Astran / Middle East Drivers

[wheel_nut]

adr:
M/E

That image is “The Middle East” for me!

[hutpik]

Hi all.Bullit,thanks for the kind words but i think it was more down to blind stupidity and a naive faith that it will all work out in the end[which it usually did].It is a little bit sad that not more people put stories up on the forums as everyone has a story to tell.We all had things happen which,in the cold light of day seemed incredible.BUT it was a fact that in the M.E.what was unusual became usual,the improbable became probable,and the impossible WAS possible.
So c’mon guys,lets hear more stories,not just for the youngsters but to remind us ‘‘oldies’’ as well
We won’t remember bugger all when wer’e dead. Mike

[wheel_nut]

hutpik:
Hi all.Bullit,thanks for the kind words but i think it was more down to blind stupidity and a naive faith that it will all work out in the end[which it usually did].It is a little bit sad that not more people put stories up on the forums as everyone has a story to tell.We all had things happen which,in the cold light of day seemed incredible.BUT it was a fact that in the M.E.what was unusual became usual,the improbable became probable,and the impossible WAS possible.
So c’mon guys,lets hear more stories,not just for the youngsters but to remind us ‘‘oldies’’ as well
We won’t remember bugger all when wer’e dead. Mike

Very True. I will try to knock up something else, as I remember many more cockups than perfect trips, not as far but as much “fun”

[brenics77]

syria

[suedehead]

DD Doc. When they eventually made it to the dessert(thats a pudding isnt it )
Where did the film crew sleep?

[ashbarns]

adr:
Anyone know where this is?

Hi ADR
Don’t remember the name of the town but was it last town before the police TIR control point at Urfa, when you were on your way down. ■■

HUTPIK.
Great read well done.
Dave.

[adr]

Very much a Middle East pic.

[adr]

Lunch-time!

[adr]

Harrier Express.

[adr]

Fluffed that 1 up! Ah well try again tomorrow!

[jsutherland]

Thanks for the great posts huptik. A fantastic read.

[dreva]

adr:
No doubt you old M/E hands have been there!

sure that pic is of one stuck in russia have same pic in a mag whaen they were talking to rdf drivers going to china

[rondavies]

Sure know what you mean about Mardin, Mike (hutpik). My first trip to Iraq in '75 I had a 110 Scania and you will remember from your days when you were on for Simons that you got paid an extra £10 per ton over 20 ton on top of your trip money. I had the usual load of cocoa butter for Baghdad plus an assortment of spares (gearboxes, springs etc.) for their busses. That amounted to an extra £100 on top of the usual £1,000 trip money for an Iraq. It was one of the only times I had ever had to resort to using crawler gear…that was to climb the hill up through the town of Mardin and at the same time throwing cigarettes out to the kids as they ran alongside signalling they wanted ciggies with one hand and with a rock in the other hand if you weren’t forthcoming!

[philipmceveley]

Thanks GS had a great fathers day,VINO,D UP…now in Haditha,mad hot here,just about to have the MUST chicken an rice in the Haditha Ritz Plaza…Then hopefully out tomorrow…Inshallah

[gs_overland]

Nice one Bud.!
Im just filling my cool box with ice, beer and rum then out on the boat to take the missus wakeboarding and im going to dive a shipwreck with my mates son.
Its rainy here but humid and warm
Happy Haditha !!
PS. See if you can get me a small Arabic coffee pot from Saudi, Ive got some nice coffee that I want to cook but i dont have a pot any more.
Cheers.
GS

[freshir]

hutpik:
Hiall.I’ve been all week in the place where the sun don’t shine.
Let’s see if we can finally get somewhere near Kuwait .It’s 0500 and i’m leaving Ankara.Down to Adana was uneventfull exept that it took almost 2 days because the truck[and me]nearly had a coronary getting up[and down]Tarsus .At Adana i seemed to have gone back about 1000yrs with everything seeming more ‘‘biblical’’. The next day took me to Kiziltepe where i stopped for the night.Ihad been warned not to go over Mardin during the day as the kids could run alongside the truck taking all lights and anything not bolted down as the climbs were so steep the truck was reduced to a walking pace. I wasn’t sure i believed all this but waited until 0200 to be sure.Ihad met 3 other trucks at Kiziltepe so we started off together.It wasn’t long before all i could see were fading red lights in the distance. I plodded on passing Mardin village with my breath held.After the village the road seemed to get more narrow and bumpy,Iplodded on in a cloud of dust.All at once i started to encounter some steep climbs.Iwas going down the box until at last i was in 1st creeping along at about 2mph .All at once the road got more steep until the truck just came to a shuddering halt.Now i was really worried,what could i do if,with only 15t load i couldn’t get up the mountain .Ispent a frantic 5hrs trying to get up the hill,reversing back,taking a run,all to no avail.the bloody thing just kept grinding to a halt and bouncing up and down in 1st.All the time i was looking for the Turks to appear to cut my throat or carry me off to sell into ■■■■■■ slavery. All at once i had a bright idea,maybe i could reverse up .Ibacked about 3kms and managed to turn round.Off i went backwards.This turned out to be not so easy due to the road being so narrow and the truck throwing up clouds of dust.Several times i nearly went over the edge and after filling my underpants more than once was starting to despair. It was almost 2steps forward and 3steps back.By this time it was getting dusk,when all at once i saw a big green truck coming towards me.He pulled up to me and waved,‘‘hello English.i back up a little and you can come down past me’‘he shouted in Danish accented English.’‘I’m not going down,i’m going up,the same as you’‘i said.This seemed to confuse the old boy a bit,’‘but your going the wrong way’‘Hesaid in a puzzled voice .After i explained my predicament the Dane fell about laughing’’.Only the English could do that’‘he said.’‘Heroes or lunatics,i’m not sure which’‘he said laughing’‘. No problem,you go past me,turn around and then i tow you up the mountain’'This we done and i was ignominiously [but thankfully]Towed over Mardin by a Dane in a scania 140 with 22ton load[plus me]'This convinced me that my[super truck]was not really the perfect tool for the job.We ran together as far as Bagdad[everything went ok,apart from spending 3hrs with the customs chief at Zakho trying to explain why i was so slow in transiting Turkey,and what were all the oily cogs and bearings in a box in the truck].: The rest of the trip to Kuwait was uneventful[except for spending 3 days in hospital in Basra after being bitten by a scorpion while sitting on my stool having dinner in the desert.]A scorpion bite doesn’t usually kill you,but you don’t feel very happy for a while[by christ it hurt.]
Astran were kind enough to let me come back empty to Germany to load[6t of kitchen rolls.]
Idone 2 more loads with the old erf[with light loads],1 load of plastic buckets for a hospital[5t]and one load of a machine[7t]
Ilearnt very quickly after the first trip,but like most of us,almost every trip had it’s share of adventures and mishaps.
Was i mad,maybe,would i do it again under the same circumstances,YES in a minute if i was young.Take care .Mike

freshir wrote - brilliant Mike - thoroughly enjoyed your account over Mardin, when I encountered the brick mob between the the border and Cizre - there must have been 20/30 brats running across the field towards me and taking aim and I thought no way am I running to Oryx’s with no screen and end up with a top- of top of the range designer plastic job so I stopped opened my door and stood defiant on the step and to my surprise this mob turned and ran like the clappers back into the fields, I couldn’t
believe it - what a result, memories eh? regards Fred, keep e’m coming

[bradfordlad9999]

Wheel Nut:

adr:
Wasn’t this the ex Sunters of Northallerton wagon!

That looks like the one on Jimmy Hackings thread

bet she was thursty with double drive what a rear motor it looks the part wounder were it is now

[moc]

Any of you guys know what year this old DAF pic would have been taken,looks like his got a soldiers hat on

[hutpik]

Hi MOC.Iknow that the picture is from the early to mid 60s.That was one of the first Dutch trucks to go to Iran.My old boss in Holland,John Ende from Den Haag was the first Dutchman to go to Iran.This he done in1963 with an old Henschel 6wheeler rigid with 15 ton of groupage.He showed me the old newspaper clippings so i know it to be true.As with Astran,it was a national event so was very well reported.Mike

[moc]

hutpik:
Hi MOC.Iknow that the picture is from the early to mid 60s.That was one of the first Dutch trucks to go to Iran.My old boss in Holland,John Ende from Den Haag was the first Dutchman to go to Iran.This he done in1963 with an old Henschel 6wheeler rigid with 15 ton of groupage.He showed me the old newspaper clippings so i know it to be true.As with Astran,it was a national event so was very well reported.Mike

Thanks for the info hutpik thats very interesting cheers,i thought maybe mid 60s