A special family trip to Mongolia with the Kloeg clan.
Daan & Clarine
Kloeg
A special family trip to Mongolia with the Kloeg clan.
“Pier’s Hilux popped up on Marktplaats while we were surfing. We then visited Twiga Travelcars and everything else took care of itself. Honest craftsmen who don’t shy away from precision work. Because I’m a perfectionist, or a nit-picker according to some…”
As an adventurous cyclist and canoeist, Alaska and Siberia were childhood dreams that had already come true. But once we’d arrived at the ‘age of wisdom’, we wanted a bit more comfort. “We didn’t want a large truck that meant we needed to avoid the smallest roads and that would also make the bigger cities less accessible. No, I fell in love with the Toyota Hilux from day one.”
Daan is a professional photographer who seeks tranquility. This helps him examine, photograph and edit the images in peace and quiet with Lightroom in the Hilux. “It’s like all the stress washes away from me in that quiet, hidden place…”
The construction time at Twiga got a bit out of hand. The ‘virtual camping block’ in the interior of the vehicle needed to meet certain minimum dimensions. Unfortunately, its was short by two whole centimetres. After a clever consultation between the owner, builder and the vehicle registration office, a professional sleeve was fitted. The vehicle was finally delivered, a bit later than expected, but not without any further hitches. But at least it was delivered 100% in line with the requirements of the new owners and the vehicle registration office.
A special feature of the Hilux’ construction is its weight. Every single screw and piece of wood counts. And if you keep adding grams, they soon become kilos. And the heavier it gets, the less luggage you can bring. Twiga helped to develop ultra-light panels that still guarantee a good level of insulation. In the end, the body weighed just over 200 kg and we can take plenty of luggage with us while still complying with the legal standards. And a 4 kW heater guarantees that we’re down to our T-shirts within five minutes when it’s freezing outside!”
Mongolia is the destination in April 2019, accompanied along the way by their youngest son Diederik, until Tehran. Then wife Clarine will switch seats heading toward Mongolia. The return trip will be made together with David, their eldest son. Altogether, 20-25,000 kilometres of family trip that will be unprecedented, we think. We just need a few more adjustments, particularly in terms of frost protection, and then we’ll be ready. Hopefully with a book or exhibition as ‘collateral damage’.
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