Jeep girl conquers 21-day China overland trek, eyes longer off-roading sequel

SINGAPORE – For most Singaporeans, a road trip might mean a drive to Melaka, Ipoh or Penang over a few days.

Few would embark on a 21-day overland expedition to Yunnan, China, navigating through Malaysia, Thailand and Laos.

But that is precisely what 52-year-old Leong Khay Mun accomplished behind the wheel of her scarlet Jeep Wrangler in April 2025.

Her Jeep, affectionately dubbed the Red Baron after Snoopy’s arch nemesis in the Peanuts comic strip, was part of a nine-vehicle convoy tackling the ambitious trek. Among the 15 participants, three Jeeps were driven solo – and Leong was the sole woman undertaking the journey alone.

The convoy crossed five national borders in just five days. However, the drivers, with an eye on the punishing China leg, took a break in Thailand. To bypass a 1,700km overland stretch, the group took a domestic flight while outsourcing vehicle transit via a trailer truck from Hat Yai to Chiang Rai.

After reuniting with their Jeeps in Chiang Rai, the convoy battled dirt roads in Laos before arriving in Pu’er, a city in southern Yunnan.

Over the next 16 days, Leong and her fellow drivers traversed lush valleys, rocky canyons and snow-capped ridges, experiencing Yunnan’s diverse topography.

One highlight was a visit to the Feilai Temple, a 412-year-old Tibetan Buddhist sanctuary perched on a mountainside in Deqin. The vantage point offers a breathtaking view of the Meili Snow Mountains, which peak at a majestic 6,740m above sea level.

In Dulongjiang, they also encountered the last remaining elderly women of the Dulong ethnic group who bear facial tattoos. The practice, outlawed since the 1950s, was believed to deter the abduction of young women by rival tribes.

“We met fascinating people, encountered herds of goats blocking the road and even drove through rivers. These are unforgettable experiences that you would miss out on if you had joined a tour group,” says Leong.

Still, the expedition was not always smooth-sailing. When the altitude rose to 4,600m, the thin air took its toll on the vehicles; they became sluggish, starved of oxygen. It took time for the Jeep’s electronic control unit to recalibrate fuel injection levels and restore stable power delivery.

“The Jeeps needed time to ‘acclimatise’, much like their drivers,” quips Leong.

The Red Baron’s coolant reservoir tank also sprang a leak, and smoke billowed from the engine bay during their drive to Balagezong, the Grand Canyon of Shangri-La. For a moment, Leong feared her road trip had met a premature end.

Fortunately, seasoned “road boss” – as convoy leaders are known – Vincent Goh anticipated such mishaps. Having packed crucial spare parts, he fixed the Red Baron once it had sufficiently cooled.

While that meant Leong had to hitch a ride in another Jeep to visit the Shambhala Stupa, a natural peak resembling a stupa on Balagezong mountain, the Red Baron did not miss out on the next destination: the picturesque Lugu Lake, an alpine oasis that straddles the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

The convoy clocked more than 6,000km before ending the journey in Kunming, where they shipped their vehicles back to Singapore.

Leong, who runs a group of clinics with her doctor husband Terence Tan, 52, did not always drive such exciting cars. As a mother of two sons aged 19 and 16, her previous vehicles were typical “soccer mum” cars.

In 2020, she chanced upon the Jeep showroom in Chang Charn Road while shopping for a new car. When she clapped eyes on the red Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited on display, it was love at first sight. She told the sales agent that she was not buying unless a new unit in red was available.

Leong paid $229,000 for the Red Baron after trading in her 10-year-old BMW 316i.

While she participated in local off-roading events after getting the vehicle, pandemic restrictions meant her first overseas off-roading experience came about only in April 2024.

That trip to Plentong, Johor Bahru, nearly turned into a calamity when the “road boss” failed to recce the site properly, leading six sport utility vehicles into soft marine clay. The Red Baron was half-submerged and had to be winched out by Malaysian off-roaders who came to the rescue.

“It was a miracle that my Jeep was not damaged. Till this day, I still have bits of marine clay stuck in my cabin,” Leong says.

The incident spurred her to undergo proper off-roading training. She also became a committee member of the Jeep Owners Club Singapore, doing her part to ensure no other driver faces similar dangers.

Leong recently started serving as convoy leader and helmed her second overland trip as a “road boss” in May, leading 10 Jeeps to Malaysia’s Rompin Beach Bash – an automotive festival geared towards rugged beach driving.

After the high of the Yunnan expedition, she has already set her sights on an ambitious 36-day Xinjiang expedition this August – and no flying this time.

What’s in the boot?