MOC:
freshir:
freshir:
This photo was taken on the Blanc mid 80’s - if you think that this man owes you money then it’s not me –Heres a larger pic freshir for us all
at least we will know if you owe any money
Thanks MOC - much appreciated, wish I was more useful with presenting my pic’s, Regards Fred -
Reddesertfox:
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.Richmond
I will have to guess at this, as I have not been there since 90ish and cannot recall seeing the pearl in the oyster which means it is a 20 years or less addition, but my guess is Doha….
Well done rdf, the pearl thing is in doha waterfront, just by the kings palce , roger called it the cornishe, we had a nice afternoon there walking around, but couldnt find any ice cream vans, i never knew it was there until roger showed me.
richmond:
Reddesertfox:
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.Richmond
I will have to guess at this, as I have not been there since 90ish and cannot recall seeing the pearl in the oyster which means it is a 20 years or less addition, but my guess is Doha….
Well done rdf, the pearl thing is in doha waterfront, just by the kings palce , roger called it the cornishe, we had a nice afternoon there walking around, but couldnt find any ice cream vans, i never knew it was there until roger showed me.
Thanks Richmond…The Cornishe is what they call the coast road in Qatar, whereas hear in Kuwait they refer to it as the Gulf Road / Gulf Street.
I hope to be in Qatar for about 8 days but not sure if it will be pre Ramadan or after…ATVB…RDF
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.
Thanks for the picture Karl!! I ll put it on the mantle piece and itll keep the kids away from the fire!!! 
You could have chosen a more difficult picture!!! Its not exactly difficult is it??
Astrankev:
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.Thanks for the picture Karl!! I
ll put it on the mantle piece and itll keep the kids away from the fire!!!
You could have chosen a more difficult picture!!! Its not exactly difficult is it??
Can you copy that picture Kev and show it to Roger Hayward 
I suppose someone will say it was taken while karl was on holiday, but not while wearing those boots!!! 
in doha at the moment arrived last night with an 1835 merc no actipped in dammam 45 degrees last time i saw you red i was on my way to izmir in stu jeffries merc the red one with mada on the side you where coming back with willie lamb.i am 70 in november
Astrankev:
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.Thanks for the picture Karl!! I
ll put it on the mantle piece and itll keep the kids away from the fire!!!
You could have chosen a more difficult picture!!! Its not exactly difficult is it??
I am just astran eye candy…
How things have changed Gulf Street if I remember had the old Customs house on the water front ,across the road was 4 or 5 Juice stalls, where I went once with Andrew Wilson -Young who couldnt make up his mind which fruit to have in his Juice so he proceded to have one of each fruit,further up the road was a small resturant,that served nothing but lamb and rice .Barry Barnes took me there as he used to frequent the place it was great as much as you could eat for about 6 Riyals no spoon or fork just use your hands yummie,most likley be 60 Riyals now,and Richmond could fill his boots and more for that price
Roger
Hi all.Just got back from 2 days driving underground in the mine,showing a new driver the ropes[or should that be tunnels 
]sorry.
Back to the story,part 2. 
Backing up a little i must relate my first experience of kapic.For the few of you who don’t know Kapicule was,and still is,the main border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey.It was always considered to be one of the most frightening places on the whole route,not just because it resembled the Somme around about 1916 after a very heavy shelling[you could park your truck a bit wrong and when you came back it had disappeared into the earth,never to be found again]. 
Then there were the Turks. You could write a book just about the Kapic Turks[they were special]. 
For me with my '‘super truck’'it was my first insight into the ‘‘ways of the East. ‘So many people suddenly appeared wanting to help me and sell me things’‘for a special price,only for you my friend’’.I still sometimes wake up at night wondering’‘if that was the ‘‘special’‘price,what the hell was the normal price’’. 
Anyway i was helped by a couple of Hungarocamion drivers to get the papers sorted out,this took the best part of a day,which i was assured was speedy due to the face of her majesty,on what to me were substantialy large denomination notes,helping to oil the wheels of commerce.During this time i was also introduced to what must have been,either the most popular christian name in Turkey.or one hell of a large family called’‘Baksheesh’‘Almost everyone i met intrduced themselves saying ‘‘hello,baksheesh’’.
After finally leaving Kapic i made my way slowly to the Londra in Istanbul following the Hungarians,who,i think felt sorry for me seeing someone who seemed to be worse off than a communist.
The next day i was directed up a small dirt track to a ramshackle little ‘‘garage’‘run by a man called Aydin who later became a good friend and who was a mechanical genius.Many a truck that was given up for dead was given new life in that little garage.
Aydin looked at the truck and said smiling’‘no problem,we fix,take out box,put in new bits you order from UK and fit other bits we get here,take maybe 5days.’‘The chief mechanic and his helper[12 and 10] started taking the box out while i went to see the agent,a mr Kochman,a very astute man who seemed to be related to most of Istanbul.Everything was on a roll with Astrans help.Now all i had to do was wait.The first evening some guys kindly asked me if i wanted to go with them to the West Berlin,’‘a sort of club’‘i was told.We went inside,it seemed like going inside a london fog with all the smoke.There were a lot of women inside of all shapes and sizes and colours who seemed very friendly.When i sat down a lovely looking lady came straight away and sat on my lap.’‘Do you want ficky ficky’’ she said.Thinking this was some sort of Turkish food i said’‘no thanks,i’ve just had a kebab’‘This seemed to offend her and she stomped off muttering.Everyone else was laughing fit to burst .After 5 days the gbox was rebuilt and worked fine.Then i spent another 2 days getting everything written into my passport and getting the carnet extended.This turned out to be a quagmire of bureaucracy with a lot of visits to various offices,lots of stamps,lots of visits to the family’‘baksheesh’'Then i was told ‘‘you have to take all the broken bits with you as they are written in your passport and must be taken out of Turkey’’ This seemed ludicrous but after what i had seen so far was prepared to accept at face value.At last i was ready.Last bit tomorrow.Mike
hutpik:
Hi all.Just got back from 2 days driving underground in the mine,showing a new driver the ropes[or should that be tunnels
Back to the story,part 2.
Backing up a little i must relate my first experience of kapic.For the few of you who don’t know Kapicule was,and still is,the main border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey.It was always considered to be one of the most frightening places on the whole route,not just because it resembled the Somme around about 1916 after a very heavy shelling[you could park your truck a bit wrong and when you came back it had disappeared into the earth,never to be found again].
Anyway i was helped by a couple of Hungarocamion drivers to get the papers sorted out,this took the best part of a day,which i was assured was speedy due to the face of her majesty,on what to me were substantialy large denomination notes,helping to oil the wheels of commerce.During this time i was also introduced to what must have been,either the most popular christian name in Turkey.or one hell of a large family called’‘Baksheesh’‘Almost everyone i met intrduced themselves saying ‘‘hello,baksheesh’’.
After finally leaving Kapic i made my way slowly to the Londra in Istanbul following the Hungarians,who,i think felt sorry for me seeing someone who seemed to be worse off than a communist.
The next day i was directed up a small dirt track to a ramshackle little ‘‘garage’‘run by a man called Aydin who later became a good friend and who was a mechanical genius.Many a truck that was given up for dead was given new life in that little garage.
Aydin looked at the truck and said smiling’‘no problem,we fix,take out box,put in new bits you order from UK and fit other bits we get here,take maybe 5days.’‘The chief mechanic and his helper[12 and 10]
That’s what has been missing Mike - a good laugh, well presented, looking forward to the next episode, it’s the way you tell em
Regards - Fred
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.
Its a little difficult to see if there is anything behind you
Hutpic, excellant.!
do any of the old boys by any chance have any of there old road maps from doing the m/e or the the countrys they transited that they could put up
richmond:
Righty oh men, back to happy hour, ! here is a pictue of me, on me travels, pic taken by roger rabbit, just wondering if any of the older astran men would know where this pic was taken, not to take the mick, but just wondering if any old boys would remember it from there time down there or is it a fairley new addition to show how much it has changed over the years.
Below is one of me, John Harper and Mohammed Irani, enjoying a KFC lunch on the Corniche, almost 20yrs ago !! not far from where your photo is taken.
GS
Ive got some more that I will dig out and post.
Great story looking forward to the next instalment. That’s what this thread is all about.
My first impressions of Kapitan Andreevo and Kapikule too
Thanks to one of Ken Harveys and was it Hinchcliffe from Bury with the yellow T45 I survived
Thanks Hutpic
looking forward to the rest!
dreva:
do any of the old boys by any chance have any of there old road maps from doing the m/e or the the countrys they transited that they could put up
Here is a pretty crap picture of my old Astran map, never took it with me, just had it on the wall in the office, stuck up with masking tape ! I did buy an “Orta Dogu” map at the Londra once, anyone remember that map, a small fold up job all in Turkish.
I dont know if any other companies had there own maps ?
GS
hutpik:
The next day i was directed up a small dirt track to a ramshackle little ‘‘garage’‘run by a man called Aydin who later became a good friend and who was a mechanical genius.Many a truck that was given up for dead was given new life in that little garage.
Aydin looked at the truck and said smiling’‘no problem,we fix,take out box,put in new bits you order from UK and fit other bits we get here,take maybe 5days.’‘The chief mechanic and his helper[12 and 10]
Mike
Great story Mike , I can’t wait for episode three and thanks for taking the time to share it with us.
Do the names One Eye and One Leg ring any old bells .
Regards Steve.
dreva:
do any of the old boys by any chance have any of there old road maps from doing the m/e or the the countrys they transited that they could put up
i remember in the 1st gulf war they (us) didnt know what was ■■■■■■ where! i always thought if they asked the old hands on the middle east run they would be ok!
mate would love to see your old mans pics, scan/post . its all good mate
brenics77:
dreva:
do any of the old boys by any chance have any of there old road maps from doing the m/e or the the countrys they transited that they could put upi remember in the 1st gulf war they (us) didnt know what was [zb] where! i always thought if they asked the old hands on the middle east run they would be ok!
mate would love to see your old mans pics, scan/post . its all good mate
i will do mate mate need a new scanner just not got round to getting one yet and it was a bit of stupid question about maps gs i renemered after they all used to be like broad sheet news papers and folding them back up was a workof art in itself ps thanks for the pic gs mate will copy and zoom in and have a good look
