ant
Well-known member
gninnam said:Fantastic 8)
I reckon your mum will be enjoying every minute of this tour
Hope you get back OK to continue the journey
ditto that, looking forward to next update
Chrissys dream - 1969 Dormobile - The journey to Turkey
- Thread starter 72nu-funk
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ditto that, looking forward to next update
flynster
Well-known member
this is the first time i`ve read this thread.....you my friend are a true inspiration ......continue onwards and enjoy every second
absolutely loving the pics
all the very best fella
ste 8) 8) 8)
absolutely loving the pics
all the very best fella
ste 8) 8) 8)
davebug
Well-known member
Inspirational !!!!Stunning shots,dream trip ......
Trikky2
Well-known member
Great trip - liking your photos and the description of your journey and those you meet.
Looking forward to the next installment to bring us all up to date
Looking forward to the next installment to bring us all up to date
72nu-funk
Well-known member
Thank you all once again for your kind comments. Much appreciated. A thank you to Tony (redrust) whom I bought the bus from as well for the texts of support and the updates on the progress of his new bus
Well it has been a while since i've been able to source a stable and decent internet connection, but since I have arrived and will be here for approaching a month I have bit the bullet and bought a Turkish dongle. I crossed the border between Greece and Turkey after four hours of continual nonsensical headless chicken running between booths inbetween barrages of questions. Probably not assisted by the other people crossing through beeping, waving, wanting to have their pictures taken with the bus and talk, hence the officials getting a touch peeved with me at times, coupled with the heated discussion over the "green card" requirement, whereby I was curtly told "you buy our insurance or you go back to Greece". So, I have three months of Turkish insurance for the princely sum of 78 euros. Be warned, if you want to drive to Turkey, insist your insurers provide you with a green card inspite of what they may tell you.
Over the coming week or two i'll try to update this as much as I can between what I am here to do, but what I will say is that since the last post, the bus has brought me from Pisa through Tuscany, tripping along the coast line via Porto Santo Stefano, on through Civitavecchia to Rome, through Terracina to the madness of Naples and the wonderment of Pompei. A full circle of the Amalfi coast down to Paestum and Agropoli, then turning to scale the Vallo di Diano and Appennino mountain passes to Eraclea. A tour of the heel of Italy taking in Gallipoli, the truly amazing endlessness of the views from Capo S Maria di Leuca, onwards to San Cataldo and finally to Brindisi where I bid a fond farewell to Italy and boarded the ferry for Patras in Greece. Had I realised the ferry stopped at Cephallonia, I possibly would of stopped to tour its paths for a couple of days.
Greece took me from Patras along the coastal route via Korinthos to Athens. Greece unfortunately as I discovered quite quickly was in the startings of what was to become a week long strike by the truckers which resulted in a fuel shortage, which should in fact read no supply of fuel. I was aware that LPG would be hard to come by in Greece and so had the fortunate benefit of a full tank from Italy which helped no end in the times of need in hunting down the elusive petrol stations that had some remaining reserves.....I won't go into it further now, but I probably will next time as it did have an impact on the time it took and the route that I had to take.
From Athens I ran the coast to Sounio, then up via Thiva, Lamia, Volos to Larisa. The mythical Mount Olympus and home to the Gods (I will definately come back to that one), then on through Katerini, Thessalonki, Kavala and Alexandoupoli before crossing into Turkey. From the border I have ran Istanbul, down via the lake Iznik Golu, into Bursa, again running the coast through to Cannakkale, stopping in Troy then the long seemingly never ending haul to Izmir, collecting a couple of hitch hikers en route whom made me laugh no end, the boyfriends eyes seeing the seating in the back and promptly utilising it to its full by sleeping the whole way, the girlfriend sat in the front laughing after the first half an hour and turning to me and saying "being in your car is like being a rock star, everyone waving and cameras all the time!"
From Izmir I took to Ephesos, over the mountain pass and to Soke, Assessos and the beautiful Camaci Golu lake, then over the continual rises and falls of the mountains leading through Milas, Yatagan, Mugla, and finally arriving where Mum lived in Armutalan on Friday night of last week.
So many things have happened along the way, but thankfully despite my trepidation when I first set sight on that mountain back in the north of Spain and silently said to myself "are you really sure about taking this kind of route and expecting the bus to do it" having only previously driven it as far as Chester and back to have the lpg fitted, I can honestly say that the bus has performed faultlessly with a daily routine of checks and basic maintenance along the way. The only 'interesting' moment you'll see in the pictures below. Be warned, three hours on the motorway at a steady 55mph in 42C heat can do this to your back tyre too. I won't mention the jack wheels sinking into the tarmac, the need for those handy blocks of wood, or the puzzled look on the motorway maintenance guy that stopped to see if I needed some help when he attempted to offer up the spare to the back whilst I was getting a cigarette and discovered the fickleness of fitting to a lowered bus "No my friend, you have to let all the air out to fit it on, honestly". Just remembered, the two nuts securing the fuel pump stand managed to vibrate themselves to a point in Italy whereby the bus pretended to run out of fuel....which was lucky, as rather that than fuel swimming around the engine bay!
So in total, it has been almost 8000km, and i've managed the small silly challenge that I set myself before I left to do it all 'wild camping'. I haven't been on a camp site or paid since leaving my friends flat in Algorta on the 28th June to arriving here in Armutalan on the 6th of August. If I take out the week I returned for the eye appointment, the journey has taken 33 days.
I'll leave it there and leave you with some pictures to be going on with. There will be more, probably more than more!
Gurel, I hope to see you in Ankara in around two weeks time. I will be in touch. Oh, and if you think 36C is hot in the day time, try it here in Turkey at 2am in the morning! Take it easy one and all.
Well it has been a while since i've been able to source a stable and decent internet connection, but since I have arrived and will be here for approaching a month I have bit the bullet and bought a Turkish dongle. I crossed the border between Greece and Turkey after four hours of continual nonsensical headless chicken running between booths inbetween barrages of questions. Probably not assisted by the other people crossing through beeping, waving, wanting to have their pictures taken with the bus and talk, hence the officials getting a touch peeved with me at times, coupled with the heated discussion over the "green card" requirement, whereby I was curtly told "you buy our insurance or you go back to Greece". So, I have three months of Turkish insurance for the princely sum of 78 euros. Be warned, if you want to drive to Turkey, insist your insurers provide you with a green card inspite of what they may tell you.
Over the coming week or two i'll try to update this as much as I can between what I am here to do, but what I will say is that since the last post, the bus has brought me from Pisa through Tuscany, tripping along the coast line via Porto Santo Stefano, on through Civitavecchia to Rome, through Terracina to the madness of Naples and the wonderment of Pompei. A full circle of the Amalfi coast down to Paestum and Agropoli, then turning to scale the Vallo di Diano and Appennino mountain passes to Eraclea. A tour of the heel of Italy taking in Gallipoli, the truly amazing endlessness of the views from Capo S Maria di Leuca, onwards to San Cataldo and finally to Brindisi where I bid a fond farewell to Italy and boarded the ferry for Patras in Greece. Had I realised the ferry stopped at Cephallonia, I possibly would of stopped to tour its paths for a couple of days.
Greece took me from Patras along the coastal route via Korinthos to Athens. Greece unfortunately as I discovered quite quickly was in the startings of what was to become a week long strike by the truckers which resulted in a fuel shortage, which should in fact read no supply of fuel. I was aware that LPG would be hard to come by in Greece and so had the fortunate benefit of a full tank from Italy which helped no end in the times of need in hunting down the elusive petrol stations that had some remaining reserves.....I won't go into it further now, but I probably will next time as it did have an impact on the time it took and the route that I had to take.
From Athens I ran the coast to Sounio, then up via Thiva, Lamia, Volos to Larisa. The mythical Mount Olympus and home to the Gods (I will definately come back to that one), then on through Katerini, Thessalonki, Kavala and Alexandoupoli before crossing into Turkey. From the border I have ran Istanbul, down via the lake Iznik Golu, into Bursa, again running the coast through to Cannakkale, stopping in Troy then the long seemingly never ending haul to Izmir, collecting a couple of hitch hikers en route whom made me laugh no end, the boyfriends eyes seeing the seating in the back and promptly utilising it to its full by sleeping the whole way, the girlfriend sat in the front laughing after the first half an hour and turning to me and saying "being in your car is like being a rock star, everyone waving and cameras all the time!"
From Izmir I took to Ephesos, over the mountain pass and to Soke, Assessos and the beautiful Camaci Golu lake, then over the continual rises and falls of the mountains leading through Milas, Yatagan, Mugla, and finally arriving where Mum lived in Armutalan on Friday night of last week.
So many things have happened along the way, but thankfully despite my trepidation when I first set sight on that mountain back in the north of Spain and silently said to myself "are you really sure about taking this kind of route and expecting the bus to do it" having only previously driven it as far as Chester and back to have the lpg fitted, I can honestly say that the bus has performed faultlessly with a daily routine of checks and basic maintenance along the way. The only 'interesting' moment you'll see in the pictures below. Be warned, three hours on the motorway at a steady 55mph in 42C heat can do this to your back tyre too. I won't mention the jack wheels sinking into the tarmac, the need for those handy blocks of wood, or the puzzled look on the motorway maintenance guy that stopped to see if I needed some help when he attempted to offer up the spare to the back whilst I was getting a cigarette and discovered the fickleness of fitting to a lowered bus "No my friend, you have to let all the air out to fit it on, honestly". Just remembered, the two nuts securing the fuel pump stand managed to vibrate themselves to a point in Italy whereby the bus pretended to run out of fuel....which was lucky, as rather that than fuel swimming around the engine bay!
So in total, it has been almost 8000km, and i've managed the small silly challenge that I set myself before I left to do it all 'wild camping'. I haven't been on a camp site or paid since leaving my friends flat in Algorta on the 28th June to arriving here in Armutalan on the 6th of August. If I take out the week I returned for the eye appointment, the journey has taken 33 days.
I'll leave it there and leave you with some pictures to be going on with. There will be more, probably more than more!
Gurel, I hope to see you in Ankara in around two weeks time. I will be in touch. Oh, and if you think 36C is hot in the day time, try it here in Turkey at 2am in the morning! Take it easy one and all.
72nu-funk
Well-known member
72nu-funk said:
LOL we had this issue too!! Why doesn't the guy in the first booth just tell you everything you need so you can get it in one go!!??
Pics look awesome dude, and congrats on the wild camping, it took us a week of paying ridiculous prices for camping to realise it was syphoning our funds too quickly. Sleeping in a van in the heat is difficult too, do your thermo mats make a difference, we didnt have them and struggled at times. do you have a mozzy net to enable you to prop your rear hatch open? We ended up buying some netting and velcro in Gibraltar to fashion one together!
72nu-funk
Well-known member
Who needs a synchro to get to the top
72nu-funk
Well-known member
Benyon said:
Couldn't agree more Andy! Fortunately they don't comprehend the word bell end when added to the end of a sentence :msn4:
The thermo mats are the bain of my life to be perfectly honest. You'd think by now i'd be at a stage of being able to just put them up almost in my sleep, but they are seriously a pain in the backside. They don't stick to anything but glass, then the sticky bits stay stuck to the window when you pull the mat off to re align it because whoever designed them thought that just small enough was better than slightly big enough, then the sticky bits don't go back in securely, then you realise you are in fact sweating more than you were before you bothered to try putting them up. I can say hand on heart they have gone up with ease perhaps four times since I left, and despite attempting to do exactly the same procedure, it never works twice :roll: As to whether they do the job, yes and no I would say. I have a set of original pop on curtains with me as well and to be honest, providing you have parked so as not to be in the direct path of the sun coming up, they do as good a job if not better in my opinion, and you can wind the windows down with them fitted for that all important breeze allowance when the world is kind enough to supply you with one
That and the bonus of the dormobile roof vents.I haven't got a mozzy net for the back, but then I have things in the back so always keep it locked anyway. How is the beetle doing? Did you move to Bristol?
72nu-funk said:
TBH we only used the net and opened the back hatch a couple of times, wild camping with the hatch open does make you nervous, but the cool breeze was a godsend!
Yeah moved to Bristol about 6 weeks ago, things are going well - can't say the same about the Beetle. It had been going well but is off the road at the minute with clutch and gearbox mount issues!
72nu-funk
Well-known member
Iannis who popped by to say hello on his way past. Complete and utter vespa nut with a collection of 12 from 1951 to the 70's. He was very unhappy to be riding his 'modern plastic one when I meet you today' :lol: Was a pleasure to chat with him.
And here is the tyre. No signs of cracks or tears before I set off in the morning, and yes that is just the carcass, the complete tread delaminated and tore off as i've seen so regularly over the years with truck remoulds in the heat (I've worked in logistics all my working life), but the tyre stayed inflated, possibly more courtesy of the inner tube, and the bus became a little wobbly and unsettled but it pulled up cleanly and easily to a stop. Wasn't to enamoured with it giving the rear bumper and quarter a slap on it's way out after beating through the mud flap mounting, but c'est la vie, it most definately could of been worse :roll:
Pictures are all a bit out of sync i'm afraid in respect of the journey itself, but i'll see if I can't rectify that at some point. One more and i'll catch you all again soon.
A fantastic story of your journey and the in and out of what you have to go through :shock:
Wild camping - hard enough to get the tribe to do this on a normal camp site :mrgreen:
Great pictures and I bet your mum would be so proud - well done and hats off to you
Wild camping - hard enough to get the tribe to do this on a normal camp site :mrgreen:
Great pictures and I bet your mum would be so proud - well done and hats off to you
Trikky2
Well-known member
Brilliant ! Thanks for the update.
I have always loved wild camping too; though these days I tend to use a site every few days for the facilities. That tyre looks like it might have overheated but I cant see how if the pressure was correct - weird one.
Interesting the camper gets so much attention. I guess it must be the colour scheme and the visor that make it stand out from the crowd.
Nice to hear the trip is going so well - hats off to you - only dared Italy Spain and Portugal in mine recently - not sure about Greece and Turkey.
Looking forward to your next installments.
I have always loved wild camping too; though these days I tend to use a site every few days for the facilities. That tyre looks like it might have overheated but I cant see how if the pressure was correct - weird one.
Interesting the camper gets so much attention. I guess it must be the colour scheme and the visor that make it stand out from the crowd.
Nice to hear the trip is going so well - hats off to you - only dared Italy Spain and Portugal in mine recently - not sure about Greece and Turkey.
Looking forward to your next installments.
72nu-funk
Well-known member
Benyon said:Come on James what happened to this temp/perm internet connection?
Us picture whores are hungry
Hi Andy, i'll be attempting to make the gerbils run fast enough to put some more pictures up this evening and making a new post. How are you keeping? Beetle still giving you a troublesome time?
tintintin said:A lovely read Dude, hope you've got a reserved copy of August VW Camper & Bus ! 8)
Looking fwd to the next episode
They did contact me to let me know that they had put the bus in and I saw a post on here from Wonkydonkey that was a scan of the article. Thank you for your kind comments.
Trikky2 said:Brilliant ! Thanks for the update.
I have always loved wild camping too; though these days I tend to use a site every few days for the facilities. That tyre looks like it might have overheated but I cant see how if the pressure was correct - weird one.
Interesting the camper gets so much attention. I guess it must be the colour scheme and the visor that make it stand out from the crowd.
Nice to hear the trip is going so well - hats off to you - only dared Italy Spain and Portugal in mine recently - not sure about Greece and Turkey.
Looking forward to your next installments.
Thanks Trikky. The tyre delaminating got me as well. Not sure, maybe it had a tear on the inside edge that I hadn't picked up when checking. When you see some of the roads that I was on through Greece it wouldn't surprise me if a jagged stone had given it a good nick to the side wall. I'm not sure on why the bus gets so much attention, but I think it might be because I really don't tend to be going on the main routes and so come through places where I guess they haven't seen one either in years or ever! I know here in Turkey they call it antika, and they all say they never see them anymore and where do all the extra bits come from. Maybe it is the visor, roof rack gubbins, pillar lamp etc. I'm really not sure.
Greece I think has changed somewhat over the years and the people being currently gripped by the countries financial crisis isn't helping. They used to be far more friendly, welcoming and approachable, or maybe that was because I had only visited the islands previously. It does however have some truly stunning places to go. Turkey - the more I have travelled the more it surprises me and the more I realise how massive the country is compared to the UK. To put some perspective on it, i've done 2000km since the repair a week ago today to get to where I am now. At the place I have chosen in the heart of Turkey to scatter Mums ashes, and it was just over 1000km from the border to reach where she had lived. The landscapes change so quickly as well from dense pine forests to semi arid barren plains that you cannot see the end of. The only country i've been where I can get up and pick a few bananas and a pomegranate from the trees for breakfast as well!
leon said:
Thanks again for the tips before I left Leon, much appreciated.
gninnam said:A fantastic story of your journey and the in and out of what you have to go through :shock:
Wild camping - hard enough to get the tribe to do this on a normal camp site :mrgreen:
Great pictures and I bet your mum would be so proud - well done and hats off to you
Thanks gninnam. Wild camping definitely wouldn't be for all. The handy shower in a bag has been of great service since I left. Although in colder climes it would be a bit of a sharp wake up call i'd imagine :shock: whereas here i've had to add cold water to it on more than one occasion to save scalding!
T2-Nate
Well-known member
Great story and really looking forward to future installments.
Bit sorry bout my Turkey rant in your other topic, off course there's always the good and the bad and I do know it has
beautiful scenery/people as you proved here.
How much time are you spending travelling? Also if I dare ask, what's it doing to your budget?
Cheers and be well.
Bit sorry bout my Turkey rant in your other topic, off course there's always the good and the bad and I do know it has
beautiful scenery/people as you proved here.
How much time are you spending travelling? Also if I dare ask, what's it doing to your budget?
Cheers and be well.
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