NIKKI SOLD FOR 20 CAMELS! FROM THE BAZAAR TO CAMP BAR, OVERLANDERS 1976

MONDAY 18TH OCTOBER, 1976

Bosphorus, Istanbul

Part Two:
"Made for a cay shop - (Chris, Nikki, Jan, me and Heidi).  Got lost in back streets, seemed to be cloth factories and shops, with streets teaming with cars and men bent double under loads of bails etc. Eventually found tiny cay shop in arcade - produced a few stools and bought cay and Turkish coffee - place seemed to serve all the shops in the area.

Kept buying all the savouries and sweets that were being sold at street corners - me and Jan the worst culprits!  Made for the bazaar.  Really funny time - blokes haggling for us 4 from Chris!  Nikki was offered 20 camels!  Quite expensive prices - lots of coats, material, jewellery, belts etc.

Found another cay shop!  Then made home in the rush hour with Chris and Nikki.  Everyone dashes for the buses, absolute chaos.  Eventually crammed in one - a fella called Salami told me where to get off.  Then had to waylay a No. 6 mini bus.  Everyone rushes into the street and people in mini buses grab them onto the buses.  Another bloke guided us on, shouting "Schnell, schnell!"

Went to B.P Camp to see if any mail.  Had meal in Camp restaurant - revolting meatballs (probably camp cat!) and cold spaghetti.  Tehran turned up.  Had to say goodbye - others eventually rescued me!
Went up to B.P Camp again because someone said I had a letter up there.  Me and Mark discovered Contiki were there and so stayed and drank with them.  Mostly dull, but driver's good fun - pretended he was barman - quite a laugh when annoyed people wanted drinks! 

Back to our bus and had a chat in back with Nikki and Chris."

METHONI, GREECE - SWIMMING, DANCING, 'SMASHED' 1976

On cooking duty in Greece - went over budget and overboard with the garlic and sustained a blister courtesy of the bubbling Smash (does anyone else remember that distinctive industrial taste of powdered mashed potato?)  Had my first and last encounter with the mind bending substance Ouzo - now I understand the warning: beware of Greeks bearing gifts ... 

SATURDAY 9TH OCTOBER, 1976

"Left early for Greek border.  I was doing cooking with Nikki and Chris.  Stopped at small town to shop - lots of sign language in the market (all 4 stalls!).  Overspent money.  Crossed border making butties!  Beer at border a rip-off.

Made for east coast, camped in afternoon at Methoni fishing village.  All went down to the beach (tents a stone's throw away from sea), swam in the Aegean Sea! - very slimy and shallow!

Prepared meal with frisbies flying everywhere - got one in the back of the neck!  Fantastic spicy, garlic etc stew (La stew as opposed to Le Stew.  Drew up stupid menu - wide-mouthed frog and caterpiller pie, les afters, tic tac a la Robert etc!)  The smash (vocanic) spat at me and burnt finger - gorgeous blister.

Then all went down to nearest bar - some people been there since very early.  Tested out ouzo - only drank half bottle (too many).  Other Greeks there playing instruments - so some got up and did Greek dancing with them - Shirley being one of course.  Adrian keeled over - took 4 of us to get him to tent where spewed up.

Other group - 2 Scouse, I Irish and girl who is getting lift to Athens with us.  I thought I was OK but got to bus and memory is a complete blank!  Apparently I was feeling awful, hanging out of bus window and sounding upset.  Remember heading for sea at one point and sitting there - Rob came and rescued me, got things out of bus and found my tent.  After that I escaped again and headed for bus because heard music playing.  Apparently nearly murdered tape deck and shouted obscenities at Fred and Jan about the noise - vague recollection - Fred said that's last time I get to choose music!"

CAKOR PASS IN JUGOSLAVIA - DIZZYING DROPS, PINK SHEEP AND ROUGH RED WINE, 1976

"Heavy due and mist.  Kids all going to school past camp.  Fantastic views up steep mountain sides.  Very deep valleys, heavily wooded with incredibly perched farms and vertical fields - people tending herds by side of road, lots of carts and donkeys.  Very narrow dusty road, dropping away on my side of the bus in sheer drops!  Kept meeting other buses, looked out of window, so close to edge that couldn't see road at all!

Eventually at top of Cakor Pass, had black coffee and door-stop goat's cheese sandwich.  Then down hairpin bends again to 13th century Byzantine Church.  Peaceful convent beside - two rather formidable ladies in black wouldn't let people in with t-shirts unless covered up bare arms.  Lovely paintings on walls inside - four different churches all together (originally centre for Serbian bishops).

Walked around Pec - not interesting town, but people very friendly and bought fantastic chocolate eclair at sticky cake shop!  Poverty very noticeable; lots of women dressed in Turkish style baggy trousers and white headdresses; men in white caps.

People always waving as bus passes; noticeably more Arabic in features than northern Jugoslavs.  Countryside flatter here, the odd mosque in the distance, pink sheep by wayside, lots of people just sitting around by side of road, many houses seem only half built.

Stopped for lunch by few houses, kids appeared from nowhere when we began playing with frisbies - lovely little boy got very excited about the game.  Great send off.  Unfortunately had to return to hunt for Rob's lighter, but not found.  Paul opened bottle of rough red wine about 4.0!  Few of us had some - felt good on half a cup full!  Ate nuts and grapes with it.  (Nobody is allowed to sleep at the back; the new rule is to shout and nudge anyone who tries to fall asleep - mustn't miss the view or show that had a heavy night before!)

Camping at Skopje - bar and doughnuts just opposite tents!  Little attendant wandering round counting us - even in showers - didn't get away with 23 people!

MONTENEGRO - CHARLES BRONSON AND THE COMFY CUSHION, 1976

[It's a measure of the rough comfort of life on the road that I got excited about big comfy seats in a bar in Montenegro ...]


Mountains and lakes before Titograd with view of Albania in the distance!



THURSDAY 7TH OCTOBER, 1976 - Part Two

"Through Montenegro countryside - big thickly wooded hills, green fields, quite poor looking houses.  Again gaping curiosity, but waves too.

Made camp early evening at Ivangrad by the hotel.  Lots of children and voices sing out of the dark now and again.

After supper went to hotel bar - fantastic big seats (Paul, Julie, me, Chris, Nikki, Pam, Neva).  Went down to disco (band playing mostly Greek type music).  Joined by Mark, Rob, Diana, Frances.  Other Jugoslavs latched onto our table.  Never seen so many males.  Charles Bronson looking one asked me to dance (and more besides although he only spoke German!)  Other fat man joined in with belly dance.  To avoid hassle, went and sat down again and pretended was married to Adrian!

One thought Paul wanted to dance with him when told him to move along!  By this time they were getting aggressive - one smashed, accused Frances of stealing his gold chain - (didn't have enough to pay for his drinks).  A bit of hassle with people shouting and conferring.  Paul threatened him with police.  He followed us back, so Fred and Rob took him back to proprietor and with threat of police he left.  We all repaired to the bus for a coffee.  Long chat with Rob - friendly advice, nice to have someone to trust."
River Moraca gorge, beyond Titograd

GORGEOUS YUGOSLAVIA - LOVELY LADS AND STICKY CAKES, and meet my friends the Overlanders, 1976

EXTRACTS FROM LETTER HOME:

"One thing that is very striking to the girls of the group is the positive hordes of gorgeous looking fellas in every town we've been to in Jugoslavia!  Why was I never told?!  (The group by the way is very much over weighted with girls - 17 to 11!  There are three couples and I'm the youngest of the group.  Everyone seems to get on well) ...

There's often a group of us who sightsee together (the card sharps at the back of the bus!)  There's a super Aussie couple, Paul and Julie, another Aussie girl Jan who is friendly with the driver's helper Fred, who suddenly appeared at Paris.  Then there's a couple of nice fellas, Rob and Mark - Rob feels a protective responsibility towards a newly released school girl! and is a real laugh, and Mark is rather exuberant and is always the first to fall over clutching a vino bottle or to dance on the tables! ...

A great feature of Jugoslavia are the fabulous little sticky cake shops!  At one town we were eating these and I smacked my lips and said how much I was enjoying it - next minute the little man had rushed away and got a glass of water!  (It's the custom to have it with the coffee).  The chocolate eclairs, Dad, are out of this world!"

More on the Overlanders novel at: http://bit.ly/bEVp5V

DALMATIAN DELIGHTS - COFFEE, CAKE AND DELICIOUS DUBROVNIK, 1976

WEDNESDAY 6TH OCTOBER, 1976 - Part One

"Up early again - porridge oats for breakfast!  Lovely view out to sea - not raining!

Stopped at small town, posted pcs and had turkish coffee and lovely cakes in small cafe (Me, Rob, Jan and Sally).  I said cakes good and made slurping noises - he went away and brought us some water as a result!

Everyone singing as sun came out.  Lovely views of mountains and coastline.  Stopped by small village quayside and ate sandwiches outside of bus for first time - snotty dog took a fancy to me!

Dubrovnic was fantastic.  No traffic allowed within old city wall.  Walked around wall- very high, lots of photos.  Great view out to sea, then rain came. 

Caught unprepared - sheltered under tree (and in it!).  Then got really drenched coming down from wall.

Wandered around old city - (incredible hordes of dishy males).  Lovely red-tiled roofs, lots of cats, some keen people playing basketball in rain.  Washing strewn everywhere, some very high up on roofs.

Had coffee in front cafe outside walls - very expensive."

OVERLANDERS GIVEN THUMBS UP BY NORTH EAST READING GROUPS

OVERLANDERS ROLLED INTO MORPETH LIBRARY LAST NIGHT TO FACE THEIR READERS!

Several North East Reading Groups have been trialling pre-publication copies of my new mystery OVERLANDERS - and last night Morpeth Library hosted a feedback evening to let them have their say.

With a glass of wine in hand, the guests were treated to readings from the diary and letters from my original trip, as well as readings from the novel by husband Graeme posing as the fictional driver Cassidy!

And the novel was given the thumbs up - 94% of those who gave written feedback said they would recommend it to other reading groups.

Here are just a few of the comments:

‘Loved the book – couldn’t put it down!'

‘I would strongly recommend this book as a good read.’
‘Wonderful. Kept me guessing all the way through. A pleasure to read.’
‘I thoroughly enjoyed this journey through time and distant lands without leaving the comfort of my armchair. The contrast between the Victorians, the hippies and Jake’s party was fascinating.’
‘Interesting characters, great plot, nice mix of the feel and texture of the story.’
‘Love the era that it’s about and gives a real feel of that era.’
‘I think everyone who read it enjoyed it. Nothing and no one is quite as it first appears. I would recommend it to another reading group.’

Next week OVERLANDERS journeys to Hexham Library for another feedback evening, and then next month it's off to THE LONDON BOOK FAIR ...!

FUSINA CAMPSITE, VENICE - fog, fleas, foamies and fun! 1976

OFF TO VENICE AND FUSINA CAMPSITE ...

SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER, 1976

"Up early.  Rolled the foamies!!
The foamies are explained in a letter home: "we're quite efficient at getting up, fed and tents packed etc in 1 and a half hours (up at 6 every travelling day!)  The worst job in the morning is rolling the foamies (that go under our sleeping bags) and squeezing them all in between 2 sets of seats; they are rather temperamental things and tend to spring out and flow into the gangway if not given their due attention."

Left for Venice.  Good card games at the back.  Scenery of hills, trees and picturesque houses - tunnels etc (hopeless to try and read!)  Then fog descended and saw nothing.

Got to Fusina after lunch - cabins not tents!!  Seems nice campsite but lots of mosquitoes.
My letter home says: "The campsite was really rather luxurious - hot showers and what's more we managed to book into cabins and so got a bed!  It may have been rather flea infested but it was real high living."

Run into Venice briefly in afternoon and saw gondolas tied up by canals, lovely bridges; not time to see much else (apart from station).

Evening spent in the bar of camp - Fusina is rather famous for rowdy evenings in the bar because the camp is always full of bus tours!  Graffiti on walls, exuberant barmen etc.  Eventually only Julie, Paul, Mark and me left, retired to bus - few others there.  Sat at back listening to Supertramp.

We've had t-shirts designed with Asian Greyhound on - the design is a bus inside a large carafe of wine! "





More photos on Facebook Page, Overlanders: http://bit.ly/bEVp5V

TALES FROM AN UNTIDY BUS - washing strewn everywhere and there's a body in the aisle, 1976

EXTRACTS FROM LETTER HOME, WRITTEN IN FLORENCE, ITALY, 1976

" ... refrained from spending small fortunes on leather goods (and of course the pink inflatable pocket size statue of David - thought you'd like it for the new mantelpiece at Suardal!)
However we treated ourselves to real Italian pizzas and ice cream (water melon flavour)

... the rain has caught up with us again I think we're cursed.  Tonight we're going into a disco - the Red Garter.

By the way we're not going to Tehran which is a bit of a shame, so don't write there.  Geoff the driver (a Scot) said that writing on p.cs or aerogrammes to Asia is advisable so no one will break into them.  (It takes about 4 days for a letter to get to Istanbul).

We're a day ahead of schedule if you're following on the map!  The group we met in Paris were a month overdue from Kathmandu, so I may be spending Xmas in the Khyber Pass!  Half their group were struck by hypertytus [sic] and flown home!

Well, signing off - got to tidy the bus!  At the moment all the packs are down, washing is strewn from railings and there's a body sleeping in the aisle (Fred who appeared in Paris and makes himself useful cleaning windows etc - done the trip before).

Off to Venice tomorrow,
Love and kisses,
Jan

OVERLANDER LETTER HOME, 1976 - Angel Delight, Pernod, cards and camping in the rain.

FIRST LETTER HOME WRITTEN ON THE BUS THROUGH FRANCE:

A touch of envy at Contiki Tours; no camp stew and Angel Delight for them ...

 

On the bus!

(Provence)

Dear Mum and Dad

Hope you got my p.c. from Paris.  We had a good evening - some of us got a lift from Contiki Tours into Paris again.  A very smooth bus - tinted windows, luxury seats and a courier who tells sick jokes!  (They even had a marquee affair where they doled out breakfast - not real camping!)

They drove up the Champs Elysees and round the Arc de Triomphe all floodlit - and round and round ... the traffic being Parisian it took some time to work our way to the outside of the race-course and take one of the roads again!

And a brief encounter with a formidable female French patron in a bar ...

They all went to a restaurant for a meal but as we'd eaten the soup/stew? and Angel Delight? concoction at the camp we all piled into a bar down the road.  We were "stung" by the awful prices because we sat down rather than prop up the bar.  Two of the group tried to "persuade" the waiter that the prices were too much and disappeared behind the bar with him - far from winning, the lady patron appeared - and no one argues with French landladies (they ended up buying the waiter a drink!)

Aussie card games on the bus and putting up tents in the rain ...

Yesterday we were woken at 6.0 (ugh!) and were on the road by 8.30.  We had a few 15 min stops on the auto-route, but apart from that, were on the road for 12 hours!  Spent most of the day playing rummy than then learnt an Aussie game called "5000" - I was pretty useless (having excelled at Rummy) - perhaps it would help if I stood on my head!

In the dark and rain we pitched at a place called Orange, Provence.  Had a quick drink to fortify us - the exuberant barmen had been knocking back the Pernods, so insisted that the first round was free! (About seven people).  This morning was still wet and hazy."

card scores recorded on toilet paper!

FRENCH CAMPING - PERNOD AND SNAKES? 1976

[My first postcard home from France gushes; 'the people seem to be very nice - lots of single travellers like me, many Aussies.  About 26 of us, but few more to be collected!']

TUESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER, 1976

"Woken at 6.0 in morning!  Remains of rice gunge for breakfast.  Set off from campsite about 8.30.  Down towards Lyon.  A few motor self service stops - luxury facilities!

Played cards at the back for hours - Rummy - I won!  Learnt '5000' (sort of!).  On the road for 12 hours.

Rained like mad, so pressed on to place called Orange, near Avignon.  Pitched camp in rain (so much for the sunny south of France - Skye is much drier!)

Had a drink in a local bar - barmen were all well away, drinking Pernod, so they gave us all a free drink (seven of us) and we only had to pay for the second - 2francs for 2 beers!

Dark by time at camp, so don't know what place is like - seems to be deserted!  Thought I saw a snake in the dark - turned out to be a long worm!  (Was teased about that!)"

KATHMANDU - COFFEE, CAKE, KOTHAYS & FAREWELL MEAL, 1976

[As I say in a letter home: 'we all seem to have booked in at the same hotel - apparently we're the only group who've stuck together after the trip finished!  Had a farewell dinner the second night here before Neva flew away and we had speeches and jokes and presented Geoff with a drinking cup!' 
Having been replenished with badly needed funds from home I appear to have gone on an eating spree.  The letter continues: 'The street down from our hotel is full of good eating places and thanks to the money you sent me I've been trying out lovely Chinese and Tibetan foods - chicken with cashew nuts, buffalo and curd, Kothays (things in batter) etc!  Not the least attraction is KC's cake and pie shop!  They serve such huge portions of mouthmelting creations and their coffee is lovely, so we drink gallons as there wasn't much on the trip.']

FRIDAY 15TH DECEMBER, 1976

KC's great restaurant, Thamel, Kathmandu, 1976

"No one could lie in because conditioned to wakening at crack of dawn!  Had lovely hot shower.  Pam and me went to KC's for breakfast - toast and coffee!  Then met Jan at bank and so went back for more toast and coffee.  Joined people lazing on hotel balcony (ie concrete terrace where spread washing).

Not long before decided to try a KC cake - huge helpings, everything from fruit salad pie to sponge cake!  Then went in search of Yeti Travels for mail (already heard tickets not arrived from London).

Went via maze of backstreets - fruit sellers, clothes, bicycles galore, small squares, mangy dogs, smell and filth, buffalo roaming lanes; tallish brick houses with old dark carved wooden window frames and doors.

Eventually onto broad main streets and got mail - heard money come through, so relief that can live again!  Post Office with Jan - race in queue for stamps.

Gathered at hotel to discuss what giving Geoff [driver] and to order for group farewell meal.

Had meal in Star Hotel - fruit juice, steak (cold) veg (few) cake (revolting) tea (sweet)!  Apart from disappointing meal, speeches by Rob and Geoff and Fred were funny and Rob told wide-mouth frog joke (promised since Florence, Mich. Angelo campsite!)  Good atmosphere to end evening - Neva's last night."