Tuesday 17th
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
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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 18th 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
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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
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road of Molten Lava hills. We found a Camp site at Tercan &
on pulling in there for the night the milage was 6069.
Thursday 19th 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 1st 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
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& 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.
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