Photo Gallery Travelling Trabiphiles
A team of intrepid young travellers arrived in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh Monday behind the wheels of a fleet of Trabants, the infamous Soviet-era East German automobiles.
Three Americans and one Briton successfully piloted three Trabis from Germany to Cambodia, a six-month journey that took them 16,100 miles (26,000 kilometers) across 21 countries.
The team billed the trip as a fundraiser for street children in Cambodia. They set an ambitious goal to raise $300,000 (204,000) and have raised $16,000 (10,880) so far.
Eight crew members started the journey in July, but four dropped out along the way as the team struggled through 320 auto breakdowns. On some days cars would need to be repaired 10 times.
A Trabi drives past the Palace of the Republic, the former seat of the East German parliament, in Berlin in this 2006 file photo. The Trabant, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, is much maligned for its poor construction and shoddy performance -- it is made mostly of plastic, and is capable of a top speed of around 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. Nevertheless, Trabis are a pop culture icon in Germany.
The Trabant Trek was led by 27 year-old John Lovejoy, pictured here in Phnom Penh, who created the concept after driving a Trabant from Budapest to Paris in 2006. With a longer journey in mind, he decided to twin the voyage to Cambodia with a fundraiser. "We're passionate about this cause and we knew we'd have to take an unusual spin on traditional fundraising tactics to really get the word out," he said.
The four Trabi travellers who made it to Phnom Penh posed Tuesday with two of their vehicles. From left to right: John Drury, Daniel Murdoch, Lovejoy, and Anthony Perez.
The three-Trabi fleet left Phnom Penh Wednesday for the Cambodian Coast, where the team plans to continue fundraising and enjoy a trip to the beach.
