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| Simon Raven (L) Chris Raven (R) |
Ever had the desire to jump in your car and keep driving? Well, that is precisely what The Raven Brothers decided to do whilst stacking boxes of frozen oven chips in a -30 degrees freezer. With a squeaky foot pump and an SAS survival guide, the travel writing duo from the UK fired up their rusty Ford Sierra and headed east.
After clocking up over 12,000 kilometres, quite literally living in the car, they miraculously arrived in the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. What the twin brothers had in fact done was drive Russia’s new Trans-Siberian Highway, a staggering eight years before the road was completed. With only very limited skills of wilderness survival and, virtually zero knowledge of the internal combustion engine, Simon and Chris crossed ten time zones in the beat up petrol engine saloon they used for work. Driving through endless rivers and canyons in a bid to cross the notorious Zilov Gap in darkest Siberia, the hapless heroes capture the true spirit of overland travel during a life-altering journey across one of the world’s last frontiers. Along the way they rub shoulders with Chechen criminals, escape highway robbery, trade banana flavoured condoms with Russian cops, meet an eccentric cast of characters at truck stops in darkest Siberia, endure torturous road conditions and enter into a race to the finish with the Germans. Surviving the journey by the skin of their teeth, the brothers are forced to confront their worst fears in a toe-curling comedy of extreme road trip adventure.
Priding themselves on going it alone, The Raven Brothers have been noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”.
Check out this collection of photos from their epic road trip adventure.
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| In the middle of Siberia near the Road of Bones another typre blow out. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Somewhere near the China border, Siberia.
Photo © Chris Raven |
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| Unpaved road deep in the taiga. Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven |
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| Mechanic in Kemerovo, Russia. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Abandoned Orthodox church in Perm.
Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven |
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Driving through one of many rivers in Siberia.
Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Chris enjoying the view near Irkutsk.
Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven |
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Traditional wooden house near Perm.
Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Amur Highway under construction between Chita and Khabarovsk. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven
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| Hammer and sickle in Chita, Siberia. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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| 10,000 kms to go! Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven |
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| Buckets of apples in Eastern Russia on approach to the Ural mountains. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Police gives Simon his cap. Looking good!
Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Soviet soldier mural on Giv in Chita, Siberia. Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven
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| Huge forest fires in Siberia causing smoke to fill the sky for thousands of miles. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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More construction for hundreds and hundreds of miles.
Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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In a small cafe in Siberia Chris asks for directions for Vladivostok...which is 3,000 kms away.
Photo Ⓒ Simon Raven |
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| Funky transport near Novosibirsk. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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| Rustic and broken, scene in Siberia from off the beaten path. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven |
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Made it to Vladivostok. Giving away the keys to some guy working at our hotel. Photo Ⓒ Chris Raven
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The Ultimate Road Trip Across Russia
by The Raven Brothers
Available in paperback & digital
More travel books by
Hike, Drive, Stayin' Alive!
by The Raven Brothers
Out of shape and unprepared, The
Raven Brothers return to the road in a collection of ten quests to travel to their dream destinations
against all odds! After two decades pioneering new routes across the globe, you would expect the
authors of 'Driving the Trans-Siberian' to be hotshot explorers, with a sixth sense and an ability to
survive in almost any situation. Think again! With virtually zero knowledge of the workings of the
internal combustion engine and very limited skills of wilderness survival, Simon and Chris struggle
into their hiking boots and power across three continents by river, tarmac and trail.
Venture to the top of Norway, cruise the
road to Damascus, hike the Camino trail into Spain’s Wild West, row the Ganges, explore Frida
Kahlo’s world in Mexico City, hangout with the dead in Sicily’s eerie catacombs, crawl deep inside
Bolivia’s notorious silver mine, seek lions in Gujarat, wellness in Berlin and journey into the Naga
Hills where tribal kings still rule.
Noted by Lonely Planet for their talent to portray an “accurate view of what to expect”, 'Hike,
Drive, Stayin’ Alive!' signals a return to the duo writing “buttock clenching” travel comedy with the
first in a series of candid stories of adventure by The Raven Brothers.
