4th June 2010 - Brindisi to Munich

I manage about 3-4 Hours sleep. I wake up on the couch and all is quiet. By my calculation, we are about an hour and a half away from Brindisi. The ship is totally quiet. There are no crew or passengers around and I note the cloud and sunrise of the starboard (right) side of the ship. I grab the camera and head for the deck. A strong breeze greets me as I open the door to the deck. I shiver and close the zip on the jacket. I don’t think it is that cold but lack of sleep and an empty stomach combine to create a chill.There is a battle going on between the sun and the clouds (See pictures). Each time the sun breaks through the clouds bring in reinforcements and take over the sky. The sun climbs but eventually loses the battle and disappears completely.

An announcement asks for drivers to return to their vehicles. I head down to the car hold and start the engine. As I wait to leave the ferry, I work out the driving strategy for the day. I will drive until I get tired and then find a hotel and crash for the night. The rain starts as I leave the ferry. The number plate attracts the Italian Customs Officers and I am pulled over to one side. A quick chat about where I have come from and I am away. The rain is heavy as I find a two lane highway. The signs are for Bari and I know from my planning that this is north of Brindisi, so it will do as a target. I find myself driving in the fast lane as the slow lane is in such bad condition. This is the first time I have had to do this since Saudi Arabia.

The Italians have a strange way of driving. They all believe they are racing drivers. Their way of overtaking is to drive up behind the slower vehicle in front, pull out and overtake and then pull back in front of the slower vehicle as close as possible. On several occasions I am forced to hit the brakes as the car cuts back in. B*****ds. I hope their economy goes the way of Greece or they go out of the World Cup at the group stage. The drive is now becoming very difficult because of the Italians and the heavy rain. The rain starts to clear up as I reach Bari and select Pescara as the next target. The view of the Adriatic is beautiful as the sun emerges and I head up the East coast. By the time I reach Pescara the sun has won it’s battle and the temperature is climbing. From Pescara I opt for Ancona and push on. At Ancona I stop for food and check the SatNav. Bologna looks feasible and I guess that that would be a good place to spend the night. It is about 2PM but I am feeling pretty good so Bologna it is. Joining a major toll motorway helps the journey and I arrive in Bologna without any signs of fatigue. I check the maps and decide that Verona is possible and push north towards the alps. The alps appear on the horizon as I approach Verona. A sign states that Munich is 270 KM away. I am feeling good so decide to make the push to Munich tonight. It is 6PM. Reaching the Alps is like a shot of adrenalin. The scenery is breathtaking and the route through the mountains is amazing. My eyes are starting to play up due to lack of sleep and the light changing as you drive around the mountains. I enter Austria and arrive at Innsbruck where the highway goes right and descends to Munich, north of the alps. A difficult drive into Munich, because of the strength of the sun, brings me to the centre of the city. I find a hotel at 9PM. It has been a 1200 KM drive taking fourteen and a half hours. I head to a nearby McDonalds for food as the hotel restaurant is closed. On the way back to the hotel a drunk vagrant advises me that if I don’t give him food he will punch me. He can hardly stand up, never mind punch anyone and looks seriously under nourished. I give him my chicken Mcnuggets and he looks amazed that his threat has worked. I am still laughing as I get back to the hotel.

A selection of the Photographs from Cairo are now on my web site at: http://www.johnee-dee.co.uk/portfolio101945.html
A selection of the Photographs from Wadi Rum, Jordan are now on my web site at:
http://www.johnee-dee.co.uk/portfolio103735.html

3rd June 2010 - Thessaloniki to Igoumenitsa

I leave Thessaloniki at 11.30 AM. I have plenty of time before the ferry so it will be a leisurely drive. Again, the route is scenic as I head west on very good quality roads. The roads climb and there are a large number of tunnels as we weave through the mountains. I figure I will get to the ferry about 4, sort out the tickets and chill until the ferry leaves. I never figured that Igoumenitsa would be the wild west and potentially one of the most dangerous places I have encountered on the trip so far.

After another scenic journey I descend into Igoumenitsa. It is 4.15 PM and I am more or less on schedule. I park the car and head into the terminal building. It is a large building with ferry company offices, food outlets and souvenir shops. There are only about 6 people in the whole place. The Endeavor Lines office is closed, but this is to be expected as the ferry doesn’t leave until 1 AM. Coffee is the order of the day as it is likely to be a long night. I approach a coffee bar where a man is seated talking to a lady behind the counter. I order coffee and sit down. I start to work over the route in my head once I arrive in Italy the next day. The man decides to start up a conversation. He asks where I have come from, where I am going, where my car is and whether England will win the World Cup. He seems a nice guy but keeps asking questions. My usual response to people asking questions like this is to ask whether they are a policeman. I ask him. He says he is and produces his ID. Finally, I have been caught out using the policeman line. I laugh and luckily he sees the funny side. I buy him a cup of coffee and he warns me that Igoumenitsa is a dangerous place and that I need to keep a close eye on my car. He explains that the Greeks have a big problem with Bulgarians since they were admitted to the EU. This would explain the treatment of the Bulgarian cars at the border the day before. Apparently, organised gangs travel into Greece and cause havoc stealing cars and anything else they can lay their hands on.

After another coffee I decide to head back to the car, heeding the advice of Kostas the cop. I decide that the dive knife in the boot would be better kept close to me in the car. I recline the driver seat, lock the doors and try to catch some z’s. I am in the land between awake and sleep when I become aware of someone close to the car. Just as I open my eyes, someone tries to open the rear passenger door. I jump up and reach for the dive knife. The guy sees me and takes off. I get out of the car, leaving the knife on the passenger seat, and watch as he runs across the car park and jumps in a Bulgarian registered car and takes off at high speed. Kostas had not been exaggerating. At 6 PM I am standing outside the car stretching my legs and looking West wondering whether the sunset will provide a photo opportunity. A car, again with a Bulgarian plate, pulls up behind me and the driver, who is alone, gets out of the car and asks where the car comes from. I tell him Qatar. I suspect this is a distraction ploy and move to the front of the car where I can see all around. The man is overweight and and lights a Marlboro cigarette after removing the filter. He is wearing a singlet, shorts and flip flops. I figure if anything happens he will not be able to run very far or fast. He cuts to the chase, and asks if I would be willing to carry a package to Italy for EUR 500. He says he has an address in Brindisi for delivery. He will pay me EUR 250 now and I will get the rest when I deliver the package. I decline and he doubles the offer to EUR 1,000. I tell him again I am not interested and he gets the message. I am amazed at what goes on in this town. But it isn’t finished yet.

As I am talking to the man I notice a minibus with Bulgarian plates arrive at the terminal building. A group of youngsters get out and head into the building. There is one man and about 8 women. I guess it must be a school trip. I get back into the car and try to visit the land of nod again. Within about half an hour there is a tap on the passenger window. I look up and a young girl, probably no older than 15 is standing there. She is one of the group from the minibus. I put the key in the ignition and wind down the window about 6 inches and ask what she wants. In short, she offers to perform a sexual act on me in exchange for a packet of cigarettes with a further variation for two packets. I start laughing, which doesn’t go down to well (No pun intended). I try to explain that I don’t do that sort of thing on first dates and that I like to be wined and dined first. She doesn’t understand this. She gives me the finger and storms off.

By 10 PM the terminal building has become much busier. I am still laughing over the events of the day so far when a huge commotion breaks out outside the terminal. It is a full on brawl and seems to involve about 20 people. Sirens are coming from everywhere as the local police descend on the place. Police dogs emerge from vans and the commotion seems to be under control. An ambulance arrives and two people are carted off. I go to the terminal building and see Kostas the cop with blood on him. I ask if he is ok and he tells me the brawl was between a group of locals and Bulgarians. Two of the Bulgarians were stabbed in the fight and all of the participants have been arrested. He asks how I spent my time and I tell him the events of the day. He laughs and says the next time I travel not to do it in a Range Rover. I take his point.

I return to the car. At midnight I drive onto the dock to wait for the ferry. The Ioanian Queen docks and 3 cars and 10 lorries are boarded in no time at all. The ferry leaves 15 minutes early at 12.45 AM. The ferry looks almost new and is clean and comfortable. I hadn’t booked a cabin for some reason. I find a couch and curl up figuring any sleep will be a bonus.

2nd June 2010 - Istanbul to Thessaloniki

With a heavy heart, I say good bye to Charles the following morning. He will fly back to Doha that afternoon. It has been good to have company since Cairo. I thank you my friend.

After a couple of wrong turns, I find the road to Erdine. It is of good quality, but very busy and slow as I head out of the city. A petrol stop (At $2 per litre Turkey is the most expensive place so far on the trip) highlights the attention the car number plate is starting to attract. The petrol attendants ask where the car is from and when I tell them Qatar they look bemused. It appears the only Arab country they know is Syria.

Two hours later, I reach Erdine and can go right for Bulgaria, or head south (left) for the border with Greece. I head south and eventually reach the border post on the Turkish side. I know that there will be no issues leaving Turkey, but there are so many horror stories about entering Greece that I am very nervous. Two checks on the passport and I am out of Turkey. I drive 2 KM across no mans land and arrive at the Greek border post. Again the number plate attracts nearly all the customs officers to the car at the same time. To my right in another lane two Bulgarian registered cars are having the seats removed (back and front) and the spare tyre taken out so a drug dog can go over everything. This sight doesn’t fill me with joy. The most senior (judging by uniform and size) customs officer asks for my passport and green card (green card is the insurance for the car). I hand over the UK insurance policy and he tells me that he has never heard of the insurance company and I would be better off buying insurance from the Greek government. I figure that if this will grease the wheels of entry into the EU, why not. He advises me that it will coat EUR 150 but if I go back over to Turkey it will cost EUR 100. I tell him that if I am spending money I want to do it in the EU not Turkey. He takes me by surprise when he hugs me and says “Thank you my European brother”. There is one small problem. I am only carrying USD in cash. They will only accept EUR as payment for the insurance. The senior customs officer takes me by the hand and starts walking towards the duty free shop. When we enter he pick up a packet of mints and tells me to pay for them with 3 x $100 notes. This I do and receive enough EUR in the change to buy the insurance. We march back to the customs point and I complete the insurance formalities. By now, the wheels are off the 2 Bulgarian cars and even the steering wheels have been taken out. With a wave the customs officer says goodbye and I am in the EU. I am over the moon that the crossing was that smooth and easy. Now it’s on to Thessaloniki.

The drive is scenic and mainly highway. The road is in excellent condition and I make good time on reaching Thessaloniki, albeit in rush hour. The drive along the sea front reveals hundreds of bars teeming with people just watching the world go by. I find a hotel and check in. After a shower and a few beers in the bar I sleep early. The ferry from Igoumenitsa is at 1AM the day after tomorrow, so I don’t need to be up early the next morning.

In reflection, I have got a lot further than I originally anticipated. This trip was 3 months in the planning, but deep down I suspected something would go wrong somewhere around Syria, Jordan or Turkey. To have reached the EU has eradicated a lot of trepidation. But there is still a long way to go.

29/30th May 2010 - Mersin to Istanbul

Charles looks tired the next morning. Clearly he had found the free porn channel as well or the pressure of sleeping in the car all day while I drive is starting to take its toll. We leave Mersin and head back towards Adana. After 50 KM we reach the Ankara road and head north through the hills. The route is scenic and the road seems pretty good. There are a lot of lorries bringing goods inshore from the ports along the Med. It looks like an easy leg of the journey is ahead of us. Famous last words. Soon the road is under construction and we are squeezed into one lane in each direction. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be a problem, but when you are stuck behind a lorry at 40 KPH you can choose to sit there and take all day for your journey or overtake and push on. I opt for the latter. Problem with this approach is that as soon as you overtake one lorry another one appears. Also the cars stuck behind lorries coming in the opposite direction have the same idea. What transpires is like a ballet on wheels. From behind the lorry I note a gap and emerge into the opposite lane. There is a lorry coming in the opposite direction but a good distance away. As I emerge a car appears overtaking the lorry coming towards me. He sees me and we both pull back in behind the lorries we were following in the first place. This goes on for about 60 Km and is really quite stressful. Finally, the road returns to normal, then becomes a 3 lane highway as we push on towards Ankara. Charles is already asleep, clearly the car ballet has exhausted him I settle down for the rest of the drive and as we take a gentle left hand curve at 130 KPH, a herd of 200-300 sheep appear in the road in front of us. I get on the brakes early enough and we stop short. The previous day, I was behind the wheel for 13 hours. Today will be much shorter and we opt to stop at the first hotel we come to. This happens to be the Aktif Metropolitan, Ankara. They have rooms and the hotel is modern and very clean. It is also dry and doesn’t have a bar. No real problem as tomorrow we will be in Istanbul. After an excellent meal, I process some photography and relax in the room.

Following breakfast we head North East for Istanbul. I guess that the Ankara-Istanbul highway will be a good quality road. I am not disappointed. We are soon on a 3 lane toll highway that would put most western roads to shame. This is again impressive. I have been hugely impressed with Turkey since our arrival. The industry and infrastructure far outweigh my expectations. I can’t see any reason why Turkey would not be a major contributor to the EU, If allowed to join. 450 KM later we are on the outskirts of Istanbul. Charles is awake and has a map of the city from a previous visit. We know roughly where the hotel (otel) is. We drive over a couple of bridges and, after a couple of wrong turns, arrive at the hotel. It turns out that we are a day late. I had found a lost day in the travel itinerary before I left Qatar. I thought I had accounted for it but it rears it’s ugly head here. We should have checked in the previous day. Luckily, there is no problem and we check in. Now having been surprised by the free porn channel in Mersin, I am equally surprised by the mirrors on the ceiling in this hotel room. After a shower we head out and take a tram to an area with lots of bars. We take up residence in an Irish pub called “The James Joyce” for the night and seek liquid sleep assistance.

We are up bright and early the next morning and have breakfast on the 4th floor terrace. The hotel even lays on entertainment as an Albatross dives down and starts eating food from a nearby table. We are alerted by the scream of a one eyed German boy with a patch who just happens to be sitting at the table at the time. The parents rush over and chase the huge bird away. I figure it must have happened because the kid looks like a pirate.

We head for the Blue Mosque and San Sophia. They are interesting to see, but again I am singularly underwhelmed by them. This goes back again to having seen the Pyramids and Petra at the start of the trip. By 11 AM we are back in the hotel. We have lunch. My head is already back on the road for the drive the next day. The trip is clearly getting to Charles as he is talking about buying something. He needs another bag for his flight home tomorrow. I ask if his medical insurance is up to date just in case he breaks a $100 note.

I chill in the room for the rest of the day and need to get focussed on what is ahead. Tomorrow I will be alone again and crossing into the EU. There are many horror stories about the Greek border regarding cars being seized and drivers locked up. This is a major milestone in this journey. Once into the EU border crossings become much easier. But first the Greeks.

28th May 2010 - Lattakia to Mersin

As usual we get lost leaving Lattakia. Instead of heading north and crossing into Turkey, we are heading East towards Aleppo. We are not too worried about this as we know that there are border crossings north of Aleppo. We have only experienced good roads in Syria so far. Therefore, we are surprised that we find ourselves up in the hills of Northern Syria on two way road heading for Aleppo. As soon as we come up behind a slow(er) vehicle, overtaking becomes a nightmare. There are a lot of blind bends and hills and I refuse to go for an overtake on any of them. This goes on for what seems for ever. After 3 hours of hill driving we arrive in Aleppo and see signage for the Turkish border. We are heading North so we figure we can’t go far wrong. We drive through small towns and villages until the border signs simply aren’t there anymore. The SatNav shows we are still heading towards the border, so we push on. We are on single track roads and farm machinery is regularly in the road ahead of us. Finally, we are in a village where the widest street is the width of one vehicle. Something has gone wrong. We head back after marking in the SatNav where the border crossing is. We drive through towns and adjacent to the border until we follow a right turn through a village heading South. Suddenly we are at the Syrian border post. We run around for an hour getting stamps on car documents and passports before finally being ready to leave.

There are two border crossing that have concerned me since the beginning of the trip. The first is the crossing from Syria to Turkey and the second from Turkey to Greece.

With some trepidation, we approach the Turkish border station. We hand over the passports and are told to go buy visas and come back. We drive into the compound and park up. The visas are $20 each. Charles, as always, is hungry and orders two burger meals inside the terminal building. I go to buy insurance for the car. In the insurance office the young man tells me 1 month’s insurance for Turkey is $50. I agree and give him my passport, the money and the car registration. He tells me that 3 months insurance is the same price. I tell him that I will only be in Turkey for a few days and I only need 1 month. He repeats the 3 month offer, and I agree, to which he asks why I need 3 months if I am only staying a few days. I think he is taking the p**s, so I tell him to do whatever he thinks is best. With insurance in hand I return to the shadiest hamburger meal I have ever seen and, despite being hungry, only manage to finish half of. I suspect the half burger may come back to haunt me in days to come.

Insured, visaed and still hungry we head for customs. The customs officer is a rude SOB shouting that the car registration is not valid. I stay calm as he starts to raise his voice. Finally, we go to his supervisor who speaks good English. He soon works out that the name on the car registration and the passport are the same. He apologizes and proceeds to rip the customs officer a new orifice in Turkish. The officer takes me back to his counter with his tail between his legs and stamps the car documents. We are clear.

We drive from the border towards Adana. It is already 5PM and it looks like another 3 hours at least of driving. The roads are in good condition and, despite making good progress, we only reach Adana at 7.45 PM. We have reservations in a hotel in Mersin which is another 1 hours drive from Adana. I have been behind the wheel for 12 hours so decide 1 more hour won’t make much difference. We get to Mersin and have no idea where the hotel is. We decide to stop at the first hotel we come to and stay there. It happens to be the Mersin Otel. It is funny how in Turkey hotel is otel. I have been pronouncing it like this for years so it’s nice to be somewhere that thinks the same as me.

We have a bite to eat and watch the first half of the USA versus Turkey in a football friendly. Returning to the room, I decide to watch the second half until I doze off. Going through the TV channels looking for the match, I come across Hustler.com TV. There is a free hard core porn channel broadcasting throughout the hotel. Now I know that this is not uncommon in hotels throughout the world. To find it in a hotel in the “Islamic Republic of Turkey” comes as a bit of a surprise.

27th May 2010 - Damascus to Lattakia

When we leave early the next morning, the streets are quiet. We drive around Damascus for an hour, not to see the place again, but because we are lost. Eventually, we find the road north to Homs which will take us to Crac Des Chevalier. We follow the road for 2 hours and on reaching Homs we head west following the signs for Lattakia. About 40 KM along the western road we start to see signs for the castle. We turn off and follow a road through small villages, climbing gradually to the fortress. About 5KM away we start to see the castle on top of the hill. It is an impressive sight. It is just a shame that today is very hazy. As we get closer to the castle, the road becomes very steep and I am glad of the power of the Range Rover.

We arrive at the entrance and park up. It is immediately obvious that this castle is no ruin. It looks from the outside like it is 100 % intact. We pay the entrance fee and hire an English speaking guide called Ramadan. He explains the structure and history of the castle. As we walk around you can actually feel how it must have been to have lived here during the time of the crusades. As we reach the upper levels the wind gets up and is very strong. Looking down from the top you can really appreciate the strategic position of the castle. It was actually designed to stand a siege for up to 4 years.

After 3 hours we leave the castle and head back to the highway. We follow the signs to Lattakia and arrive about 4PM. We don’t have a hotel reservation so we need to find somewhere to sleep. The Lonely Planet book recommends the “Al Riyad Hotel”. We find it on the map and rock up outside. Charles checks on room availability and we are in. This is by far the roughest hotel I have ever stayed in, but it has a bed and shower and will do the job. We spend a pleasant evening on the terrace of a local bar before hitting the sack. There is a point I need to make here. I have lived and worked in many countries. I believe that, collectively, the women of Syria are the most beautiful I have seen. This is not a beauty assisted by Max Factor or L’Oreal, it is a natural beauty rarely seen in other countries.

We will leave in the morning for Turkey. Syria has been a real experience. I really didn’t know what to expect but it is clear that this is a progressing nation. Damascus has a lot of history, but it is outside the city that the country really has a lot to offer. My problem is that we started the trip in Cairo, moved to Petra then came to Damascus. After Cairo and Petra anything will be an anti climax. We were there with limited time but I plan to come back some time to explore the country further. I would recommend a visit to this country to anyone.

26th May 2010 - Damascus, Syria

It is a slow start this morning due to the adventures of yesterday. We leave Petra heading east for the highway to take us towards Amman. We climb through hilly countryside before descending and finally joining the highway. The highway is two lanes in each direction and we make good time. Reaching Amman, we manage to skirt the traffic of the city and pick up a ring road. After a couple of wrong turns we find a highway sign posted for the Syrian border. We keep heading north and arrive at the Jordan border post. After an hour of running from pillar to post for passport stamps and exit approvals for the car we are done. We drive to the gate and, after a final official check of all documents by an official, we enter no mans land between Jordan and Syria. It’s a 3 KM drive to the Syrian side and we go through a gate and are advised to park the car up. You need to fill out 2 immigration forms for Syria. We fill the forms and hand over our passports. The Syrian Immigration officials are in a hurry to stamp them and in no time we we have the passports back stamped. Now for the car. I am approached by a bad smelling man who speaks some English. For a fee, he will take care of all the car documentation. I engage him and we start running from office to office obtaining stamps and changing money for customs charges. Finally $200 lighter all documents are done. We head to another gate and we are into Syria. The whole process has taken an hour.

We follow the signs for Damascus which is about 120 KM from the border. The road is in reasonable condition and the land mainly agricultural. Traffic is light and we arrive in Damascus in just over an hour. Now all hell breaks loose. Damascus is a busy city. Cars are coming at you from all directions. The worst are the yellow taxis who undercut you and appear from nowhere. Despite watching your mirrors closely, they keep appearing where you least expect them. We are lost. The hotel is in the Old City and we are going around in circles. We finally stop and ask a cab driver to go to the hotel and we will follow him. He gets reasonably close but the police are stopping him going into the area. Eventually we get the hotel on the phone and they tell us to stay where we are and someone will come and get us. I park the car and a policeman is all over me to move it. I talk to him in English and try to explain that I don’t speak Arabic. He is becoming frustrated and angry and tries to speak English. I switch to German and he must be ready to shoot me when the hotel porter appears and clears up the situation. We stack the bags on a trolley and set off into the Old City. The place is a labyrinth and we follow the porter for about 800 meters until we reach the hotel. I wait for Charles as he has fallen back carrying his own bag to avoid tipping the porter. Finally, we are at the Old Vine Hotel (See picture). The Old Vine Hotel is a converted 17th Century house focussed around a central courtyard. The bedrooms lead of the courtyard which is cool and quiet thanks to 12 foot thick walls.

After checking in we take a walk around the maze that is the Old City. The place is a vibrant throng of humanity from all races and creeds. The hotel is close to the Umayyed Mosque and we use this a a reference point to get back to the hotel. We head for an area where we know there are bars. Returning at 1AM the streets are so quiet it hurts your ears. We have changed the plan for the stay in Damascus. We have decided to head north a day earlier to a resort called Latakia. This will give us the chance to visit the crusader castle at Crac Des Chevalier. The traffic should be light as Friday is the weekend.We have breakfast and head out to walk around the Souk El-Hamidiyeh. The place is huge and every time you expect to have reached the exit. another street appears selling more goods. We reach the spice area and the smell is amazing. Every spice and herb in the world seems to be on sale.and merges in the air to make you want to stay there for hours.

Damascus really is a vibrant energetic city. Even at night you can feel it straining at the leash to erupt again. Then at dawn the leash breaks and the energy is released for another day.