Around the world on Geland'e

German Gunther Holtorf and his wife Christine - one of the most famous in the history of automobile travelers. In 1989 they decided to go from Germany to South Africa on his new Mercedes Gelandewagen. It was planned that the journey will last two years, but it was delayed because of the desire of spouses to visit new places. In 2010, Gunther spouse died, but the elderly man continued the trip. Today he arrived in Minsk. Belarus remains the last country in the world where not visited the Mercedes. Now world tour has been completed. Gunther told the Onliner.by, the machine will go to the museum soon Daimler, and demonstrated his famed car.





"The car was purchased in 1989 from an authorized dealer Mercedes. It is fully serial and is not ready for this kind of travel - began his story Gunther, handing the card. - Here you can see the country in which I have visited. Red lines - is the road on which drove the Mercedes. Only one came to visit the Gulf Caribbean 22 countries. Drove the entire territory of the former Soviet Union from Murmansk to Vladivostok and back. "



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Surprisingly, but in Belarus man still does not get. The map shows the last five countries that Gunther had planned to visit this year. And Belarus - the latest. Originally trip to our country was planned German in 2010. He then obtained a visa to cross the border but could not - there were problems with the Belarusian customs due to import a car.



"In 2010, when I was first going to call in your country, on the border stopped me and said that I could only get in Belarus without a car. It certainly did not make sense, and I decided to postpone the visit to you, "- recalls with a smile Gunther.



October 11th man give his Mercedes Gelandewagen the museum Daimler. The machine will take the group chairman Dieter Zetsche. In Stuttgart museum has prepared a separate room for this exhibit. For 25 years the vehicle has traveled 900 thousand kilometers, visiting all countries of the world. He even got a name - Otto. This modification of the 300 GD c diesel engine, released in 1988. The machine has a "native" original chassis and engine. No serious damage during the trip was not. During a trip to Madagascar Gelandewagen crashed and overturned, so the car has replaced most of the parts of the body (all except the hood and front fenders).



Gunther claims that in 25 years of travel, he never spent the night in the hotel and did not dine in the restaurant. In Minsk, he stopped at a gas station, where he found a large parking lot for trucks. In his Gelandewagen have a gas stove, and opened the back door, a German in a few minutes organized a makeshift kitchen. There's even a device to protect the plate from the wind. Table where Gunther every day eats, was purchased in 1989. Chairs, apparently, a "young". There is a car and a bed that unfolds from the trunk to the front seats. Her elderly man sleeps past 25 years. When he began his journey, he was 51 years old. The car is also equipped with a hammock, which often appears in photographs of Otto on the Internet. Gunther and his wife lived near Munich. They have a son, who was joined several times to travel to different locations.



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"I have German citizenship except citizenship of Argentina and Uruguay. I speak Spanish as their native language. Originally we were going to drive his wife to the south of Africa and back. But we loved the trip and we decided to go to Argentina, which is my second home. There have decided to linger in Latin America and went to Brazil and Mexico. A stone's throw from Mexico to the States. So it all started. Then the ship sailed to New Zealand. Thence to Australia and so on. D. In the end, the trip was delayed for 25 years. Next month, it's over. Four years ago my wife died. She died at home. Cancer. But I continued my journey alone, "- says the man.



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In-car navigation systems no. The whole world Gunther drove using only paper maps. Inside, the car is detailed map of Minsk. Next - Road Atlas of Ukraine, Europe and Russia. At Gunter several passports with countless visas, among which two Belarusian (one is a stamp of failure).



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"Out of 900 thousand kilometers, which I passed on that machine approximately 200 thousand went out of asphalt. Gelandewagen - great SUV, which never failed. The diesel engine works like the first day. Or maybe even better, "- laughs Guenther, driving the car for a photo shoot on site dealer Mercedes.



Many accessories are located on the roof of the SUV. Gunther often have to stand on the hood to get this or that subject. To the hood was not slippery in the rain, it pasted sheets nazhdachki. The same elements can be seen in military versions Gelandewagen.



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Gunther Holtorf - a legendary figure among fans of automobile travel. Write about him many bloggers. The BBC did a great program about the legendary Otto. Every day hundreds of people introduced the German name into Google. 25-year journey, inspired many motorists coming to an end. But Gunther says that it has something to do: "I have a large number of hobbies. For example, I collect banknotes from different countries. Also I have a bunch of different things from around the world. All this should be sorted for processing collections. All that I have collected over the past 25 years. When I get home, I'm certainly not going to sit with a beer at the TV ยป.

Here are some things stay Gunther:



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