After a bad bout of Bronchitis and all the trials and tribulations of packing the last 20 years into 200 square feet of storage (to let the house to help fund the trip) we finally made it to Dover (via Footloose at Peterborough to sort a few potential electrical gremlins). Only to be stopped and searched by security and missed the boat (we expected this from Ukrane on, but not at Dover!). No probs though, we were on the next boat 50 minutes later at no extra charge and arrived in France at 15.30 on Friday 6th May.
10 miles into France we stopped for lunch and completely changed the plan. We were not ready for the long drive to Romania and the forecast was for rain for the next few days and 26 degrees and sunshine in Luxembourg so we thought that a few days in the sun in an area we new well would be a good start before heading into the unknown. We drove till late and poppeed the tent up in a rest area just before Luxembourg leaving us just 74 miles to do on Saturday
In fact it was well over 30 degrees and clear blues skies. After a fair bit more re-organizing thr truck and watching the Grand Prix on Sunday managed a 25 miles bike on Monday looking for milk and potatoes!. Chris had come down with yet another cold so she slept on and off.
By Tuesday we were raring to go and after another night in a rest area on the German/Austrian border we pulled into a camp site near the centre of Budapest at 8pm on Wednesday (11th)now well into uncharted teritory (for us). Fuel is cheaper then expected, filling up in lux at €1.147 and managing the whole of Germany and Austria on a single tank (596 miles) at an average of 19.25 per gallon and the weather has so far been glorious the whole way.
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Mick & Chris
Intrepid for 10 Minutes
Married in 1980 we had both travelled before we met. Me overland to India. Chris overland from Singapore, after working in New Zealand for 18 months and finally been given 24 hours to leave after repeated attempts to extend her visa.
We both vowed to travel again, once we were able and whilst we have recently made short trips to Peru, Sri Lanka, Nepal(Mick) and Vietnam (Chris) this has simply fuelled our desire to travel (without having to rush round in 2 weeks).
In August 2007, returning from Slovenia with our caravan, we met Jeff & Jean who were in the first Landcruiser with roof tent that we had ever come across. Over a few beers they told us about their two trips to South Africa, down either side of the continent (see Gonewandering.co.uk) and their plans to ship the Landcruiser to the point of South America and drive to Alaska.
And that was it! by the time we had left we had given ourselves 4 years to be on the Road.
In October 2007, we made a quick trip to Morocco for a last attempt to get some sun before winter. Chris wanted to be intrepid and travel round by bus and Grand Taxi, but with thughts of waiting around for hours and trouble finding accommodation, I hired a car instead.
We stayed in the Hotel Panorama in Azrou (one of the few places we could get a beer during Ramadan) where we met Dave and Sue (over a beer). They had hired a guide for a walk the following day and invited us to join them. Before starting, Dave confirmed the rules to the guide - no walking on roads and back by 4pm.
It was an enjoyable walk until, at 4pm precisely, we arrived at a road, with a sign that said 'Azrou 4k'. After the toys had been firmly thrown from the pram Dave sat on the bank and said 'It's 4 o'clock, that's a road and I have finished'. As he said it, a Grand taxi stopped just down the road to drop someone off, our guide flagged it down and the driver promised to be back in 5 minutes.
So Chris got her trip in a Grand Taxi. During the short trip Sue recounted varous experiences in long bus journeys in stifling heat where dogs had died and numerous children had thrown up, and a 6 hour trip in a Grand Taxi, wedged between 3 large ladies in stifling heat so she could hardly move and after taking a sip from her water bottle, the large woman next to her took the bottle, drained it and threw it out of the window.
We both vowed to travel again, once we were able and whilst we have recently made short trips to Peru, Sri Lanka, Nepal(Mick) and Vietnam (Chris) this has simply fuelled our desire to travel (without having to rush round in 2 weeks).
In August 2007, returning from Slovenia with our caravan, we met Jeff & Jean who were in the first Landcruiser with roof tent that we had ever come across. Over a few beers they told us about their two trips to South Africa, down either side of the continent (see Gonewandering.co.uk) and their plans to ship the Landcruiser to the point of South America and drive to Alaska.
And that was it! by the time we had left we had given ourselves 4 years to be on the Road.
In October 2007, we made a quick trip to Morocco for a last attempt to get some sun before winter. Chris wanted to be intrepid and travel round by bus and Grand Taxi, but with thughts of waiting around for hours and trouble finding accommodation, I hired a car instead.
We stayed in the Hotel Panorama in Azrou (one of the few places we could get a beer during Ramadan) where we met Dave and Sue (over a beer). They had hired a guide for a walk the following day and invited us to join them. Before starting, Dave confirmed the rules to the guide - no walking on roads and back by 4pm.
It was an enjoyable walk until, at 4pm precisely, we arrived at a road, with a sign that said 'Azrou 4k'. After the toys had been firmly thrown from the pram Dave sat on the bank and said 'It's 4 o'clock, that's a road and I have finished'. As he said it, a Grand taxi stopped just down the road to drop someone off, our guide flagged it down and the driver promised to be back in 5 minutes.
So Chris got her trip in a Grand Taxi. During the short trip Sue recounted varous experiences in long bus journeys in stifling heat where dogs had died and numerous children had thrown up, and a 6 hour trip in a Grand Taxi, wedged between 3 large ladies in stifling heat so she could hardly move and after taking a sip from her water bottle, the large woman next to her took the bottle, drained it and threw it out of the window.
When we arrived in Azrou I said 'OK, are you satisfied now that you have been Intrepid for 10 minutes'
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Well done you two! Looks like you're having fun. Keep posting, it's lovely to see where you are. The little map is great - the wonders of modern technology! I'll print it off each week and hopefully Frank can put it up in the pub so we can all keep track of you!
ReplyDeleteClaire
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