To Turkey and beyond to Georgia

and so into Asia - crossing the Bosphorous

Wild camping in Eastern Turkey

Kings gate Hattusa - capital of Hittite Empire

We are sitting in the sun in Gorgeous Georgia having sped across Turkey in four days calling at Ankara to apply for a Turkmenistan visa, and stopping at the old capital of the Hittiies at Hattusa, a fabulously decorated old mosque at Divrigi, drove along beside part of the Euphrates, and stopped at the cliff hanging Sumela monastery, but could not go in as it is closed for refurbishment. Each night we have driven up into the mountains and camped in some superb locations, very peaceful, quiet and so dark the milky way is astonishingly bright. We crossed into Georgia yesterday, spending 7 hours waiting to get out of Turkey at the border with Georgia near Batumi. Lots of little old UK cars were in the queue taking part in the Mongolian rally to Ulan Batur. Most driven by youngsters aiming to cross from the UK to Mongolia in 6 weeks, then many planning to drive back through Russia!. Rather them than me.


Doorway at Divrigi Mosque

Sumela Monastery

First impressions of Georgia are that it is very relaxed, fabulous scenery and very unspoilt. The only downside is that the roads do seem to be in a pretty poor state, so getting round may take some time.

Running out of PC battery in this street café, so will try and post some photos when we have more time, and power.  











Beautiful Bulgaria

Following a flying visit  to London to pick up visas for Iran - we chose the hottest day of the year to spend in the Iranian Consulate - we returned to Bucharest and camped in the airport car park, well we did arrive back at 3.30am much less well developed here. With nothing to detain us we headed south to cross the Danube for the last time and entered Bulgaria, heading for the medieval capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo. The campsite here is fabulous, shaded by walnut trees, sited adjacent to a very placid river and run by a retired rock climbing Englishman who moved here 9 years ago.

Veliko Tarnovo boasts the fabulous Tsaravets fortress which dominates the town, perched on
top of a rock buttress and protected by cliffs forming a large loop in the river. It is surrounded by beautiful wooded slopes and was clearly a strategic location. In the town old cobbled streets house a variety of artisans making goods in their shops.

8 days - 8 countries

The Not so Blue Danube in Austria

Saxon Sibiu in Romania

It was always going to be a gallop through Europe, and so it has proved. The camper is parked up in Bucharest in Romania having driven down through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and now Romania. The one constant so far has been the excellent motorways and main roads, though as we penetrate deeper into eastern Europe the motorways are becoming much newer, some incomplete, and the side roads less well maintained.

Much of the journey for the past week has been along or near the Danube which is flowing fast and brown after a few days of rain, with the scenery changing from a beautiful valley lined with apricot orchards, to rolling fields of sunflowers. We also seem to have driven along the boundary between the heat of the south and the colder air of the north resulting in regular spectacular evening thunderstorms. To break the travelling we stopped off in Bratislava to view the old town, and spent half a day in Sibiu in Romania - a well restored Saxon town with some very elegant 14th century buildings. A lazy day in a meadow of flowers in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains relieved some of the monotony of the motorways  
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Away - at last

After a hectic few weeks selling the house and preparing the van we eventually left the UK on 7th July - catching a late ferry and driving to near Thiepval where we were due to attend a commemorative service for the fallen of the Somme on 8th. A very moving experience in lovely warm weather. The next objective - we have to be near Nurenburg in S Germany on Monday to have a rear differential lock fitted at Tom's, so drove through the rolling golden countryside, passing many combine harvesters at work, and stopping on a site near the French German border. Having added many last minute items we spent a morning repacking and reorganising before hitting the German autobahns and driving to Wirtzburg. A lazy day catching up on sleep before the short drive to Tom's where we are in their reception area while they work on the vehicle.