Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east couple recount daring adventure across Europe and Asia

Angela Brown and partner Dave Spinks have recently completed a 200 day, 26 country trip of more than 24,000 miles from Newtonhill to Mongolia in a 2001 Land Rover Defender 90 (Picture by Kenny Elrick)
Angela Brown and partner Dave Spinks have recently completed a 200 day, 26 country trip of more than 24,000 miles from Newtonhill to Mongolia in a 2001 Land Rover Defender 90 (Picture by Kenny Elrick)

A north-east couple overcame life-threatening illness, sub-zero temperatures and corrupt policemen to traverse some of the world’s least-travelled locations.

Dave Spinks, 53, and Angela Brown, 57,  drove to the Nadaam Festival in Mongolia in an an 18-year-old Land Rover Defender.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


The Newtonhill couple’s trip consisted of 200 days, 26 countries of more than 24,000 miles.

On the way they passed over the Swiss Alps, through Armenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The pair prepare to cross the Swiss Alps.

Mr Spinks thirst for exploring the unknown was sparked by years of working in places like Namibia as an offshore driller.

Ms Brown, meanwhile, has worked as an administrator.

The couple said the trip was eye-opening for them as it gave an insight into the people and cultures that often go unreported.

Mr Spinks said: “I think the biggest takeaway for me was that you hear a lot of bad things about these countries but the people were so welcoming to us, we had very few bad experiences.”

Ms Brown added: “We were maybe very lucky, I’m sure other people have their own experiences.”

Big Almaty Lake, Kazakhstan

But their memories of the trip could have been very different, after Ms Brown almost died when a stomach problem escalated and her bowel nearly ruptured.

She had to be rushed in for emergency surgery at a hospital in Uzbekistan and eventually had to have part of her bowel to be removed.

“We had thought we would be able to fly back and get the surgery done at home but we were told it was too dangerous because of the air pressure,” Ms Brown said.

“It was quite scary because you don’t understand the language and the doctors and nurses would be having conversations. But the care in the hospital was amazing.”

After just a few days she was out of hospital and was flown back to the UK, with a nurse by her side.

But the adventure was not over for Mr Spinks, who had to fly back to Kazakhstan and pick up the Land Rover in order to drive it back 7,000 miles back home.

He said: “To put it in perspective, I drove across Europe in three days, Kazakhstan alone took me 10 days.

“It’s not about actual distance in miles over there, it’s about how many days it takes you to get anywhere.

“I’ve travelled all my life, I was in the Navy for years and then I worked offshore and on ships. But you’re only seeing the bad bits of a country, like the airport. When you travel in a car you’re travelling among the people and you get to meet them, everywhere we went we were welcomed.”

The next adventure

The couple’s next trip they hope to go on will take them to South America.

However, due to her surgery, Mrs Brown has to rest her body for up to six months.

And the pair also plan on returning to work to raise enough funds to pay for their next adventure.

But despite the extreme nature of their trips, the pair – who have become grandparents – show no signs of slowing down.

Mrs Brown said: “Before we started travelling we had the ambitions for a nice big house and other nice things but I think we are not quite so materialistic now.

“You surprise yourself with how little you need when you’re away, and you also see how other people survive with such few possessions when you’re in these different countries.”

On their travels they met scores of other people travelling, some in similar vehicles as them and others who were cycling or even travelling in a red London double-decker bus to the Mongol Rally.

“There’s an amazing amount of people who were cycling, one guy we met we are still following online. He’s on his way to Siberia with a tent on his back.

“Lots of people are in their 60s and 70s too, everyone is a family.”

Mr Spinks said: “You meet people along the way and give each other tips and advice on where you’ve been and the best routes to take.

“You also have a big community on social media, people were offering me places to stay all over the place when I was on my way back.”