Hi Red 
, I have always believed that you meet the most amazing people in the most amazing places and we couldnāt of had any better company than Peter, Dennis and John that day. John showed us around, obviously we didnāt see everything but his knowledge of Istanbul was really interesting. I did asked him how he knew so much about the place and he told me that he did a lot of reading about the places where he used to go.
Regards Steve.
Hi all, just to say I spent 9 days in Istambul in april 2005 while working on the Renault F1 Roadshow not having been there since the early eighties, who would have guessed it would become a destination where you could take er indoors for a long weekend break. Didānt even have to drive all the way there as we got a ferry from Trieste (well the truck did) to the new port on the Asian side, we flew over and arrived two days before it, so it was two days to find the best bars and restaurants including a visit to the Pudding Shop and do the tourist bit as the roadshow was in the Sultanhamet district near the Blue and Red Mosques. Very cosmopolitan there now quite a few English tourists there then even in April enjoying a short break. Unfortunately the old floating bridge started to sink a few years ago so they had to replace it with a concrete one but it still has all the excellent fish restaurants on it. We must have had around 40,000 people to watch Alonso do about 10 laps of the old Circus Maximus where they used to race chariots in his F1 car together with other old Renault rally and race cars. I had forgotten how nice and friendly most Turkish people can be itās a pity that a lot of drivers only came into contact with people in authority or wanted to make or take money from them. If I didānt live in the states now (the wife hates long flights) Iād happily go back for another visit.
Chazzer
Steve, Gnatās pee indeed, what a statement 
ā¦
Gerry Wheelan once saidā¦Picture the scene, you have just returned home from a grueling trip in the Sun and Sand. You are awakened in the morning with a light touch on the shoulder and presented with the Prince of Teaās (Earl Grey) the fine aroma of the oil of bergamot is drifting up your nostrils and waking your senses. Just as the spode bone china cup touches your lips, you hear a scream from your partner informing you that the house is on fire, you casually look at her and say āLet it Burnā
Hi Red, it must be a North/South divide thing as I was single most of my continental days but I can still hear the other lads wives saying, mow the lawn, fix the gate and make your own bloody breakfast the day after they got back from a trip.
mushroomman:
Hi Red, it must be a North/South divide thing as I was single most of my continental days but I can still hear the other lads wives saying, mow the lawn, fix the gate and make your own bloody breakfast the day after they got back from a trip.
It is all down to good training, even after 30 yrs, daily I still tell my lass how lucky she isā¦
mushroomman:
Sheep Lady, this might have been the time that I met Java John, hence why I thought that there may have been an Oriental connection with Java tea, didnāt he drink Earl Grey ?.Regards Steve.
Yes, he did mushroomman - at home as well. But absolutely no connection with the island of Java.
Incidentally, as a matter of interest, Tony Soameson was Astranās Sales Manager before becoming a subcontractor.
SheepLady:
Incidentally, as a matter of interest, Tony Soameson was Astranās Sales Manager before becoming a subcontractor.
Very nice fella,anyone know what heās doing these days?
bestbooties:
SheepLady:
Incidentally, as a matter of interest, Tony Soameson was Astranās Sales Manager before becoming a subcontractor.Very nice fella,anyone know what heās doing these days?
I was told but I cant rememberā¦ Ashley though will have something about him in his book to be sureā¦
Hereās one of Tony (right) with Trevor Long next to him, then Trevorās girlfriend, then Java John
Hi All
Great picture Alison ,Tony has a resturant down on the medway ,spoke to him last year ,and he has lost another finger in the bacon slicer.maybe he put it on the menue
Roger
sinbin31:
Hi AllGreat picture Alison ,Tony has a resturant down on the medway ,spoke to him last year ,and he has lost another finger in the bacon slicer.maybe he put it on the menue
Roger
Whatā¦Tonyās Finger Food Products 
hlb:
Can any one beat me on distance covered going the wrong way.I got to the mirrors and turned left for Kuwait, but I think it was dark when I got there. I set off back and the road did not look right, so I kept asking. Saudi Arabia. Every one pointed straight on. So I did. Ended up some where around Damman. I recon it must have been 500 miles, longer, or was it Kās. Dunno now. Can any one beat it??
Yeah I can, by a couple of million miles! You see I took a wrong turn at 21 & ended up being a lorry driver 
newmercman:
hlb:
Can any one beat me on distance covered going the wrong way.I got to the mirrors and turned left for Kuwait, but I think it was dark when I got there. I set off back and the road did not look right, so I kept asking. Saudi Arabia. Every one pointed straight on. So I did. Ended up some where around Damman. I recon it must have been 500 miles, longer, or was it Kās. Dunno now. Can any one beat it??
Yeah I can, by a couple of million miles! You see I took a wrong turn at 21 & ended up being a lorry driver
Well I canāt beat that, at least I waited till I was 27ā¦but still got it wrong a few times 
Hi all, got these from the Astran Newsletter, hope its ok to post them as they really belong to Astran I suppose so all credit etc to them!!!
Dont know much about the places shown etc, im sure some of the āold handsā can fill us uneducated mortals in though!!!
A bunch of trucks returning from Qatar last year! Parked in Haifa docks, Israel, waiting for a ferry to Greece, are (L to R) Jeff Huddart, Terry Foggin, Steve Pooley, Andy Blunsden and Chris Hooper
New DAFSā ā ?..didnt think they were considered up to the job??..maybe cos its new tarmac roads or something!! Rates cant be to bad though!!
Is Haifa the new way to return from the M/E??..is it cheaper or something and are there not problems with having Isreali stamps etc in your passport if travelling through the M/E??
Cheers, all.
Bullitt.
You can get the boat from Haifa to Pireaus, and get out of Jordan with full tanks of diesel, but the boat is expensive. Most drivers run on two passports so that the offending stamps can be kept out of the passport that the Syrian and Saudi visas are in. Transiting Israel has caused some drivers problems in Syria, which resulted in the driver having to fly to Jordan to be re-united with his truck which was driven through Syria by an Arab. Problem is when the Syrians see the āJordan Valleyā stamp, which is the exit point to Israel.
GS
Cheers GS, heard about the issues regarding isreali stamps before but wasnt sure what the deal was.!!
The ferry from Haifa to Pireaus, thought that had been discontinued!! Wasnt that the one that went via Cyprus, took about a week each way round trip?
What about those fuel tanks, no exit duty or import tax in Greece to pay?
Is there anything to be gained by going that way as opposed to leaving the M/E out through Turkey and into Greece that way? I would imagine it would be decided by backloads etc.
Would save a hell of a lot of wear and tear on the vehicle avoiding Turkey and the mountains etc!!
One final question, aprt from Chris Hooper, do you know any of the other guys in the pictures?
Just a simple question from an old retired driver who did all the eu but never the m.e.,is the efes beer you had the same thats available in s/markets over here?
regards dave.
dafdave:
Just a simple question from an old retired driver who did all the eu but never the m.e.,is the efes beer you had the same thats available in s/markets over here?
regards dave.
Thereās a thread on here headed āEfesā. Dont know how you get there apart from typing Efes in the Advanced Search at the top right hand side of this pageā¦ then look down for the heading Efes. This should give you an insight!!!
SheepLady:
dafdave:
Just a simple question from an old retired driver who did all the eu but never the m.e.,is the efes beer you had the same thats available in s/markets over here?
regards dave.Thereās a thread on here headed āEfesā. Dont know how you get there apart from typing Efes in the Advanced Search at the top right hand side of this pageā¦ then look down for the heading Efes. This should give you an insight!!!
Here we go, grab some Anadin too 
bullitt:
Hi all, got these from the Astran Newsletter, hope its ok to post them as they really belong to Astran I suppose so all credit etc to them!!!
Dont know much about the places shown etc, im sure some of the āold handsā can fill us uneducated mortals in though!!!
Bullitt.
The first name on the road sign is for a small town called Ar Ar, it is on the TAPLine and this photo is pointing East so you would turn left to go to Iraq which is just a short drive from the turn-off, although you only went to Iraq that way on the way home!!. There was a nice little Thai restaurant at the service station at Ar Ar. Its probably a KFC or Burger King now!!
The next place Rafha was always my target after leaving Haditha unless I finished getting cleared into Saudi in the morning, then I would park up at Hafar al Batin. There was a service station at Rafha that had a great big arch, you could see it lit up from about 50 klicks away at night, and it was normally really late/early morning when I reached there, depending on what time you got into Saudi. I often used to sleep there on my big plastic woven mat and quilt on the floor next to the trailer under the stars, nice and breezyā¦The Arabs always slept in the open, so why shouldnt I.
Then the next place Dammam is right at the other end of the TAPLine, and made you realise just how much further there was to go before you turn off for Hofuf and on to Qatar. An early start the next day would ensure that you got the following morning convoy to Doha. Thats how I used to transit Saudi, and I know several blokes that would do it in āone hitāā¦some still do. 
GS
