BryanH:
Ive only been up to John O Groats northwards and down to Antibe southwards but read about a swiss bloke doing a run to Vladivostock!!
see globetrucker.org/tourlive_frame_engl.php3
for details.
if you go to reports, and down to 25.05.2004 he writes about meeting some of my hooligans at Omsk - and getting himself bogged down to the axles trying to turn round to take afternoon tea with them
Sheeter:
1975 - Kodari: the Nepal -Tibet border, effectively Chinese territory, due to their occupation of Nepal, in a Fiat bus starting from Istanbul.
Similar, but London to Lahore, 1967 in a 1956 AEC Marshall bus.
every country in europe
scandinavia
russia
hungary
romania
bulgaria
turkey
syria
jordan
baghdad
saudi arabia
ahwaz âŚpersian gulf
afghanistanâŚkabul
karachi âŚindia
once went to essexâŚbut got lostâŚhad to abort the trip and fly home
I did a promotional tour for Xerox when the first digital photocopier was launched. Because there were very few of them at first it was decided to take one around Europe to train engineers and sales staff in maintaining and marketing them, along with five other photocopiers in a gull-wing exhibition trailer. We spent typically four to five days in each location, and the itinery wasâŚ
Geneva, Zurich, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg, Moscow (again), Kiev, Istanbul, Bucharest, Belgrade.
In total I was away for 107 days or three and a half months.
Distance wise, the furthest trips I have done have been Krasnodar in Russia, Toliatti, again in Russia and Tbilisi in Georgia, although I only went one way on that, flying back on Godâs wonderful airline, Aeroflot.
west - dingle ireland (loading wool)
east - magnitogorsk russia (steelworks)
south - gib or cyprus, not sure which further south (both m.o.d)
north - malmberget sweden (iron ore mines)
and where iâve sent other souls luckier (braver? ) than iâŚ
west - kilrush ireland (power station)
east - krasnoyarsk siberia (top secret satellite factory)
south - marrakesh (gas turbine)
north - monchegorsk russia (nickel mine)
ooops just realised Muscat in Oman is much further south (back in 2001) outside temp was reading 52oC middle of the day and the lad had to remove most of the insulation from around the engine bay to keep running temp somewhere manageable
Forgot to add âWestâ and that would be Belfast. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be a victim of racism, just go to Belfast in a truck with British number plates. I was spat at, I had stones and bricks thrown at my windscreen, I was sworn at, I wasnât allowed into the pubâŚ
In short, I felt like a black man who had accidently registered on the LDF forum!
Never been to North Africa and the furthest going eastwards, I suppose, would be going to Athens via the old Yugo ⌠still remember that poxy sign as I came out of Thessalonika that said, Athena 997 kms!!. Have done quite a few Greek runs but nowadays, they are really just a run down to Ancona and then the ferry to Patras. Done Budapest, Prague as well. Ireland westwards, I suppose
Did quite a few New York /San Francisco trips at 5600 miles round trip.Doesnât count for much , no customs or border crossings, and really only one road , Interstate 80 from coast to coast. These days team drivers go there and back in 5 days.
Thats still a schlep though, how long does it take one way??
The same mileage as London - Doha. That sed to take between 13 -16 days depending on borders, convoys, weekends etcâŚ
Well now seems as good a time as any to ask a daft question.
Coming out of Greece near Polikastro towards Evzoni / Gevgelia there was a stupid road junction which was easy to miss at night. Total darkness and the road veered off to the left. Close to that was a destroyed building that looked like a plane crash.
Yes but I could never work out what it was though. Last time I was up that way was on my way in to Kosovo in 2001. It used to be lively didnt it. at Evzoni, I used to enjoy going through Greece to Ipsala, like a bit of a holiday werent it.
GS OVERLAND:
Thats still a schlep though, how long does it take one way??
The same mileage as London - Doha. That sed to take between 13 -16 days depending on borders, convoys, weekends etcâŚ
One way ,solo driver, in the summer it takes 4 to 4 1/2 days depending on road works.On one trip I clocked the construction zones coast to coast at 300 odd miles,over 10% of the total trip.
In the winter it takes a day or so longer if you have to detour round snow storms or chain up to get over the Rockies.