Friday 20^th Sept

After a night in the Car Park of the Iran Border we started of at 9.30

to make our way to Tabriz.     We found the roads of Iran to be

a real blessing after the Pot holes of Turkey. The roads now

were ashphalt and within 2½ hours we had covered 100 miles

so that in itself gives you an idea of the comfort we received

from the roads of Iran.           In a while I saw the first

Page 8b

first Camels I had ever seen & as we drove further into Iran

they became a familar sight.             As in Turkey the Men

just squatt about just watching Cattle & Sheep. The Women

Robed from Head to foot some carrying Parcels on their heads.

These people appear to live in Colonies in the Mountains because

of the Mud Huts which appeared every so often.      Children

waved as we passed by, & only once along this stretch of

177 miles did we see a boy asking for Cigarettes. As we

were entering Tabriz a herd of sheep & Calves were driven in

front of us. I had to brake hard to avoid & the Motor Cyclist

almost ran into the rear of the Van. Further along Birds

were tearing at the Carcose [carcass] which lay in the road. These birds

better know as scravengers feed on these dead animals because

it is really difficult to avoid them when you are travelling at

speed.  We found a Site and met Ray & Nicky who were in

a Van & Mike & Jeremy. The Van was doing the same as

ourselves that is travelling to Madras & shipping from there

whereas Mike & Jeremy were heading for Bombay. We posted

letters to Mum, Brenda, M Cramp, Nell & Mrs. Hockley at the Iran

border. The Van had experienced Stone throwing from the Boys

of Turkey & the Van bore the scars of this. Our milage

at this Site was 6505.

Page 9a

Sat Sept 21^st

this morning we left this Site, which was very noisy during

the night, and decided to reach Qazvin, for the first 25 miles

after leaving Tabriz you have an uphill climb which really

seems endless of uphill gear work, but after reaching the summit

we started to descend it was then that you had to engage a

low gear to let the engine hold the car, when you reach level

ground you have miles of twist & Turns this goes on until you

see the Signpost 100 Km To Zanjen [Zanjan] then the road straightens out

& you can cruise along at 50 MPH with comfort. You find very

few camels this side of Tabriz this surprised us as we had

seen several before reaching there. Donkeys do the main

work of Transportation they carry heavy loads & also the Man.

We ran into Strong head winds as the Afternoon wore on. We

reached Quazvin & after some difficulty found the Inn at 5.30

& stayed in the grounds.         Qazvin is one of the places in Iran that

the Traffic is under no control whatever. Every driver looks after himself

& goes where he wants to, despite of any other traffic on the road.

In the town the roads are disgusting, Pot holed, Boulders & Traffic

coming to you from all directions.     As we approached Qazvin on

the main Road towards Takestan we saw wrecked homes that

had crashed off the road, these crashes are definately caused

by bad driving in attempts to overtake whilst traffic is approaching

in the other direction. One car was completely rusty so it had

Page 9b 

been there for some considerable time. Another point of interest

along this road is that all Rivers were dried up & Heaps

of Stones had been placed against the Bridges so that they

acted as Breakers to stay the force of the waters when the rain

came.  Road repairs are all done by hand, whilst one

man throws the stones on to the road Another Pulls a heavy roller.

Traffic became heavy as we neared the Town & our milage

reached 6802. 

Sunday Sept 22^nd

Chazvin [Qazvin] is a very noisy place, there were no conveniences here but

it was pricey. The Inn was a very awkward place to locate, there are

no Sign posts. It was noisy because Dogs were barking all through

the night.         We got away early & made our way to a site at Terhan

[Tehran]. To get into Terhan you are faced with three roads North, South

& Motorway or Freeway as they describe it, then you have the

task of Locating the Site. The roads were under construction

& that made everything difficult it had all been pulled up &

bump everywhere. I would say that it was the roughest roads

of Iran, after making several enquiries we located the Site

here we all met up again Ray & Nicky, Mike & Jeremy.

There was a Swimming Pool here & plenty of Vans. It was hot

& we went for a Swim, we decided to stay for a few days

before going on towards Meshhad [Mashhad] as we are now about

1000 miles from the Afghan border, Milage 6898

Page 10a

Monday Sept 23^rd

We stayed at this Site which is not at all what is advertised to be

The whole trouble is no supervision, no one appears to want to take

responsibility they only want the cash.          Dogs were in the

Swimming pool which is not at [all] nice. I managed to get an Oil

Change for the Van & that cost 210 which was approx. £1.40

Sun was very hot & scorching.      At these Sites you can make

friends & find people who are travelling to the same destination

We have made arrangements to re-meet Ray & Nicky with Mike & Jeremy

at Mashhad.    We heard today of the Men who are running

from England to Australia we passed them 2 days ago.

 

Tues Sept 24^th

This is our third day at the Terhan Site & we are taking a rest

we are now making arrangements to be away early in the morning

so as to avoid the rush of traffic in Terhan.   Budget Bus had broken

up & all passengers were stranded.

Wed Sept 25^th

We got up at 6AM with the idea of getting out of Terhan before traffic became

dense. We left the Site at 6.30 & at 8.30 we were still trying to find our way out

of Terhan eventually we did get the road to Roskhen¹ & we kept on it,

once again it was that uphill climb through the Mountains.

Terhan is a City where you have to concentrate on traffic from all sides

we saw two cars smashes. In Terhan there are plenty of Police

Officers but they are hopeless in the control of Traffic.

 

Sept 25^th

1.      1    Possibly this is Rudehen

Page 10b

There is simply no road laws in that City.      The Mountains

that you pass through on your way to Amol is a stretch of about                                      

50 miles 25 up 25 down but the road is good ashphalt.   It

was here that we saw a sports car go through the Rails of the

Parapet it was a total wreck.  When we reached Amol we

were told that the Camp Site was 16Km back so we decided

to go on. The road was good & we kept up a good

speed to reach Gorgon [Gorgan] we were held up for quite a while

because of a road smash but managed to get through.

I must record that the Police Officers of Shahi & Sari

were extreemly Polite & helpful & I give credit to them, it

would benefit any traveller to know this & bear in mind that

they can get every assistanse available from these Officers

just for asking.               The Site at Gorgon was not what it is

advertised as, it proved to be just a Car Park & you could use

it. The Toilets were filthy. I would not recommend this to

anyone.         However there were two V Ws here, which was

a good point one had come from Australia & intended to tour

Europe, he was helpful with information and gave us a Town

Map of Mashhad. We shall attempt to reach Mashhad

tomorrow, we have travelled 262 miles today & the milage

now stands at 7160.    The Sites, so far as we have

travelled have been very poorly advertised or Signposted

that is why it has been so difficult to locate them.

 Tuesday 17^th

We left the Mocamp & went through Ankara, where we experienced

great difficulty. Everybody on the Road going this way & that,

Police have no control the traffic just sorts itself out, plus a few

smashes, we decided not to go up towards Samson [Samsun] because of the

heights, so we continued along & finally reached Kirkdale [Kirikkale]], the road

onwards was under construction we had about 10 miles of uneven road

& this continued till we reached the Fork Rd of Samson-Sivas, then it

became even. Two lanes of traffic but a bit more comfortable for

driving there were no lay bys & no place where anyone could

pull off the road. The road continues in the built up method with

a drop each side of you of about 6ft. You drive along & all you

can see is miles of road in front of you, & miles to the rear of you

Page 6b

it is tiring because there is nothing of interest to see. You just

have to keep on driving. We saw a cart track as we went

past & I stopped & reversed the van between the rocks

so that we left the cart track clear. There was no sign of

life whatever. All the grass is dried up & cattle just wander

about the roads unattended in search of food. these animals being

black emphasise what I mentioned previously. Dont drive after dark.

There are very few Villiages in these parts of Asia & what people

you do see are the women folk walking. the Men just sit

around. Bullock Carts & Donkeys are popular. We had about

80 miles of hill climbing which meant Gear changing. We did

park in this spot for the night & the milage was now 5791.

Wed 18^th Sept

It proved to be a very cold night, but the sun was shining when we

were awakened by a fellow shouting at us. Afterwards I discovered

he was trying to tell me of a stone in front of the Van which I had

placed there when parking, we realized that by being so high up

it was the cause of the drop in Temperature. When we found this parking

spot we had done 284 miles without a stop, Istambul was now 600

miles back. The road continues, either it is now built up as described

or it is cut out of the mountains, once you get going you just

have to keep on, there is just no place to stop. We then drove

through the Mountain passes in some cases you have a drop on the

Page 7a

edge of the pass of anything up to 200ft. It is in places like

this that the Coaches & Taxis have to be feared because once you

proceed along a flat roadway they overtake you & if they find

the oncoming traffic is too near then they just edge in front of

you & you have to brake hard to let them in. Another bad

point of their driving is that they always overtake at bends.

We kept on the road towards Sivas, we did stop for Petrol but

their Garages are nearly always Sold out of Petrol. The Garage

itself would be the envy of any Person in Britain they have really

marvelous Forecourts, amazing drive in but No Petrol & these are

mainly Mobil. The roads became dangerous because of the rough

surface & Pot holes which try as you might you just cannot avoid them,

then we started an uphill climb through the mountains twist & turn, but

the traffic was much easier, few Coaches, Horse carts were plentiful.

Men lounging about doing mothing, women carrying heavy loads.

Dead Cattle & Sheep lay by the roadside, because these animals do

wander across the roads & the Coaches will not stop for them. You

also find plenty of Glass where windscreens have been shattered.

All through Turkey you will get Children from 8 yrs of age begging

for cigarettes, men do likewise. Some Children wave to you as

you pass along, in these parts, to them strangers are few. These

people of Asia live in Mud Huts high in the Mountains it is therefore

impossible for these children to see life other than what they live in.

In the past two days we have travelled 512 miles along this awful

Page 7b

road of Molten Lava hills. We found a Camp site at Tercan &

on pulling in there for the night the milage was 6069.

Thursday 19^th Sept

Our next objective was to head for ERZURUM, this Site was a

wooded site & we were the only people there. They were obliging

but it was nothing to praise. Plenty of onlookers & then there

were those Men that took off their Shoes & Prayed. We were not

charged for the overnight stay so I gave him the Sample Cigs

we received from Hovercraft. We passed Erzurum and on to

Horasan from there we had to branch right & follow the road

through the [Tiher] Pass. this road is of rough gravel & it is

a single line traffic. I can say with confidence that this

is the worst conditions I have ever driven, Mountainous Country

winding hills and even at times it was difficult for 1^st Gear.

This road went on for nearly 50 miles. When we reached Eleskirt

the Petrol stations had no supplies but we had enough to take us on

to the next Station which was 20 miles further on. When we filled

up here an English Coach driver told us that we had Passed the

worst & the roads from now on were all paved, he proved to be

right for only the next 50 miles & we found ourselves hill climbing

again. when we arrived at a flat piece of ground we stopped for

a cup of tea & we found ourselves surrounded by 12/15 men who

were undoubtably looking for trouble. They threatened to cut our

Throats & overturn the Van, so we promptly finished our Tea quickly

Page 8a

& promptly drove away. The next part of our journey was extremely

rough. Pot holes in the road all the way to the Iran Border.

These Potholes were deep some 9-12 inches & it was very

difficult to keep the Van straight. 70 to 80 miles pf this

driving but we finally reached the Iran Border, at this

point the Milage was 6328, so we had now covered 3353

miles since we left Whitecross.          It was at the Iran Border

that we met a couple who are on their way to India in a Van.

As it took quite a while to get through these Borders we

decided to Park in the Car Park of the Iran Customs so we

were side by side with the Van. The Customs Officials &

Information Office of the Iran were very polite, but no praise

can be given to the Bank staff. It was indeed a blessing

to be out of Turkey.    In the Mountains of Turkey are herds

& herds of Cattle & sheep in fact there are more cattle high up in

the Mountains than in any part of what we saw of Turkey on our

journey. The people live in Mud Huts & in Poverty.

 

Page 4a

was at 3.30PM. We had only been on this Site for an hour when

we noticed that Police were stopping all cars outside the gates on the

Main Rd. It was pointed out to us that quite a number of Turks go to

Germany they buy Cars & take them to Turkey & sell them This export

is not permitted hence the check. The Manager of the Site was

helpful towards us & introduced us to Pat & Ingrid who were on their

way to New Zealand. Pat had sprained his ankle & they had been

at the Site for 5 days, we learnt afterwards that drink had caused

the fall Milage was now 4905

Friday Sept 13^th

We left this Site at 10.45 & then discovered that the Garages in

Bulgaria do not take Cash for Petrol, you must have coupons for

this, so after making enquiries we went to a Hotel, which was out

of our way, & managed to purchase Coupons, so we went back to

the Garage to fill up. Our travels in Bulgaria had been only

one stretch of Motorway of Two miles, All Roads through the Towns

and Villages are of Cobble Stones this causes you to reduce your

speed to less than 25MPH & then get a shaking, once you are

completely out of the Villages the road is Ashphate, we had a

rest from that in a lay by & realized that we had now done

2000 miles of our journey. We were having high hopes of

getting through & out of Bulgaria today but the road conditions

slowed us up. It is a very poor Country to live in. The Traffic

along the roads of Bulgaria so very heavy Commercial. You see very

Page 4b

few Cars, which gives you the impression that it is a Communist State

we reached a site at 5PM & met a family from Yorkshire who were

going to Australia by the same route as we had received from the

R.A.C. They had sold up everything & were emigrating, they had

a Bedford Van nicknamed Bessie there were five in family the

Site was clean, our Milage was now 5070                

Sat 14^th Sept

It as at 10AM that we managed to pass out of Bulgaria & into

Turkey. At the Turkish Customs we found a Long line of

Lorries parked for nearly half a mile. I overtook these & reached

the Checkpoint. We were a long time at this. You had Forms

& papers to fill in in, & quite a lot of people & Cars were waiting

We had 5 Bulgarian Petrol Coupons left but could do nothing about

them. We changed what Cash & then had this long wait to enter

Turkey, it took just over an hour to complete formalities & when we did

finally get cleared we decided to head for a lay by & have Tea

At this Lay by we met a Cyclist who was touring the World & he told

us he expected it would take him 4-5 years I did not envey his

task but he was cheerful & had G B Plates. After this point we

lost sight of the Family from Yorkshire and we went on towards Istanbul

In Turkey you will find the road is just Straight, in fact it is straighter

than any British Motorway, the Country is just Flat with very

little vegetation. Just molten Rock. The driving standard

appeared to me to deteriate. They drive & keep as close to the

Page 5a

Car in front as is possible to do. My advise to any British Motorist

is keep clear of these Coaches because they really are a death menace

We saw a B.P. Mocamp at Istanbil & drove in. You select your

own place & look after yourself. Supervision at these Mocamps

could make them Ideal. We had experienced strong head winds

driving had been hard & we had had heavy petrol consumption

Sunday 15^th Sept

Our milage on reaching this Mocamp was 5273. The people in

the Camp were quite a cheerful crowd, & this B P.Mocamp is known

as one of the Camp in Europe where you can get good Service, there is

Hot Water, Good Toilets, Shaver Points, washing facilities, cooking etc

here we met people from London who were just ending their holiday &

there were quite a number of GB Cars & Motor Caravans here. We

decided to stay for a day or so to see Istanbul, we got to

Istanbul in one of those Ford Vans that are used as Buses in these

places, do not ask where we went to get to Istanbul because I

shall never know. It was a dirty Place & in full Market swing

as we walked through we took Photos & wandering around we

saw a Coach from London. The driver offered us a lift back because

his party were staying at the next Camp along which was Shell

That Coach party consisted of all young folk on a three month

Tour of Europe.           We returned with them to B.P. Mocamp &

then a Gent came over & introduced himself as Joe

Could he Talk, after about 3 hours we finally got away

Page 5b

from him, it had disarranged our plans but it was now dark

& we went to bed.

Monday 16^th Sept.

We awoke to find it was raining so we left the Mocamp at 10

& drove along the Coast line road to the Bridge, from Istanbul

onwards it was really bad with the driving Rain & very bad

roads. These places have no drainage so the Rain water

just floods the roads. We took the road over the Bridge, A Toll

has to be paid here, & on towards Ankara. In Istanbul one

has to be careful of driving, no matter what experience you

might have had. Traffic Lights are ignored by these drivers

& if they can see a way of getting across, they will take it. As in

the previous Countries, Coaches are the danger. Keep clear of them

else they just force you off the road. We did stop for a cup

of Tea but were pestered by boys who tried to sell us Fruit

but as we did not buy then they started to throw stones. You

get this trouble throughout Turkey, our next task was to reach

Ankara. Road conditions bettered slightly as we went on, we

started hill climbing & went high so that we were in the clouds

There is just the 2 lanes for traffic but as the descent started so we

increased speed & were able to average 40MPH. Although this is

the main Road A.5. straight through, it is a dangerous road

because all kinds of Live stock wander across. You find

Bullocks, sheep, Goats, Chickens Geese. They just wander

 

Page 6a

Across the main Highway at Will, so it is not surprising to see

The Carcases that lay in & by the side of the Roadway. It

Is therefore a great danger to drive after Sunset. We found

the B.P. Mocamp on the right as you drive in. It was almost

deserted but it was clean & had its facilities but was not as

good as the B.P. Mocamp at Istambil. The cattle around

this part of Asia look underfed there is nothing in the Vegatable

way for them to feed on.        We saw loads & loads of Water

Melons since entering Turkey & it appears to be the main crop.

The women are the workers in these parts & you also see a few

Bullock Carts.