PETRONAS Adventure Team
Past Expeditions

1999: Passage to Tibet
In 1999, the PETRONAS Adventure Team undertook its first expedition in “Passage to Tibet”. There were several firsts in the 45-day expedition, which brought them to mystical Tibet – to the Rooftop of the World. It was the first 4X4 expedition to enter Tibet, the first foreigners other than Myanmarese allowed entry into China via Dalu, and the first international convoy allowed to enter the square in front of Lhasa’s Potala Palace, the highest palace in the world.

Across 16,000 kilometers of rugged terrain, treacherous rivers and extreme weather, they forged their way through Thailand, Myanmar, China and Tibet… right up to the base camp of Mount Everest. The steep trails, ravines and gorges offered a superb off-road gateway to Shangri La.

2000: PETRONAS Indochina
In 2000, PETRONAS Adventure Team Malaysia took up a new challenge – PETRONAS Indochina, a 10,000-kilometer drive along old logging trails, through some of the oldest and thickest rainforests on earth. Forty-five four-wheel-drive enthusiasts in 15 vehicles took on the jungles of Indochina. Theirs was the first ever Trans Indochina offroad event. The grueling expedition across six Southeast Asian nations – Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar took 26 days to complete. More than 45% of the route was offroad tracks. Dense jungle, muddy tracks and river crossings topped the agenda. Major obstacles included harsh terrain, a typhoon and heavy rain.

2001: PETRONAS Silk Road
The first expedition of the new millennium took the team to the greatest of East-West overland routes – the Silk Road. Twenty-one 4WDs and five motorbikes clocked 20,100 kilometers, from Turkey to Malaysia. From Instanbul’s magnificent Blue Mosque, they drove through Iran and Pakistan, along the Indus Valley to the Karakoram Highway. Then on to Xi’an in China, home of the terracotta warriors, before heading south through Laos and Thailand to Putrajaya. The 59-day Silk Road Adventure was a marathon that earned the team an entry in the Malaysia Book of Records for the “Longest 4X4 Expedition”.

2002: PETRONAS Siberia
The triumph of the Silk Road inspired PAT to scan the horizons for new challenges. In 2002, their quest for adventure took them to the ancient realm of Genghis Khan. Sixty-five Malaysians, including five women began their 37-day journey in Dalian, on China’s eastern seaboard. They drove a distance of 13,000 kilometers through the steppes of Siberia and Lake Baikal, crossing the Gobi desert and the Ger dotted homeland of the Mongolian people.

Then, from the plains where Huang He and Yangtze rivers flow, they headed for the headlands of Laos. The team made their way through rice fields and jam-packed cities into Thailand, before arriving back in Malaysia.

2003: PETRONAS Africa Trek
Africa, a land of mammoth proportions and exciting diversity is home to the most outstanding natural wonders on Earth – the grandest of rivers, lakes and waterfalls, the fiercest deserts and the most spectacular wildlife on earth. Forty-one adventurers in 21 cars spent 49 days scouring seven countries and five World Heritage Sites, with only one dream – to experience the expedition in Africa.

Their adventure began and ended in the Republic of South Africa, from the coast on the Indian Ocean (Durban) to the South Atlantic (Cape Town). The 49-day route took the team through the heart of Africa, into the Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Malawi, United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Zambia, Republic of Botswana and Republic of Namibia.

By journey’s end, the team clocked almost 14,200 kilometers. As promised by PETRONAS and ENGEN at the start of the expedition, a donation will be given for every kilometer traveled. Almost 500,000 Rand or RM258,000.00 was donated to the Children’s Hospital Trust, Africa’s only children-dedicated hospital.

2004: PETRONAS Trans Sahara
Undoubtedly one of the largest deserts in the world, the Sahara covers one third of Africa. The boundaries of the Sahara are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea and Egypt on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the River Niger on the south.

The PETRONAS Adventure Team’s Trans Sahara 39-day adventure began in Khartoum, Sudan on 30th August 2004. Like ancient traders before them, the team made tracks along the many caravan routes through Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria before finally arriving in Casablanca, Morocco on October 7th, 2004.

This selected route delivered challenging terrains and many visual treats, which delighted the Malaysian adventurers – from the cool Mediterranean northern coast to the arid desert in the south, from high Atlas mountainous roads to the fine sands of the formidable Sahara. PETRONAS Trans Sahara was a motoring journey of discovery.

2005: PETRONAS Trans Himalaya
In 2005, the PETRONAS Adventure Team set their sights higher than ever before. With the experience of six previously successful expeditions, they headed for the greatest mountain range on earth, the Himalayas.

PETRONAS Trans Himalayas expedition made history by virtue of being the first motorised convoy to reach the base camp of Mount Everest, through the Rongbuk Monastery. Gazing upon the mighty mountain, the 62 expedition members in 23 four-wheel drive vehicles also made it into the Malaysian Book of Records as being part of “the First 4X4 Expedition To Reach Everest Base Camp”.

The spirit of camaraderie of the team members helped them persevere through tough road conditions, sub zero temperatures and for some, Acute Mountain Sickness throughout the expedition route. The 15,500 kilometre and 43-day overland adventure took the team through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China and Tibet before concluding the expedition in the port city of Shenzhen in China.

2006: PETRONAS Nusantara
The PETRONAS Nusantara 2006 Expedition took the 60 men and women in a convoy of 23 four-wheel drive vehicles through old logging trails and urban jungles across the chain of islands in the Malay Archipelago. Kicking off from Bintulu in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the team traversed into Indonesia’s Kalimantan, crossing to the islands of Sulawesi, Flores, Maumere, Lombok, Bali, Java and Sumatera, before finally ending the quest in Banda Acheh.

True to the team’s main objective of experiencing the unique interaction between man, machine and nature, the expedition provided team members an invaluable insight, an enriching experience and an appreciation for a completely diverse way of life in the many different parts of the archipelago.

An integral part of all the expeditions are the programmes organised with the communities along the route. The PETRONAS Nusantara 2006 Expedition saw the team help to contribute through donations to help with needs of earthquake victims in Jogjakarta. In addition, 2006 led the team to its final destination of Banda Acheh, which saw the team participate in what is the team’s most extensive community outreach programme to date. Through programmes organised in collaboration with PETRONAS and MERCY Malaysia, the team spent three days in Banda Acheh in a variety of programmes with over 1,000 orphaned children in the Tsunami affected areas.