We are off....... To an uninspired start.

After the virtual rebuild of the truck, we took delivery and spent a couple of days in a pub car park in Doncaster, showcasing the truck and our onward journey. We met with old friends and new ones as well.

It was lovely to see so many people and thank you to everyone who came to see us.

Soon it was time to head for the Ferry (Hull- Rotterdam).

We set off in the afternoon; it was damp and grey with just my daughter, Lisa and her family waving a flag to say goodbye.

I wanted to say words like Awesome and Epic, but it wasn’t.

We played David Bowie, Heroes album. We always do you see, but even that didn’t inspire us.

A random shot of a guy selling balloons in Warsaw - To cheer things up a bit

The most exciting part was when I got out of bed on the Ferry and forgot I was on the top bunk – Bang! Luckily, I got away with a bruised knee.

Our first stop was to meet our dear friends Frank and Suzanne in Northern France at their holiday home and that was wonderful but we needed more.

Next up was to Denmark to see Charlotte’s family and friends.

Denmark is so clean and so clinical almost, but not inspirational. Not Africa to be honest.

We continued driving in Europe, which was fraught with rules and regulations.

We had to be aware of weight restrictions, height restrictions, speed restrictions—so much red tape. So dull.

We reached Poland and Warsaw and the pace appeared to pick up some.

Warsaw was stunning with so much history and a beautifully restored old City centre.

Warsaw's beautifully renovated city centre.

The Neon Sign Museum.

We visited the Neon sign museum which was quirky and located in an Arty district of Warsaw with swanky restaurants and Art galleries. It was like being back in London.

The people dressed well and the place had a feeling of affluence. Such a contrast to its not-so-distant history.

To bring ourselves down to realism we went to the Polish Jew Museum. Don’t we forget the persecution and hardship the Jews went through? It was quite disturbing. I could fill the blog with this but if you get a chance, go and visit.

Then through Slovakia, before we passed through Hungary and that reminded us again of the Jews as many Auschwitz victims came from Hungary.

Such a contrast to today’s affairs?

Hungary to Romania and a plethora of Horse-drawn trailers used by the locals to transport their goods.

Many horse-drawn vehicles are still used throughout Eastern Europe.

Once again, we saw poverty like we don’t know in the more developed world, but everyone was happy and had a smile.

The men worked the fields with old tractors or horse-drawn implements. This was Autumn and the harsh winter was just around the corner. Life must be tough for these people.

There were signs of the modern world penetrating this existence though,  as there was a Fast food, Pizza joint in every small village of varying looking quality.

In contrast, some Roma people have built many ostentatious homes.

The Roma originate from the Punjab region of India. (A good quiz question)?

We didn’t take photographs as we are quite conspicuous in our truck!

Bucharest is the jewel obviously, a beautiful city with so much history and theatrical buildings.

One of the Theatrical buildings in Bucharest. This one just happened to be a pub.

We met a friend of ours, Rishy from Sri Lanka working in Bucharest.

I asked how she had managed to get a job in Europe.

Rishy explained Romania are taking in lots of people from many countries to fill the skill shortage caused by the exodus of Romanians now living in Western Europe as they are allowed free movement in the EU leaving a skills shortage in Romania.

By working the day job and then a cleaning job in the evenings and Saturdays, Rishy could afford the €300 a month for the rent on her 2-bedroom flat in the suburbs of Bucharest. Enough to support her and her son.

By working the two jobs, she cleared around €1000 a month.

She also told us that after 5 years she can apply for residency and sit a test in Romanian or, wait for 7 years and be granted residency automatically and then have free movement in Europe.

From Bucharest, we moved quickly on to Bulgaria a similar story as Romania with the poor being very poor but signs of Mega wealth to boot.

The highlight for us was a visit to the Buzludzha building, built by the Communist Party in 1981 to celebrate the party and act as a shrine, conference centre and general reminder of how great the movement was. Unfortunately, the communist party was overthrown in 1989 (so not so great after all then).

And the building was closed.

The sheer scale and size of the place, perched high on a hilltop, miles from anything was quite something to see.

In its heyday, this place was adorned in every finery you could wish for as a celebration of the communist party.

Unfortunately, after its closure, it was completely looted by the very same Communists it was built for and is now locked up and can only be viewed from the outside adding to the eerie feeling of the place.

We got there late afternoon and watched as a steady stream of visitors came, took the all-important selfies and even a couple of the building itself.

As it got dark, we had the place to ourselves and it was quite unnerving spending the night up close and personal with this imposing structure towering above us.

In the wink of an eye, we were in Turkey and stopped in Istanbul for a small repair to the truck.

Next up, OMG. The trip picked up a pace.

Cappadocia, Turkey. The pictures tell the story but it needs to be seen (best out of season is my advice).

The obligatory photo with the Truck

The town is an ant nest of tourists, being offered every service they may or may not need. All for a cost of course, but the sights are natural and stunning and I mean, stunning.

Unfortunately, all the areas of beauty are being overrun by 4x4 vehicles, Quad bikes and Horse riding trips that look more like Blackpool Donkey rides.

All these activities erode the soft stone monuments the area is famous for.

We got up to watch the Balloons launch at sunrise for several days. We counted over 100 hot air balloons in the sky at any one time. You could feel the Ozone layer disintegrating as we watched.

I can’t deny it was extremely photogenic.

I just wished it could have happened around noon to save the 06.00hrs alarm call.

That all said, you can still find walking trails not open to the tourist busses and so relatively untouched. A real treat.

Our final real stop in Turkey was in Gaziatap. A town in the south near the Syrian border and famed for its Mosaic museum.

All things Pistachio for sale in the local markets.

The colours were amazing.

Because of the location of the town near the Syrian border, it has become a haven for Syrians escaping persecution and the town has absorbed around 500,000 Syrians putting immense strains on the infrastructure and swelling its population by around 30%.

The town is also the Turkish capital of Baklava and has over 200 cafes and shops selling everything Pistachio-based.

The numerous Tea shops served and great stop-offs to sample the local speciality.

At this stage, we had left Europe and Joined Asia. Yes, geographically we had, but also the change in culture and the street markets said it all.

Now we are preparing for the next leg of our journey and it IS, going to be Awesome and it will be Epic. Of that, I can promise you.

Street hawkers starting to appear.

Local markets are always a favourite.

A local tailor doing his thing.

Crafting copper and other materials on every street corner.

Lots of Gold shops strewn around town.

These are everywhere in Turkey. They are effective too, in my opinion.

Stick with us as we move forward. You won’t be disappointed.

Excitement and fear are running through our veins in equal proportions.

Thank you for reading my blog.