THEY came from America, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia for a driving expedition that took them through Europe and Asia.

The X-CONTINENT EXPEDITION 2009 was a drive of a lifetime that started from Ipswich in the United Kingdom and finished in Ipoh, Malaysia, 65 days later.

Organised by the Royal Perak Motor Club (RPMC), the 13 vehicle convoy comprised Toyota Hilux and Landcruisers, Mitsubishi Tritons and Pajeros, Land Rover Defender and Lexus Hybrid.

The drive began on April 28 in Ipswich, where the vehicles had earlier been shipped to, and the convoy with its 38 participants travelled from Dover to Cologne and then through Prague and Vienna before arriving in Budapest.

They then continued though Krakow and Warsaw and passed through Slovakia before reaching Latvia ,Lithuania and Estonia.

It was a seamless 16-day, 4,000km journey through the beautiful highways and expressways of Europe.

"Our taste of border crossings started when we crossed over into Russia at Narva in Estonia. The border crossing was so crowded with lorries and vehicles that we had to sleep in our vehicles from 8.30pm till 8am the next morning so that we would be in line to cross the border," RPMC Events Director Douglas Choong said.

"It was freezing that night with temperatures falling to 5°C and some of the Malaysian vehicles had no heating! The border crossing into Russia was only completed by 1pm, so it took almost 16 hours to make the border crossing - a first for a Malaysian convoy," he said.

Choong takes a breather at Kazakhstan's Ala-Bel Pass. -The Star/ANN

With the next 11 days covering 3,500km in Russia, they drove from St Petersburg in the west to Moscow and then southwards to Kazan, Volgograd, Saratov and Astrakhan before crossing into Kazakhstan.