration, we have finally made a decision regarding the future of this expedition. We won’t head to Australia, we won’t venture further into Indonesia, and we won’t even stay longer in Southeast Asia.…

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  • Ancient Town China
    Asia,  China,  Destinations,  Expedition Overland

    Overland Journal Day 129-142: Xi’an, Chengdu and Ancient Towns (China)

    January 12, 2025 / 4 Comments

    We reach a major expedition milestone: Xi’an, the end of the historic Silk Road and the easternmost point of our journey. From here, we head south, passing the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, restored “ancient towns”, and baby pandas in the metropolis of Chengdu. The arid deserts of the north give way to lush tropical forests, endless tea fields and pouring monsoons as we reach the border of Laos. Welcome…

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Char Is Far

We’re Charelle and Marcel, living for off-road adventures and sharing the freedom that comes with it. Char Is Far is your invitation to break free, chase dreams, and explore the unknown. In 2024 we drove from The Netherlands to Singapore in our 4x4 with rooftop tent, and the road ahead is calling again. Ready to leave your comfort zone and see what's out there?

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Popular posts

Overland Itinerary: Driving From The Netherlands to Singapore

The Ultimate Guide On Riding The Ha Giang Loop In Vietnam (4 Days)

Overland Journal Day 26-40: Türkiye

Kyrgyzstan 2-Week Itinerary: Epic Self Drive With 4×4 and Rooftop Tent

Kyrgyzstan Travel: Everything You Need To Know

The Start Of Our Overland Adventure

Overland Journal Day 41-52: Iran

Overland Journal Day 53-56: Turkmenistan

Overland Journal Day 117: Border Crossing Into China

Overland Journal Day 72-81: Tajikistan (Panjakent and Dushanbe)

Categories

Charelle Kooy | Overlanding & 4x4 Travel

char.is.far

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📍 Made it to the Roof of Africa, the legendary 📍 Made it to the Roof of Africa, the legendary Sani Pass from South Africa into Lesotho This mountain pass is basically the reason we booked our South Africa trip, no joke 😂 This iconic 4x4 trail winds its way up from SA into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. It's the highest pass in South Africa at 2876 meters in altitude, and aptly nicknamed "the roof of Africa". You clear South African immigration before the climb, but the Lesotho border post is right at the summit. And at the top you'll also find the highest pub in Africa 🍻 You'll definitely want to add this to your SA trip 🫡 #sanipass #4x4southafrica #southafricatravel #lesotho #overlandbound #overlandtravel #africaoverland #overlanding4x4 #meetsouthafrica
Wow. Seeing these animals up close is unreal. 🦁 Wow. Seeing these animals up close is unreal. 🦁 We’ve spent a week in Kruger National Park, driving from north (Punda Maria) to south (Pretorius). Everyone told us we wouldn’t see much in the north, but they were so wrong. Endless gravel roads with no one around for hours. Just us and the wildlife. Highly recommend venturing north in Kruger! It's totally worth it and way less crowded. We also slept in fenced camps within Kruger every night, such an epic experience. You can enter the park at 5:30 AM and need to be back in a camp by 6 PM. So early mornings, early evenings it is 🌅 What's the most unforgettable safari experience you've had? 🌍 #southafricatravel #krugernationalpark #kruger #krugersafari #safariafrica #africaoverland
1 year on the road, and what a ride it has been! 🚙 We drove our own car from The Netherlands to Singapore in 8 months, unexpectedly lived in Dubai for 3 months trying to solve the contamination of our car, and are wrapping up our journey with an epic overland adventure in Africa now. 🗺️ 25 countries 🛣️ 50.000 kilometers 🛞 0 flat tires (still can’t believe that one, thanks @bfgoodrichtires) 👮‍♀️ 1 fine in Dubai But above all, we lived so many experiences, it feels like five years packed into one. Our top 3: 🇹🇯 1. Driving the Pamir Highway (Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan): A legendary high-altitude road through desolate landscapes and mind-blowing mountain scenery. We took every detour possible, including Bartang and Wakhan Valley. Wild, remote, and unforgettable. 🇨🇳 2. Crossing China in a convoy: 7000 km in 27 days, endless surprises, and the best food. One moment we’re driving through nothingness, the next we stumble upon 80.000 people riding camels up a sand dune, ending the day with a sunset concert and a drone show. China is completely mad… in the best way possible. 🇮🇷 3. Experiencing Iranian hospitality: There's nothing like it. Imagine walking through your hometown, seeing two foreign travelers, inviting them for dinner, preparing a feast and insisting they stay the night. Without accepting anything in return. "You are our guest." Pure kindness, no strings attached. It’s impossible to sum up a year like this in just three moments, but we tried. ♥️ So tell us, what’s one of your most special travel memories? 👇 #wereldreis #overlandinglife #overlanders #pamirhighway #traveliran #visitchina #triparoundtheworld #vanlifenl #dutchvanlife
Yessssss!!! Finally on the road again! 🥹 That Yessssss!!! Finally on the road again! 🥹 That feeling of ultimate freedom? We missed it more than words can say. Soaking up every moment as we dive into the last leg of this expedition. First glimpses of South Africa: from Johannesburg to driving the Panorama Route. Nature here is next level! 🌿✨ Swipe for a photodump of our first few days! 1️⃣ Driving the gravel roads around the Panorama Route 2️⃣ Bicycle tour in Soweto, Joburg (really recommend) 3️⃣ Finally got our rental car, so happy 😍 4️⃣ Lone Creek Falls (70 meters) 5️⃣ Bourke's Luck Potholes 6️⃣ First time camping again, how we missed this! 7️⃣ Falls at Bourke's Luck Potholes 8️⃣ Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest and greenest canyons on earth 🌍 9️⃣ Our first braai 1️⃣0️⃣ Zebra in our garden 🦓 1️⃣1️⃣ Boat safari at the Blyde River Dam 1️⃣2️⃣ Hippos 🦛 1️⃣3️⃣ And crocs 🐊 wouldn't go for a swim here #overlandbound #africaoverland #southafricatravel #overlanders #panoramaroute #blyderivercanyon #visitsouthafrica #overlandafrica #overlandtravel
Hello, South Africa! 🇿🇦 After shipping our Hello, South Africa! 🇿🇦 After shipping our car from Abu Dhabi back home, we booked a flight to South Africa the very next day. Zero plans, just pure adventure. We picked up a 4x4 with a rooftop tent and hit the gravel roads, with over a month to explore this epic country before our car arrives in The Netherlands. The final stop of our expedition… for now. Never in a million years did we think we’d wrap things up in Africa, but here we are! 😂 Let’s gooo! 🔥 #southafricatravel #blyderivercanyon #wereldreis #overlandbound #overlandtravel #overlandafrica #discoversouthafrica #visitsouthafrica
The End… For Now 💔 We gave it everything for The End… For Now 💔 We gave it everything for months to fix the contamination of our car, but it just wasn’t enough. Our visas are running out, and there’s only one ship left that can take our car back to The Netherlands before time’s up 🕖 It leaves in less than a week, so we put our car back together in one piece and packed our bags. We fought so hard to fix our car, and we made real progress. Last week, we even did a test drive after reducing the smell significantly. But we quickly realized we’re still too far from making it truly driveable. Even after all our efforts, the lingering fumes impacted our health. Our throats are still sore five days later. We can’t keep risking our health like this. But this isn’t the end. We know we can fix our car. We just need the right tools, time, and space. Things we don’t have here, but we will back home. The second leg of our expedition will happen. Maybe next winter, maybe the one after, but we’re not giving up 💪 We are beyond grateful for your support these past months 🙏 Your donations allowed us to try every possible method to clean our car, pushing us much further than we could’ve gone alone. Thanks to you, we covered the last two bills for the professional cleaning, and what’s left will help us continue in The Netherlands. Yes, we’re disappointed. But more than anything, we’re proud. We drove all the way from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 to Singapore 🇸🇬 which was the best time of our lives. And we WILL be back! In about a month, we’ll pick up our car in The Netherlands and figure out our next steps. Until then, thank you for being part of our journey. We hope you’ll stick around for the next chapter: driving through the Middle East 🚙
From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU ♥️ fo From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU ♥️ for more info, check the link in bio. When the chemical smell came back into the car after weeks of cleaning and the marine insurance denied our claim on the same day, we wanted to give up. Our visa will soon expire and we spent way too much money on trying to solve this situation. Money that was meant for our overland expedition back home. Don't worry - we are still able to get home and fend for ourselves. But we wouldn't be able to continue solving the contamination AND finish our overland expedition. Until you stepped in 😭 You guys asked us how you could help and told us you'd love to support us. We were terrified of asking for help, as we're used to always solve everything ourselves. But we didn't see any other possibility anymore, besides giving up. So we did something very very very far outside our comfort zone. We started a GoFundMe page. Within 2 days, you guys donated more than €3000. We are speechless and deeply moved by your incredible support. We told ourselves 1000x not to put the GoFundMe page live, because there are millions of people in the world with more pressing issues than ours. But there you were. Showing up with your unwavering support. No words 🥺 We're now over 60% of our end goal already (in less than 48 hours) to restore our car and continue our overland expedition home. We'll do everything in our power to make it happen. If you want to help out, check the link in bio 🙏 Thank you a million times and more, we are humbled and beyond grateful ♥️
Total costs of our overland expedition from The Ne Total costs of our overland expedition from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 to Singapore 🇸🇬 We were on the road for 232 days and drove 35.000 kilometers in 22 countries 🗺️ All costs are for 2 people, so not per person. We kept a daily journal and @toetmarcel made an extensive overview in Excel to keep track of costs 💸 Our daily personal expenses were €17.836 in total. This includes food, activities, overnight stays and groceries. Surprisingly, on average we spent the most money in Southeast Asia in this category with an average of €82 per day. In Iran and Central Asia our average was only €55 per day. We think this is mostly because we didn't sleep in our tent much in SEA, due to the neverending rain, humidity and heat. And we really enjoyed life, drinking lots of cocktails, indulging in activities as scuba diving and staying in stunning resorts on tropical islands 🌴 In general, we eat out a lot and switch up our tent with hotels or apartments quite often. Diva overlanders 👸🏼 Of course we also needed several visas and other travel documents, such as a carnet de passage for the car. China and Turkmenistan were without doubt the most expensive, as we needed to pay for an obligatory guide in both countries. Total costs: €4.664 🛂 Costs for the car include maintenance, upgrades and gasoline, adding up to €10.732. Before we left home, we had to buy the car and did some major maintenance, which is not included in this overview. But we made a separate post for that, so you can find all the info on our profile 🚙 Soon we'll share more details! What do you want to know? Drop a comment so we can look into it for you 👇 #overlandjournal #4x4adventure #vanlifenl #roadtripadventures #wereldreis #dutchvanlife #wereldreisopwielen #aroundtheworldtrip Did you expect this total? 👀
The Netherlands to Singapore done, get ready for p The Netherlands to Singapore done, get ready for part 2 of our overland expedition 🫡 It took us 232 days to drive from The Netherlands to Singapore. When we arrived we put our car in a container to ship it to Dubai, as we were far from done. That's almost 100 days ago by now 🤯 crazy to think it's been this long. We all know what happened then. Our car got contaminated during transport and we are stuck in Dubai ever since. Check out the contamination highlights on our profile if you need to get up to speed. But we are NOT GIVING UP! 💪 We're still hoping to finish this expedition in style - with our itinerary through the desert. Swipe to see the complete itinerary ➡️ We also posted this overview on our blog, including everything you need to arrange for an overland trip through all of these countries. From visas to obligatory guides and whether a Carnet de Passage is required. It's all there. Check out charisfar.com now for more info (link in bio). Any questions about overlanding to one of these countries? Let us know! 👇 #overlandkitted #overlandtravel #overlandjournal #explmore #vanlifediaries #overlandinglife #overlandtoyotas #overlanders #overlandbound
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Recent Posts

  • Road Trip CambodiaOverland Journal Day 159-172: Cambodia Road Trip to Phnom Penh, Koh Rong & Angkor Wat
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  • Overlanding Laos with your own vehicleOverland Journal Day 143-158: Laos Road Trip

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