We Tried Overlanding in Japan (Full 4X4 Tour )

This week, we test out overlanding in Japan and we'll be doing it in this bad boy. We've had a lot of experience in camper vans, but we've always been intrigued as to how we would cope living out of a 4x4 with a tent on the roof. We got a ticket. What is that? Voila, cooking. I'm sure I can hear things in the woods around here. I'm not good on my own. It's a vegetable club. It is a bit. Cozy. So for the next week, we'll be cooking, eating and sleeping in this epic rig whilst we explore more hidden gems in Japan. Is that a dinosaur? Drowning in a river. Where is everyone? You've got a bit too much stuff for this vehicle. I'll expand this bit over here. We were buzzing this morning to meet Luke from Overland Japan and have a tour of our home for the next week. She's posh. Luke showed us around and we couldn't believe he was about to trust us with this beautiful rig on our own considering our track record. Go back slowly. Old Trev's are responsible. Look out. Our plan for this trip was to do a big loop leaving Tokyo and heading towards the mountains. How luxurious is this? A bad boy vehicle. I didn't realise how buzzing I was until I started having a tour of it with Luke. Same, same. And like the way everything pulls out and like it's just going to be completely different to van life. This isn't van life, is it? No, it's very much more camping life. I feel like. Two words that he said that made me excited. Campfire and projector. Really? Campfire made you excited? It did, yeah. Usually like I hate campfires. It makes my ears sting. We haven't done this for ages. We really feel like we need to be put more in nature. Feel like one with the earth. Do you feel okay to drive it though? It's kind of bigger than the last vehicle we had. She's got a hell of a forehead on her. There's like 50 cameras on the dashboard. And there's beeps galore which we didn't appreciate in the last van. Road trip. What's up, mate? Why is it beeping? But we're appreciating this one. I just can't wait to sleep up there. I feel like Ava Zubek right now. Very independent woman. Even though you're getting chauffeured. Was it you and me that crashed last time? Japan, we're coming for you. We've just got food. Get carried away. Get a bit loose tonight, 312. We also got some home security. Where's that going to go? And the rest of the food, we've just stuffed behind Amy's chair. Check you out in your Defender. Push to start button. That's so posh. Today's outfit is hip-hop crew inspired. The boar bags. Quick tour of our home for the week. Starting in the cockpit. So this is the new Land Rover Defender. Two litre diesel. Got heated seats. Heated steering wheel. Okay, let me show you the kitchen area. So it just pulls out like this. How did Luke not have it? Voila, cooking. What if it rains? Could we not cook? We've got a solution for that. Show me that in a minute. It's also got dual temperature control. Somehow as well, I've turned the rear view mirror into a camera. Being able to open the tent out in the nature in the morning is just going to be ideal. So I'll put this away. So we've rented this bad boy from Overland Japan. And if you want, you can rent the exact same model if you land in Tokyo and then take it on a road trip wherever you want. We have a beautiful fridge. Plethora of spices. Oh, chocolate. Moving on to what you all have been dying to see. How does the bed work? Let me show you. Cooking equipment. Siv, toastie maker. Points you up the ladder. There's two clips. Push. Go on. Cool. How huge is that? I'm sure I can hear things in the woods around here. Back to the tour homes. Watch your eyes, everyone. We have an outdoor light. There's loads of monkeys over there. They're literally right by where we're camping. It's the red-faced ones. Like the snow monkeys. Yes, they are. I thought I heard something in the forest. I was like, there's a bear. And I've just spotted the monkeys on the roof over there. I wonder if they're like curious or slash friendly. I don't like the word slash when we're in the forest. Wanna sleep over? Come on down. We have snacks. I turned around and I thought that was a snake. I nearly lost my head. It's just a rope. All right. It's too much nature for me, Craig. Should we just go back to the city? Trev's out in nature. Look out. She's out in nature. You can't see her, though. All right, back to the tour. So this is our table for if we have friends round for breakfast. I know. I would pay to watch a vlog of Amy doing this on her own, trying to figure stuff out. Try and get in there. Like, look, you think you just pull that. Do people need to know the table goes up, really? All right, so this just pulls down. That really hurts. You've got yourself. Mutley over here loving it. Oh, lovely. Lovely. Table. Oh, Craig, it looks so good. Coming up. This is amazing. It's so kitted out. This is so comfortable. Layers of blankets and then a big thick mattress as well. So some of you might be thinking, Craig and Amy, what if it rains? What are you going to do? Don't worry about us, lads. That is so cool. You just hug this bad boy. On this little eyelet, and then you tighten this up. Oh, it's going to be so cool. Wake it up. I'm glad you look so happy, babes. I'm buzzing that we get to do this trip. That was wicked, isn't it? Yeah. Starving. I mean, I love it, but it's missing something. Much better. So when we rented this van, we went on the website to pick which Jeep we wanted, and we picked the white one because it said, camping car for romantics, which I thought was very fitting. You're flirting, yeah. I am flirting. Very romantic, even though we're just pulled off just off the side of the road. It's class. There's a lot of monkeys. What if I need a toilet in the night? Ask them if you can use their toilet. Okay. They are our neighbors. All right, Ainsley Harriot, what is for dinner? I actually love cooking, but I just... You're lazy. Just say it. I'll cook tonight, babes. I'll bar that. See, as though we're on a romantic trip, and... It's just because you don't want to lose your deposit, isn't it? Fine. Absolutely fine. Sorry, Paris. Yeah, that's the main reason. So the problem we could have is if someone comes and they're like, mate, you need to move on. We're like, give us 20, mate, and we'll be gone. It's literally like putting up your Christmas tree, that. I forgot to show you this secret drawer as well. Woohoo! Got our chopsticks and our utensils and some Japan knives. You said these are bad boy, and they'll chop your finger off, so be careful. Yeah. So you can't use these, Trev. Another reason why I'm not cooking tonight. All right, what are we having then? I can't remember what we bought. No. We got some booze. Oh, the problem is though, if someone comes and moves us on, we can't both be drunk, can we? We just have to stay. I'm not taking my Christmas tree down. You can't make me. We'll do it at a campsite so we don't get moved on. It says strong on the bottom. Makes you strong. Save that. We don't need to be strong tonight. No. Unless monkeys want to fight us. We're going to attempt to make a ramen. We don't have much ingredients though. We think this is miso, so we're going to have noodles. We found this soya meat. We got peppers, bok choy, cauliflower, broccoli, and some cashews. I think it's going to be banging, Trev. Are you ready for a taste explosion or what? I was just going to say, explosion in the mouth, not the other end, please, because we are not near a toilet. Keep your PG, Trev. Sous-chef Susan Boyle over here. I'm actually a really good sous-chef. Like, I don't back-chat. I don't give you attitude. Like, I'm a top apprentice, and I'm also a really good chef. So if everyone wants to just get hold of the BBC and let them know that I should be on Great British Bake Off, that'd be great. All right, whilst Pat and Pete is suing, I'm going to set up the wok. It's been a while since I cooked. I feel like Nate Buchanan. I doubt. This guy really has never been in the kitchen before, has he? No shade, mate. Here we go. Cooking on gas, lads. What you want to do is get your wok to a lovely, even temperature. Splash of oil. And then I'm just going to put the miso in first. Have you ever made a ramen? No, this is my first time. Healthy slap of miso. Oh, great. What you want to do is just burn the miso. Yeah, turn it down a bit. Into an inch of his life. I do worry now, though, with the smell of food. I know. That bears might come. All the monkeys are like, what's on the menu? Monkeys are invited, but the bears. I think I've put water in the miso because it is a ramen. A couple of steps ahead, you are, Trev. You need to slow down a bit. Cooking's all about preparation, patience, and timing. Soya chunks going in. There's a duck, Craig. Pippa. Tent might blow away tonight, and it might be our fault. We'll blow ourselves off the tent. Need something else. Chef, yes, chef. No, splash. Is anyone from Japan watching this and cringing at this ramen? I'm sorry. The British ramen, this is. British ramen. Straight from the Isles of Wales. We've got a surprise for you, Trev. Surprise for me? We've got a projector. Have you watched a horror film? No, absolutely not. No, no, no, we'll watch a Disney film. Voila. Quick, Craig, the film's starting. This is camping, boys. This is quite classy, isn't it? This is amazing. Something about being outdoors. Oh, baby. You're just using your hands like that, yeah? Trev's going to be popping right off tonight. You'll wake up with a bigger crisp than you went to bed with. I'll have a middle parting. Some ramen, this is. I know, it's more of a noodle dish. Keep you hydrated. I love a ramen. It's getting a little bit chilly out here, so we're going to take this party to the bedroom. Go on, Florence. I usually sleep naked, but tonight I feel like, one, I'm going to be cold, and two, I don't want any spiders in me bits, so I'm going to wear some pajamas. There's no party because we're trying to be all nature and Bear Grylls and that tonight. Trev's going to find a little tree. Isn't he, Trev? Yeah. I hope you brought a massive trowel. No, that's not what I got. I just need a widdle. Yeah, that's not what you just said. You've got a torpedo ready to go. Stop it. Snake. Don't just hold a light and a camera at me. Great, turn it all off, will you? All right, it's bedtime, and because there's only zips keeping us safe, we need some home security. It's a vegetable club. I think we're going to be all right, babes. Cozy. Look at this little bumblebee. Yes, Greg. The heated blankets are everything. We got protection and snacks. We still don't even know what it is. You could be allergic to that. It's got three uses now. It's also a hook. It's nine o'clock. I got a feeling this is going to get us into a good routine of early nights and early mornings. Mornings, yeah, me too. Because tomorrow. Not even just tomorrow, Greg. Let them know the truth. Like, we've got a sick itinerary planned for this road trip. Tell them the truth, Trev. Well, speak the truth. We're going up north. If you were like watching the video like, oh, it's not really going anywhere. I'm not sure I might turn it off. Don't you dare. And if you haven't pressed subscribe, press it. I'll come and beat you. With a veg or? I'll beat you with a veg. Night, Ben. You up, Trev? I don't know. How'd you sleep? I'm still going. Lovely day. So bright, you can't even see the flame. I've just heard a guy go for a walk in the forest. And he's literally got a massive bell. So I think there are bears in this forest. I wonder if they paid us a visit whilst we were sleeping. Did you hear the guy with the bear bell? The bear bell? Yeah, mate. Cheers, babes. It's our first night overlanding. Do we need trust? We all know that. I don't think I should get naked. We are technically in a car park and there's a couple of people down there. So time to get ready. What's for breakfast? One's got chai on it. One's got ramen. Which one would you prefer? Chai? We're actually having our breakfast out of measuring cups this morning because there's nowhere to do our dishes. It is warm today. If the weather was like this, I could do this full time easily. Even with ramen on your spoon for your breakfast? Even with ramen on my spoon. The key piece. Can he do it in one go? Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. Yeah! First time. Well done. And that's the bottom line because Holmes says so. Melter of a first day. You look cute today, babes. Thank you very much. Like a Mormon explorer. This is great, mate. Are you loving it? I'm loving it. I just... I get so excited. Like I love doing this and I really hope that you guys watching this, I hope you're just like, John, we're going to go to Tokyo and we're going to grab a 4x4 and we're going to do a road trip. Like I would love to know that you guys actually do take inspiration from these videos and do come and do these whole experiences for yourself because they're so much fun. Amen, Trev. Amen. There's a lot of signs. They love a sign, don't you? Love a sign. Go and see what they say. I'm going to do dishes while you're there. Toilets are closed. But you've got to come and see this. Did you figure out what the sign said? Do we need a bear bell? Following activities are prohibited. Making noise. So you're banned. Oh, wow. Look at this for a morning spot. That's glorious. Coming in, Trev? I don't have my bathers, sorry. Oh, yeah, of course not. Only problem is I forgot the tea towel so you've got to dry with. Oh, never. Drip dry. Have you tested how cold it is? Absolutely fine, babes. No problem for you. I think you should just run and jump, Craig, because it might take your breath away a little bit. Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! What is this? I don't see no, like, river snakes or anything in there. You'll be fine. I'll save you. Quick, then, because you're blinding everyone. I'm so pale. Oh, he's mad. See, he's a mad one. Are you getting out, are you? I'm getting out a sec. Oh, I took my breath away. You lost me kegs as well. Got a genius way of drying the shorts after you've been for a swim. I'll just cover him because I know he's hurting your eyes. Watch them flap about now and fling off on the motorway. Hit some old lady in the face. Well, I am hoping the next couple of swimming spots we can go in naked. Remember how we loved doing that when we were in Wales? She's done it. She's in the bath. I am. It feels so weird. They're up in the mountains, so nobody would see us. Yeah, boy. I'm actually freezing as well. Just found some public toilets. So we're going to do the dishes in the sink. Got to do what you got to do. Stay tuned for more thrilling content. Ready for another meal. You chipping in today or what? No. Summer is on the way, lads. That is a ski resort. And all the snow is basically melted. I love snowboarding, but I love the summer more, I think. We're both starving, so we need to find a pull-up. We're going to make a little salad, aren't we, babes? That would be lovely. Little summer salad. Salad's up. Salad with a view, Trev. Oh my God, that's heavy. Thank you. Number two. What a view up here, mate. You can see the whole valley. Who, in their right minds, watching this video, puts apple in a salad? Leave it in the comments below if you are a psychopath like Greg Combs. Are you loving it, though? You literally just said to me, ooh, that apple in the salad's good. Showing off in front of your friends now. Because I put it on the side to eat after because it's really strange. Trev needs a pee, so she's using the ladder to go in a bush. I can make it longer. How big is that wall? Hey, why don't you go on that corner where there's nothing in the way? I want to stand on a viper snake creek. I hope there's no vipers in there anyway. Can't beat your salad and a nap, can you? Today is a slow, take it easy day. It is a public holiday, so. Had a major itinerary for you lads, but everything's closed, so we'll have to do that tomorrow. What's going on here? Looks like a completely derelict old town. Ponpoko no Mori, family camping ground. I'm not getting out. I don't think anyone's home. No one there. It's really eerie, though. Like, you can see shoes in there, and the doorbell works. Feels like humans were present, and now they're not. It's almost like a zombie apocalypse. What? Get in. All right, guys, so it's about, I think it's like 6 o'clock, and so eat a lot is hungry. What's new? We've got some packet rice and some packet curry, and that's what's going to happen in 3, 2, 1. Smells banging, but I don't think it's cooked properly. I've also set the bin up so we can just do that up, pop that over, and there'll be no beers sharing tonight. I don't know if you can see that behind me, but there's rain coming. This is going to be the real test. How are we going to cope in the rain? Also, how are our bellies going to cope with Amy's meal? Looks lovely, babes. No, it doesn't. You don't have to lie. Tonight's festivities will include trying some of Japan's finest alcoholic beverages. Some strong Choya. A couple of highballs. What is that? I don't know. We'll find out. A Dulop Plus. Kunazakari. 80%. You picked this one. Trying to get crunk tonight. It was orange. I was like, that'll be nice. Curry and alcohol with a ladder climbing down from a tent and no toilet. It's going to be a great combo. The bar open. All right, Captain Travers up first. Is that illegal? Why is this in a carton? This is what they have milk in. Dulop. Duplop. Oh, my gosh. Is it good? Yeah. I did not expect that. That's quite strong, that one. I think that's sake. That went straight to my head. What's it got in there, a little olive? Boring. Luxurious feeling of 80% mandarin orange juice. 80% non-alcoholic. 80% oranges. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What does it taste like? Really sweet fruit. It tastes like sake whiskey. She's going to be strong. Oh, I don't feel right. I just need to sit down a minute. What? That tastes like I'm back in Vietnam. Happy water, anyone? Oh, my God, I feel so sick. Sorry, Chloe. Down the hatch. Whiskey and lemonade. Oh, yeah, it's good. Is it? Tastes like Christmas pudding. Oh, give it back, give it back. So, there was a bit of a storm last night. Wasn't the best night's sleep, was it, Craig? No. Oh, right, that is. Oh, it's not raining. Ice day. Is it? Not really. We got a ticket. What do you mean, a ticket? Psych. You're a bad boy. When the storm was going on last night, the wind was blowing, and it just sounded like there was a bear. At one point, my stomach growled. Oh, it did? And Amy literally thought it was a bear growling. When you think bear, it is a bear. There's nothing that can convince you otherwise. So you're constantly on high alert, just thinking, when is he going to attack? What was that? It was that curry, it was. I was ready for a fight, honestly. All right, lads, have we got a cracking day for you. Let me tell you. Let me tell you this now. Let Amy tell you, I don't know what we're doing. Well, the first place we're going to go to, I'm not going to tell you about, because I bet you 15 great British pounds, you do not know the name of this animal. Take us, Craig. What would you like to listen to? Paul Potts? I'm going to get copyrighted from Paul. Thank you. This little miniature hippo, any guesses, is a capybara. I think I'm saying that right, because I've never used that word before. I think I found my spirit animal, laying in a hot tub, chilling. All day. It's so funny. Every now and again, they just dunk their heads under and then flap their ears, like little hippos. I'm not sure if you know, but you guys are living the dream. Oh, I don't know. I think that's a yes. Come on. Come on, don't you ever. Here we go. I come in peace. Oh, yes. Look at the teeth. You hungry, girl? Get it in you. Good lad. He's humongous. He's almost as big as you. Want some more? Little snotty nose. They're like the smelly kids in school. My best day ever. Oh-ho-ho. These boys have figured it out. They're sitting in the hot tub, whilst people bring them food. What is it? Is that a dinosaur? Woke up this morning, I didn't even know he existed. Magic animals. He's my absolute best friend. What do we look like? They're like chicken feet. Just living the absolute dream. I swear I heard him flick his fingers earlier. The temperature's fluctuating so much here, it's crazy. I was in shorts and t-shirt yesterday. Today is about animals. Come on then, Trev. So I've looked into how much those capybaras were. They're between £1,000 and £3,000 to buy. So if we save our pennies, we could have one by Christmas. The only problem is, at full weight, they can weigh more than £200. Diesel stop. Petrol stop. We weren't sure if it was petrol or diesel, so we had to just double check. Arigato gozaimasu. Thank you. Good guy. I absolutely love Japan. You leave the petrol station and they bow to you. It's so respectful. It's unbelievable. Such a lovely culture because it just encourages you to do the same. All right, so I had to change the hair colour because I look like a bit of a drowned capybara because it got wet in the rain. However, this little number is going to match more with the animals anyway. This place does look like the Hills Have Eyes-style village. Everything's derelict and weird and there's strange statues and trees are dead. Fingers crossed we don't get killed. Not quite what I thought it was going to be. This place is weird as. When you see it online, it looks like there's a village and there's foxes that walk through it. But it's just like a big compound with all the foxes in it. They've got loads of rooms to like run about and stuff. But the music and the vibe and I think because it's a grey day, it's just so odd. Shall we go? Yes. The words of the wise, avoid the fox village because it's a compound, not a village. I guess I just didn't do enough research. I'm actually really disappointed in myself for falling for it, to be honest. They also sold fox fur and fox tails in a gift shop. So it's not the kind of place you think it is at all. So we've moved on. I'm gutted Craig, I'm truly gutted. You can't win them all Trev, don't worry about it. I know. On the plus side, we found a campsite so we can have a wash. We do have an outdoor shower, but neither of us have braved it yet. Saying that I've had a wash in the river, I don't know about you. No, but it's been about six days. You're the one smelling more than me, Kim. But yeah, shout out to Philly and Keeley, they sent us this map that shows all the onsens and the park ups and the rest areas in Japan because they saw us get mugged off in Osaka. So we'll be selling that map to you guys if you need it in future. We've been driving for an hour. It's literally in here, Craig. Are you sure this isn't just a rest stop? It looks like a bus stop. Where's the showers, fam? Where's the showers? You have arrived to nowhere. Can't go down there. Not having too much luck today, are we, Trev? Why is there nobody here? That's what I want to know. Craig's just done one of these. I've got no signal now as well, just to top it off. Never letting that man do the navigations again. Why don't you just have an orange? Forget about it. Thanks, Tony. So I've just seen a sign in the campsites up the road. Apparently, there's an onsen and a spot you can swim in the river there as well. I'm going to be too old for this now. From the onsen, we've got somewhere to wash. Open till nine o'clock. Otherwise, we're going to have to wash our bums in the river. Yeah, too cold for me. Onsen, here we come. I'm excited for this, mate. This day's turning out to be all right, you know. So, of course, to pay, you have to use a vending machine. Then you grab a basket and put all of your belongings into it, including all of your clothes. Then you pop your basket onto the rack and make your way inside, but naked. When you go inside, you'll see a washing station. Make sure you use this before you get into the onsen and scrub everything. I mean everything. There was two onsens in this particular one, one inside and one outside. I am fully stark as mint. In fact, everybody in this changing room is fully naked, which is quite nice, actually. There's like no judgment going on. So, I started the day feeling jealous of those furry animals, and now I am one. All I'm missing is someone feeding me food. This is great. I think the deal with the onsens is that people don't wear bathing suits in because the water's so clean and like pure. If you wear a bathing suit in, they can be seen as unhygienic and bringing like dirt and stuff. This one is major hot, though. Oh, nice, isn't it? I thought I was going to pass out at one point. It was so hot in there. Mate, did you see the thermometer? 42 degrees Celsius. Just like a prune when I came out. Just pop over there, and that's where we're sleeping tonight. Fun camp for the night. It's pitch black and there's forest behind us, so we could have a beer encounter in the morning. I hope so. It's about time we did, to be honest. We've been talking about this for way too long. Go on, put the bed up, Craig, so I can crawl in there, put the heated blanket on, and put RuPaul's Drag Race on, and you can cook me dinner. That sounds like a plan to me. Well done, babe. This looks lovely. Cheers, babe. Cheers. Nice day. It's about 7 o'clock. Now, I never see this time of the morning. And we've got a big day today, so we may have to nap in the car. So, we've got a pretty big drive today. We've only got about three hours left, but it was four and a half, so we're heading to a place called the Kiotsu Gorge, which apparently is just gorgeous. Oh, I'm tired. I've got a question for you. Is she your girlfriend? Unless she's tired, she's got a bad back, she's got a bad stomach. You need to tread safely today, Craig. We've made it to the Jalps, Japanese Alps. How mad are these things? It's so atmospheric around here. There's like waterfalls and smoke evaporating. National Park, this is. You can tell, can't you? Because it is absolutely beautiful. I didn't think we were going to come to a ski town, but here we are. We find ourselves up in the Jalps, as Craig said, with all of the melting snow. She's just gorgeous, but where is everyone? Where is everyone? We're at this gorge. We're hoping it's open. I think it closes at half four. Gorgeous clothes, mate. Sorry. Look at the scenage. You really would have to pack for all seasons. Will you watch where you're going, please? It's been mad, hasn't it? Four seasons in all different corners of Japan. Oh, my Gideons. Look at the scenes. Can we get a train? You go first. You can find out. That's so weird. Are we walking to get sacrificed, Craig? Wow. Nature. That's the coolest sunset I've ever seen. Definitely using that. Whoa, what a station. You can see out, but no one can see in. Beautiful. We can see Craig, but Craig can't see us. They should do white water rafting tours down there. That would be amazing. We almost broke this one off as well. So I'm glad we kept it on the itinerary. Yes, babes. What are you saying, Trevor? I'm saying this is just some of the coolest things we've ever seen. In the middle of nature, they've just got this big art exhibition, which just transports you to this huge gorge at the end. Just makes an experience like this really interactive and immersive. It's great. I love it. All right, lads, that is it for the adventure this week. And next week, it continues in the 4x4. You ain't going to want to miss it, lads. It's going to be mind-bogginly, mind-bog, what is it? Boggling. Mind-bloggling. This kid needs an apple. Go to bed, lads.