Page 3b

Thursday Sept 12^th

I would not recommended anyone to stay at this site, but at

least we were “off the Road” Its charges were as others, we got goin

at 9.15 filled up with Petrol. As you get nearer towards Nis the

Lay bys appear to be a bit cleaner but the driving standards are

very low. You pass along this road & you see many Lorries & Cars

that have crashed off the road. The road all through the Country

is built up & on each side of you there is a drop of at least 6ft

The Coach drivers are the chief menace, they drive a excess of

60MPH & will not give way to anyone. Overtaking whilst

traffic is coming towards them is common, some vehicles cannot

get out of the way in time hence the wrecks that have left the road

& crashed, at some of these points you will see Flowers around

a post that signify the driver was killed, we finally reached

the Bulgarian Border & were there for nearly an hour. We had

to get Visas to enable us to pass through Bulgaria into Turkey

when one applies to the Bulgarian Tourist Office of London, it is

clearly stated that No Visa is necessary, but you must have a

Transit Visa, of which nothing is said. A young lady employed

at the Border was very helpful, Also you must change Currency

at this point, as it cannot be done by your Bank prior to you

leaving England we cashed £20 & our visas cost £4. The

Customs were searching all German Cars & that was the cause of

the delay. We got through & reached a site at Banka [Bankya], this

 

Page 3a

Wed 11^th Sept.

On our way again by 9.30 & we kept going all the time. Roads

were very bad in places, but straight all the way this road was

the A94 & we averaged 45MPH. The Lorry Traffic along these

roads was very heavey but fast. The standard of these Lorry

drivers is extremely poor, & I must state that it would surprise me

if any one of these drivers could or would ever pass a driving Test

of the British standard.           Lay bys in Yugo Slavia are in such a

disgusting state that it is difficult to describe them, they are

actually under oil, Pools everywhere. No Waste Bins. No signs

of Toilets. When one steps out of the car be careful that a Pool of

oil is not there for you to step into. The Litter at these places is

deplorable, we travelled 194 miles in 5 hours & the weather was cool

We found a Site where there were two British Parties, but we had

seen no signs of British Cars along the road, The site we found

at 6.15 was a Motel Site & when we reflected back on to the driving

through Yugo Slavia we had seen nothing of interest, 322 miles

of travelling through continuous flat Country, just Maize Crops for

miles & miles. The Agriculture labour is done by Horses & Bullock

no signs of Tractors or Farms, we saw about six Tractors but

they were being driven along the road The A94 is the only

Main Road & it runs straight through Yugo Slavia & it is used

by very heavy Traffic & plenty of it. Our milage reads at 4692

 

Page 2b

 

we travelld. We managed to find a Camp Site for the night & our Total

milage on the Clock now was 4189 this Site was at Glantz.

 

Tues Sept 10^th

On our way again by 9AM. Traffic was very heavy in places

we had two Police Stops but did not bother us as we made our way

through Villia¹ & then headed for the Italian border, we reached it

at 12.20, the milage read 4248 at this point. The weather was

much cooler than the previous day but it was still bright. In Austria

I found driving much easier than in France, Germany & Luxemburg

the roads seem to straighten out after 30 miles & Traffic was much

lighter. At these stops that we made for refreshments we found

Plagues of Wasps everywhere & they were a real nuisance. We passed

through Austria & reached Italy as stated by 12.20. The roads

were very poor. We did not have far to travel on Italian soil as

the journey through this part of Italy was there mainly to aviod the

hills of 1 in 4 in the last part of Austria. It was just past 1PM

when we entered Yugo Slavia & here the roads are very narrow

you travel about 15 miles inside Yugo Slavia before you reach a road

that will take two lines of Traffic, so you must travel with caution

all the way. It rained for awhile but soon brightened up, &

we even now heading towards Llube Jana². It came on to rain

again and as it was past 5PM we looked for a place to park for the

night this we found. It was not elaborate but it was cheap it is

by the River. We had Thunder Storms & stopped by Krka River. 4370

 

Sept 10^th

1.                  Possibly Villach

2.                  Ljubljana

 

 

Page 2a

Sept 8^th 

We booked in at this Site for a couple of nights, deciding to have a day’s rest from

driving. We met other couples from England who were touring. The Sun was

hot & Strong during the morning, & we decided to sort out the Van & Pack some stuff on to

the roof rack. We put the Trunk & Spare Wheel plus other bits on the rack, there were

plenty of Wasps about. I just wore T shirt & shorts. I attended to oil (1 pint) & Tyres

then we went for a stroll, returned for dinner & then planned out our route

for Monday which was to be through Austria to Yugo Slavia. The people were

very helpful towards us, we were in bed by 8.45 (4089)

 

Monday Sept 9^th

After we had had breakfast we went for a walk into the Town to Locate a

Post Office to Post Letters to Brenda, Mum, & to Ford Motor Co, we then

went to the Bank. We returned to the Site but were unable to start the

engine because of the Batteries being flat. We had had the Frig

switched on driving the two day stay at this site & thus had drained

the batteries, then offers of help came & we pushed the Van & got

started. It was then decided that the Frig should only be

switched on whilst the engine is running, so we went on our way

& continued along the road through the Mountains, we reached the

Tunnel after we had had a stop to let the engine cool down, the

50 miles that we had done since leaving the site was mostly 2^nd

gear work because of the steep incline. After we had passed

through the Tunnel the road evened out & we were able to drive

along in Top gear, the water Temperature then dropped to normal as

 

 

[Comment; Mum is Sarah Florence Lily Burrows nee Harries, who was living in Belyars Nursing Home at this time. She is the mother of Lily Elsie Burrows]

 Contd Page 1b

Sept 6^th

It rained during the night but by 11AM it was bright & clear, a clip had dislodged

itself from a lead in the Battery & caused trouble with the Starter. It was put right & we left

the Site at 1PM & entered Germany. We had no trouble at the border with Customs &

went towards Saarbrucken on the Motorway, then on to Karsers Lantern¹ then made our

way down towards Launden² & on towards Kurlsrune³, we made several enquiries for

the Location of a Camp Site but without success, so we drove into a Lay by after we

had passed Ettlingon⁴, it was now 8PM & the milage 3837.

 

Sept 7^th

We were up early, as road parking is not permitted in Germany & drove towards Phorzhen¹

We lost our way frequently but eventually found the Autobarn on the road to Stuttgart, the

weather was now good, but the traffic was heavy, after leaving Stuttgart we had to turn

left & climb up hill for about 8 miles. Kept in low gear because of the near side drop

of over 200ft, we took great care at this stage of the journey. The German Motorways

have Petrol Stations, we filled up & considered we should have enough to see us over the

Austrian Border, at this stage we had covered the first 1000 miles of the journey from

Cornwall. We entered Austria continued along the road for a few miles then found

a Camp Site, it is situated behind a Shell Garage at Kufstien², there was only

a few Motor Caravans here & settled down for the night. This is the first time that

I had seen Mountains.

 

Sept 6^th

1.      Kaiserslautern

2.      ?Landau?

3.      Karlsruhe

4.      Ettlingen

 

Sept 7^th

1.      Pforzheim

2.      Kufstein