Astran / Middle East Drivers

[wheel_nut]

geoffthecrowtaylor:
You ve got me beat there Dave, you re getting as bad as Archie ,pic won t blow up so can t get more detail. The big bird is it a crow more probably an eagle so we can t call it the crow s nest, let s see if one of our learned brethren can I.D. it Crow. Wheelnut Yugo was ok once you got used to it I ve had some really good times with the Jugs. Did many a load in and out well off the beaten track, you d be the only Brit and I found these people most hospitable and I especially enjoyed their music with the two accordions playing what at times seemed to have an Arabic undertone and some really pretty girl singers , can t get away from the girls can I . regards to all the boy s well we were, elderly gentlemen is more appropriate for most of us now. Crow.

Geoff. I am not having a go at the Jugs, they were very friendly. I have been to a wedding, had some great food and met some interesting people, I loved the Terracotta and White buildings. It is just that Czech seemed to be so romantic, well except for Plzen bus station where I gather you could find romance

I too have tipped & loaded from the Balkans more times than I have Czech except with the tankers when I had several regular jobs there. It was the Hotel National that was my first introduction the these lovely people. It was Yugoslavia when I first met Dave Chamberlain and “stole” his passports. It was Yugoslavia when I was towed by a little brown Mercedes look alike, about 150km when my lift pump consumed itself. It was Yugoslavia that I was still going to when the war first started and I told everyone at home things were fine and not to worry, it was only a silly argument between a few families

I haven’t got a clue what all these new countries are called or whose god they follow, To me it is still Yugoslavia

I don’t remember the big Eagle only the big Policeman but I imagine it has something to do with Tito and his partisan army

[jazzandy]

I reckon that Eagle is in Hungary near to tatabanya.

[archie_paice]

Jazzandy:
I reckon that Eagle is in Hungary near to tatabanya.

Hullo “Jazzandy”
I think mate that you are correct, there are a few statues of this bird in Budapest also. I is a Tartoo or a name similar to that.
Cheers, Archie.

[loose-wire]

Not many Hugarian transit driver’s on here that bird was cast bronze and as the years passed it turned green if any Driver on here says he transited Hungary and never saw that monster on the cliff must have been driving with his eyes shut ,or had some hungry BIRD
chomping on his meat pie while he was driving, common thing in Hungary or he never been to Hungary

[lb76]

Here is that photo of Howard Hughes that i promised to post, Crow,taken in Market Rasen some years back along with Wayne Skinner,myself ,Steve Barnes and Steve Dean in the Indian.

[geoffthecrowtaylor]

Rite Petite you are of course right however as a many times Magyar transiter I hold my hands up and say that I don t remember it maybe I was looking where I was going and though I spent a few nights parked in these places of ill repute I much preferred a night at the containers or szekesforeveror what was called non stop ■■■ by the Brits , a better night could be had at the Hotel Rajka or across the road next to the little ABC supermarket and the filling station were they called Afor or something like that, Saturday night a band a good trough loads of Villagos Sor for next to nothing next day Tompa/ kelibija and then the Nacional. Come on load up and who s doing it next week,if only regards Crow.Thanks for the pic LB 76.Poor Howard, where did all the good times go as F Sinatra said That s life.

[saviem]

Jazzandy:
I reckon that Eagle is in Hungary near to tatabanya.

Evening all, Tatabanya, I would agree, spent some time in Hungary, great country, great people, and I got some business from Hungarcamion, great times. Cheerio for now.

[wheel_nut]

Poor old HH. He doesn’t look any different, a lovely bloke.

[davemackie]

Tatabanya left side going down.

Dave.

[mushroomman]

Howard Hughes with Jimmy Beagent taking a photo in the background and Barry Longdon.

Regards Steve.

[fly_sheet]

chazzer:
Fly Sheet, that transcon seemed to like eating wheel studs, were they on the front right by any chance?

It was indeed the passenger side chazzer, it was a regular occurance once one went I used to do the 10, I had a front wheel bearing go on that hub too, oh such happy days…

[mushroomman]

Dave, I asked you a couple of months ago if you ever stopped at a hotel south of Zinnwald after you crossed into Czech and I couldn’t remember the name of the place. If you remember I said that there were usually a couple of Danes or Swede parked there and I had a couple of good Saturday nights there . After seeing a photo that somebody posted a couple of weeks ago it came to me straight away, The Hotel Sport.

And with the magic of Google maps, here it is today .

maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=50 … 4,1,-4.72

Regards Steve.

[mushroomman]

Loose-wire:
Not many Hugarian transit driver’s on here that bird was cast bronze and as the years passed it turned green if any Driver on here says he transited Hungary and never saw that monster on the cliff must have been driving with his eyes shut ,or had some hungry BIRD
chomping on his meat pie while he was driving, common thing in Hungary or he never been to Hungary

Hello Loose Wire , while you were busy enjoying your Happy Meal on the move most of us still liked to stop here for a bowl of goulash stew and a shower.

Kecskemét szélmalom - panoramio.com/photo/54122680

Regards Steve.

[wheel_nut]

mushroomman:

Loose-wire:
Not many Hugarian transit driver’s on here that bird was cast bronze and as the years passed it turned green if any Driver on here says he transited Hungary and never saw that monster on the cliff must have been driving with his eyes shut ,or had some hungry BIRD
chomping on his meat pie while he was driving, common thing in Hungary or he never been to Hungary

Hello Loose Wire , while you were busy enjoying your Happy Meal on the move most of us still liked to stop here for a bowl of goulash stew and a shower.

Kecskemét szélmalom - panoramio.com/photo/54122680

Regards Steve.

I have never been to The Containers, does that mean I have never been to Hungary?

[davemackie]

Are The Vikings still welcome?.
Dave.

[geoffthecrowtaylor]

Come to think of it I ve never seen Rita aka Loose wire in Hungary, does that mean that he never went there, I only ever saw him in Greece but I probably was nt looking for him I must have been dodging eagles, crows and eagles don t get on ha ha . Crow.

[tony_taylor]

Hello Loose Wire , while you were busy enjoying your Happy Meal on the move most of us still liked to stop here for a bowl of goulash stew and a shower.

Kecskemét szélmalom - panoramio.com/photo/54122680

Regards Steve.
[/quote]
Hiya Steve,the windmill was great place to stop,good food etc.The only thing was, if you’d had a load of beer on a Saturday night,Sunday morning was terrible,not only did you have a little hangover,but those pesky Turks WOULD insist on changing tyres with accompanying hammering, banging and clanging.It did nothing to improve ones disposition,the only remedy was to go back inside for a hair of the dog.

[saviem]

Evening all, may I join you, (as a refugee from the mayhem that has beset the Gardner thread)!!

The Eagle at Tatabanya.

Today I had an amicable conversation with Elizabet Pastor, a lady in her late 70s, who runs our village ladies hairdressing salon. She arrived here, with her boyfriend, Bondi, from an Austrian refugee camp, as one of he “last” 2000 Hungarians that we “let in”, following the uprising. What she had done, or even Bondi, heaven knows, but their joint contribution to our villages life cannot ever be doubted!!

The “Tulut”, Eagle or Hawk, a major symbol of the Maagyar, (Hungarian), peoples. A divine messenger , perched on the Tree of life. A symbol of Gods power and will, the statue is the remaining one of three, The largest Bronze sculpture in Europe, with a wingspan circ 15metres. She recalls that there are at least another 150 plus statues of this bird in Slovakia, Ukraine,Austria, and Voivodna.

Now when I first saw the Eagle, I was in a TR305 Berliet, showing a singularly uncommunicative, and “po faced” son of the Communist party, how to get the best out of Berliets “Maxi Couple”, engine, (and he was in love with the rampant power of Mr Fiats V8)!!! So Gentlemen , I was on a looser, and up untill today I knew little of this statues background!!

Lifes funny is it not?? Ah I shall away to the Bollinger to remember happy times, and super people at Hungrocamion. Cheerio for now.

[david_miller]

Life is funny indeed, Saviem.

You know you went somewhere 40 years ago, you have old passports full of stamps that say you went there, you still exchange Christmas Cards with an also retired Hungarocamion driver that you helped out in some remote spot at one time but suddenly it seems that, according to some forum jerf-off, because you did not see some particular statue, cafe, whorehouse, or whatever you have never been there.

Well I never saw that Eagle, or whatever it is, ever at any time that I can remember so I suppose that must make me a senile old idiot who makes it all up as I go along.

What you need to understand, Loose Wire, is that there are people on here who come to meet old friends, share memories and experiences and have a laugh and a joke and whether idiots like you believe it is of no importance whatever so do us all a favour and wind your bloody neck in.

David

[rondavies]

When I went the Commie Bloc route, I would drive from Hamburg to East Germany, Czech, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. I don’t recall seeing a bronze eagle in Hungary but there again I can’t remember the names of the border crossings either. I’ve just been looking at my old passports and seeing the stamps I would transit via Horst, Zinnwald (DDR). Komdrno, Cinovec? (CSSR). Roszke, Komarom (Hungary) and into Romania. Did I pass the eagle on that route?