Sponsors

NOW A WORD ABOUT OUR SPONSORS

*Note If any sponsor is interested in taking part in Trans Asia Expedition--and would like to see their logo carried across Asia from the Great Wall to the Silk Route--they can contact our headquarters.

The good news is that Trans Asia Expedition signed a book contract with Wolfenden Publishing for a travel/adventure book, no less than 400 pages, with photographs, about the expedition, to be titled "After You, Genghis Khan, The Story of the Trans Asia Expedition." The book is to be co-authored by Harold Stephens and Jezreel Coate, with photographs by Brian Sargent.

Agreement is underway with Thai Airways International as one of the major sponsors. Stephens is the Travel Correspondent for THAI and produces a weekly on-line travel feature for the airline. With the establishment of direct on-line communications, Stephens will extend this weekly feature to the on-going progress of the expedition. Being a major international airline, the route to be taken by the expedition will include many THAI destinations in the following order-Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, Hat Yai and Bangkok in Thailand, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu in China, Kathmandu in Nepal, Calcutta in India, Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, and finally back to Penang and the drive to Bangkok, making a total of 17 THAI destinations in 11 countries.

Much of the drive across China will be in the winter. The expedition will take a break in Beijing to wait out the winter season for the thrust over the Himalayas to Lhasa in Tibet and down to Kathmandu. The expedition will leave the vehicle and equipment at the Shangri-La Hotel and members will fly from Beijing to Bangkok and return to Beijing when the weather breaks, possibly a month's delay.

Several automobile companies had indicated an interest in providing vehicles for the expedition but it was finally decided we would provide our own specially custom modified vehicles-the main reason being maintenance. We can provide our own maintenance, and that we are certain.

We have decided to take a tent-camper not only for sleeping arrangements but for carrying extra equipment. In Stephens' past motor trip around the world, he used a Trade Winds Camper but the company was sold when the owner, Carl Dretzke, passed away. The expedition around the world was his pride and joy, to see his camper on the Russian steppes to the Casaba in Morocco. We are looking into other trailer companies for sponsorship, and hope to make their owners happy too.

Tires are a major concern and we have asked Firestone for sponsorship. We chose Firestone for a good reason. In Stephens' around the world trip that included 42,000 miles, across five of the world's toughest deserts and to the highest and lowest drivable points on earth, the expedition suffered not one tire mishap, even as much as a flat tire.

A winch for each vehicle is vital and we are asking Ramsey Winch to participate again. The Trans World Record Expedition relied heavily on Ramsey winces to pull them out of one mess after another. Ramsey proved reliable.

Clothing, for both the tropics and the freezing winters of China and Mongolia, is also very important and we are investigating sponsorship from clothing manufacturers.

We are considering other sponsorship but with a limit. With some 28 sponsors for his previous round-the-world expedition Stephens often found himself hampered trying to satisfy a sponsor. For Creslain they had to pose in front of the Taj Mahal in heavy woolen sweaters and in Tahiti they were required to have the natives fill out questionnaires as to what suntan lotion they preferred. Dow Chemical filled their radiators with a special antifreeze/hot temperature coolant and sealed the radiators with the agreement that if they returned without breaking the seals they would be rewarded with a $5,000 bonus.

They made the last drive from Panama up through Central America to Texas and stopped in Dallas where a huge sign on the motel, where they were staying, welcomed them back to America. They stopped at a gas station, asked the attendant to fill them up and nothing more. The attendant was so impressed that he did more than asked. He flushed out the radiator. "Had a hard time getting the wire off the cap," he said. Dow Chemical was understanding. They filled up the radiator again, free. We will report as time progresses on other sponsorships. We might even ask Dow Chemical again.