25th November onwards

I'm actually typing this in mid April 2004, with Edward sitting on my lap staring at the computer screen and threatening to scream at any moment. Must type faster... I'm trying to work from the journal written as we travelled, but this is easier said than done as I seemed to have given up on writing all but the most basic notes. For example, first entry for the 25th reads 'brain knackered'. Doesn't bode well!

We exited Damascus in a torrential rainstorm, a continuation of the thunderstorm that had rumbled over the city the night before. Our route to the Turkish border took us through rain-soaked Homs, where we managed to take a wrong turn and ended up having to negotiate a market, much to the surprise of the stallholders who probably don't get many visits from sticker covered Range Rovers! We eventually arrived at the border crossing close to Alleppo just before sunset; having dealt with all the formalities before everyone raced off to eat, we set off on the long road through nomansland where we had arranged to meet Tilen, a Slovenian who had found this website while researching his trip through the Middle East and North Africa. It's a shame that we only had time for a twenty minute chat, while being scrutinised by nearby border guards who seemed to get rather agitated when we got our cameras out for a few souvenir snaps!

Next stop the Turkish border area, or was it Hell we had descended into? By now the sun had gone down and everyone was far too busy thinking about food to bother with silly things like stamping carnets and passports. We began to regret not crossing at the border point we usually use, close to the coast - a tranquil place in comparison. The biggest problem was the volume of trucks coming through, most on their way to or from Iraq - and queuing did not appear to be a popular pasttime!

Decided to press on and after a few hours found a truck stop close to Antalya, where we could camp - not the most salubrious of surroundings, but better than some places we had seen. Our companions were a man who ran the cafe, not a particularly taxing task as we were the only visitors that night, and two mice-sized spiders having a fight to the death in a corner of the room. Glad our tent is not on the ground! The man spoke not a word of English, and the spiders didn't seem to be running a translation service, but my persistence paid off and he eventually presented me with a plate of toasted cheese sandwiches, the cafe's speciality and possibly the only item on the menu.

26th November 2003

Not a brilliant night as we had more lashing rain and my side of the tent did a great impression of a spnge. Richard's side, naturally, was bone dry! The cafe owner took pity on us and brought us a cup of tea, but sadly the delicious toasted sandwiches were off the menu that morning! I did try to ask if there was any other food we could buy, but it quickly became apparent that he thought I was asking to eat his breakfast!

Onwards to Capadoccia and the town of Goreme which had been recommended to us by Tilen and many others. The drive inland took us into the mountains, a long uphill slog for Florence. The countryside opened out into a wide plain, with snow-capped hills on either side - and it soon became apparent that we had entered the Valley of the Giant Cabbage. And I mean giant - one cabbage could have fed a family of 12 for a week. Fields full of them, roadside stalls piled high - and this carried on for about 50 miles!

Capadoccia, in central Anatolia, is famous for its strange geology and troglodyte dwellings. The landscape is scattered with 'fairy chimneys' and deep gorges, a result of violent volcanic eruptions 3 million years ago. Before we reached Goreme we began to see evidence of underground cities, carved into hillsides, and as we drove down into Goreme we seemed to have been transported to a magical land that would not have been out of place in the Lord of the Rings. There are plenty of hotels and hostels in the town, many carved into the rock, but we decided instead to stay at a campsite outside the town and close to the Goreme Open Air museum.

We arrived at the campsite after dark - by 9.30 pm there was a hard frost on the ground and strangely enough we were the only people camping. But it was a cosy enough night in the tent and the following morning we had the most incredible view across the Goreme valley.

Our plan had been to stay in Goreme for one night, but the town was enchanting and the campsite an excellent place to have a repack and give Florence her final service before reaching the UK. Plus we had found an excellent restaurant with a roaring fire and superb food so it seemed a shame not to take full advantage of being able to eat in the warmth!

Restarting our journey on the 28th of November, our plan was to spend a few days driving to the Bulgarian border. It was a beautifully sunny morning and we set off in good time in order to be able to stop at one of the old caravanserais en route to Ankara. The towns we drove through were so different from the coastal tourist towns - candy-floss pink and lurid orange tower blocks crammed together and usually close to an industrial area - not what one would classify as picturesque! Stopped at an impressive caravanserai, Tepesidelik Han, on an ancient trade route known as Uzun Yol -the Long Road. The place was deserted when we arrived - ten minutes later a family of 14 (not kidding) turned up in a minibus and proceeded to shatter our peace. As we were trying to leave, a second car arrived and three men jumped out - would we like them to show us other caravanserais in the area? NO. GO AWAY!

Having refuelled with LPG, it was on into Bulgaria and back onto the international truck route, a little over a year since we had last driven it. An easy journey across Bulgaria and, thankfully, an equally easy crossing into Romania. The areas of Bulgaria that we saw looked as poverty stricken as ever - so it was good to see the border police at Ruse driving a brand new convertible sports Mercedes!

Blood pressure started to rise as we approached Bucharest - just as last time, it was dark and pouring with rain. But someone was looking after us (I can't say it was down to my superb navigation!) - we got onto the right road and managed to bypass the city altogether. By midnight we were halfway across the country and decided it really was time to stop for food and a kip - guess what, the night was spent at another truck stop, this time over looking a rather pretty river. Shame that it rained hard all night - by morning the inside of the tent looked as though we had been sleeping IN the river.

Back on the road again, following the river through a beautiful gorge. Unfortunately a few minutes into the drive Florence stalled - and would not start again. Not the best place to break down, miles from nowhere on a single lane road in the pouring rain with nowhere to pull into. Great. Richard set to work trying to trace the problem while I sat in the car thinking gloomy thoughts. Luckily this was one of those self-healing problems as after 10 long minutes Florence fired back into life. We can only assume that she didn't enjoy last night's rainstorm and having to drive through water-filled potholes for 14 hours!

Arrived at the Hungarian border by 5pm and by 10pm we were in Austria - no hanging around for us! Stopped for the night southwest of Vienna and vowed that this would be the last night in the tent as by now it was more than a little chilly and the mattress still hadn't dried out! We had covered 5 countries in 2 days - not bad going really.

Two days later we were in Belgium staying with Goldie and Frederik, friends we had met on our 2000 journey through the Middle East. On December 14th Florence arrived back in the UK after 15 months and many thousand miles of road and sand. Time for a well earned rest for car and travellers...