Photos

Above are some of my photos, the top is a (sideways) view of the chandelier within the Church of Bones in the Czech Republic, next is Brahn Castle in Romania, famous for being considered the inspiration for Dracula. The latter 3 pictures are of Ephesus in Turkey, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Turkısh Delıghts

Leavıng Bulgarıa and Romanıa behınd we are struck by the dıfference between these EU countrıes and the others. Rural lıfe ıs so dıfferent, people stıll use horse/donkey and cart, fıelds are ploughed by a man and hıs donkey, dogs roam free all over the place but ıt´s a pleasure to drıve through these vıllages. On reachıng the Turkısh border the Bulgarıan sıde ıs covered ın lıtter whıle the Turkısh sıde was clean and manıcured ın comparıson. The leaders chose a smaller border crossıng of Lesovo ın the hope that ıt would be a quıck and easy to cross. To get there the roads were small and very bumpy (especıally ın the back of the truck) but past trıps have met lengthy delays and once the truck has was ımpounded for 2 days leavıng the group to contınue on publıc transport. As the vehıcle ıs so unusual ıt attracts alot of attentıon whıch can obvıously come wıth problems but on the whole ıt just gets gapıng stares and photos taken. One man stopped on the motorway to take a photo!

1st nıght ın Turkey was our fırst camp fıre so we dug a pıt and collected wood and then cooked dınner on ıt followed by toastıng marshmallows. To gıve and example of our current dıet we cooked sausage stew wıth mashed potatoes and mıxed veg. We are eatıng well wıth meat most nıghts and plenty veg. The fıre was reıgnıted ın the mornıng to make tea and toast. That evenıng a passıng goat herder came and sat wıth hıs herd and watched us for a lıttle whıle. The mosque sang out for prayer tıme at 5.15am whıch was perfect for us as ıt was only 10 mınutes before my alarm was due to go off.

An early start took us to Istanbul where we get to stay ın a hostel wıth real beds for 3 nıghts! I can´t belıeve we´ve been campıng for 2 weeks, I´m so used to ıt now I even sleep wıthout movıng so that extra layers dont slıp off and my pıllow doesn´t move from me through the nıght.
1st stop ın Istanbul was the Grande Bazaar whıch ıs massıve and supplıes every kınd of everythıng ıncludıng fantastıc smells of all the foods avaılable. All the gırls had to fınd suıtable clothıng for Iran, wadıng through streets and alleys of rugs and gypsy style weddıng dresses we eventually bartered ourselves some scarves and tunıcs and trousers. We may have got them cheaper ın eastern Turkey but need to wear them to the Iranıan Embassy to get our vısas and they´re also useful for vısıtıng mosques here. 2 of us wore them to the hostel and the guys from our truck dıdnt recognıse us. It´s goıng to be hot wearıng them all the tıme ın Iran but needs must, and we all have to wear them.

Other hıghlıghts of Istanbul ınclude the aromatıc and colourful spıce market, another market full of small anımals (mostly leeches!!) and the mosques. Our hostel ıs close large mosques, one ıs the Blue Mosque whıch ıs enormous and ıs named by the blue tıles decoratıng the ınterıor. It´s a must see on a trıp here and lıke all other mosques ıt sıngs out to the cıty at varıous prayer tımes throughout the day. A cheap ferry rıde crossed the contınental border ınto Asıa on the other sıde of Istanbul wıth some Turkısh tea on board, ıt was very pleasant. The cıty ıs very much alıve wıth people, tourısm has grown alot and there ıs no shortage of stalls and tea houses and places to pass the tıme. It feels lıke a very safe cıty wıth a lovely relaxed and frıendly atmosphere and at no poınt have I ever felt uncomfortable among the volume of people bustlıng around. Alleys of tea houses have lots of people sıttıng wıth shısha pıpes waftıng theır fruıty smells out ınto the aır. I smoked my fırst shısha pıpe whıch took some gettıng used to but was fun and free and tasted sweet.

Tomorrow we get dressed up for the Iranıan Embassy and then get back on the truck to head for Gallıpolı ın tıme for Anzac day memorıal servıce.

From Austria we drove to Hungary and set up camp in a lovely wooded campsite which has a disused tram station converted into a bar/ restaurant. Next to it is a chair lift which elevates you to a lookout point at the top of a hill with great views of Budapest and the surrounding valleys. Budapest boasts many beautiful buildings and is a pleasant city to walk around though much of it is graffitied and the buildings suffer badly from a lack of maintenance.

Another full day on the truck took us into Romania where the roads begin to deteriorate and more hills emerge. I was instantly fonder of Romania as you take a step back in time and seem an older way of life reappear. All the houses are smaller and have gardens with chickens and veggie patches. My tractor fetish is well fed here as there are so many old tractors dotted around, they always make me grin!! The houses themselves seem to defy gravity as the walls and rooves seem to be caving in yet the whole village is still standing! It's an alluring country, away from the cities. We set up camp in a farmers field bear Transylvania airport. As usual all the locals stop to stare as we go past, one little boy even did us a crazy little belly dance!

Next was on to Bucharest where we had our first evening together sitting outside without shivering and we had a wee party for the first truck birthday. 

We're now in Bulgaria for a day off in Veliko Tarnovo. The beer's cheap, the landscape is green with rolling hills and the weather is temperamental. I was fortunate to sleep through the wind last night but a couple of camping buddies were out in the middle of the night tending to their tent which was making a bid for freedom. It's been counteracted by a beautiful day today so we've been for a couple of hours walk. Still breaking myself back into the blogging, it's been a while since I've done this!

After a few teething problems here is my first blog!

Saturday 7th April, 6am... we met the truck, huge big orange 40 seater beast with only 22 passengers (19 to begin with) there should be plenty space for everyone. It's custom built with 8 lockers underneath to hold all baggage, camping gear, tools, food and kitchen equipment and a big 600L water tank. On top there're bus seats and an area for charging electrical items. There's no heating, no air-conditioning and no toilet, but there is a buzzer to communicate with the drivers cab. 1 buzz means 'toilet stop', 2 buzzes means 'photo stop', a solid buzzzzzz means 'emergency stop' while incessant short buzzes means 'toilet emergency!!!!'

First night we camped in Belgium in a farmers field we shared with horses. The friendly farmer gave us a couple of bottles of whisky to keep us warm, it was a very cold night camping. Next night we camped in a forest in Germany, somewhere around Erfurt.

From there we travelled to the Czech Republic to a campsite outside Prague for 2 nights with a full day in the city. The highlight was on the way out of CR when we visited the macabre Church of Bones in Kutna Hora which is extravagantly decorated with the remains of what's thought to be around 40,000 bodies. When soil from Jerusalem was deposited there hundreds of years ago people from miles around had their remains buried in the church grounds believing it to be holier than their own land. As thousands of bodies continued to arrive a blind monk started building bones into pyramids. 200 years ago the church was renovated and an artist commissioned to use the bones to decorate the church, the result is something of eerie magnificence. Huge goblets, an impressive chandelier and a coat of arms are among the pieces on display, along with 4 of the remaining pyramids first built by the monk. Skulls and bones cross-cross the ceiling in bands of decoration. Some of the skulls are those of fallen soldiers with holes in the bone where they've been struck down. A most interesting use of human remains, I was amazed by the artwork, well worth a visit.

Onwards then to Vienna for 2 nights with a full day to explore the city. Lots of impressive architecture and tasty food available, the most worthwhile for me being the huge cathedral in the centre of town, free to enter it is pleasant though busy to wander around, beautiful high stain glassed windows an high ceilings as expected. We also had the chance to meet an Austrian couple who will join us later.

So far we have travelled a lot, covering the expensive European countries en route to cheaper eastern countries. A travelling day typically starts at 5.30am when we rise and pack our gear away, breakfast is at 6am and we're on the road before 7am. We've split into groups of 3 for cooking duties and truck cleaning and cook group can sleep on the truck as they don't have time to pitch their tents, this is not always a bonus as the truck is cold and less comfortable but the option is there. It's a great mix of people, ages ranging from 20 years up to 69 years, there are 10 males and 9 females and 3 couples among those. Most are English though there are 2 Scottish girls, a Canadian girl and an Australian boy. We have an Irish boy joining us in Istanbul and an Austrian couple joining us in India. So far so good!!

Hello everyone,

Gemma :)

(well it's not like Janet is updating this thing!)