Krakow to Istanbul

This is the problem with not having the chance to update the blog as you go along - it all comes out in one big clump! After Auschwitz we made tracks for Krakow. We left late and drove in the dark - against our own rules. We go to the outskirts of Krakow where we knew there was a campsite. We were really looking forward to getting there - having got up at 6, driven for hours and the sort of day we'd had - the last thing we needed was a PUNCTURE!!!

(Mark) Guess what no spare wheel, yes I know how crazy is that? The logic was that I had a spare tyre, tube and tools to change and that I was just too tight to spend the £350 quid to buy one. However, I envisioned the flat to take place on the praries of India with gentle sunshine lapping on my back while sipping ice tea! Not in the middle of a cross roads at 11.30 at night. The local breakdown service tried to get our tyre changed but the guy was not prepared to change a split rim until the next day. So, we eventually got to bed at 3.3oam and slept where we were, propped up on an axle stand.

(Jo) The next morning we got the tyre sorted and went to the campsite - 5 minutes up the road! The pictures of Mark on top of the roof fixing the solar panel are from the campsite in Krakow. it was a cool place. The town itself is beautiful. It is a UNESCO world heritage sight. We spent some time looking at the sights and had drinks and dinner in the Jewish Quartier - Kamierz.

Apart from the fact that we had to go North again to Lodz and Warsaw our general trajectory was South and we got back onto our route around a week ago.

We drove from Krakow through the Tatra Mountains to Slovakia. This was a lovely surprise - the countryside - mountains and lakes and the people. We stopped at Dedinky where there is a lovely lake and we pulled up alongside a group of people who looked as if they were having a right laugh, the smily face on the rear of one of the girls' bum tended to give the game away. Introductions were made with the question of "do you drink?" and that was that. The alcohol flowed and the good times rolled for the next 24 hours.

They took us to their friends' bar, bought us drinks, took us back to their house and gave us coffee the next morning. I'll post some pictures with names.

We left there for Hungary, literally spending a day driving through, so the only thing we can tell you about Hungary is that they have vineyards, ranches with lots of horses and many sunflowers. We slept in a field of sunflowers that evening, just driving off the road and following a track until we were out of sight of the road but not out of sight of the deer.

We left early the next morning and crossed the border into Romania. The border was the first one we've been through since Dover where our passports were checked and they wanted to see in the van. Customs' officials are the same everywhere; trying to look tough and hard-faced! However, the van melts even the sourest of faces and they just can't help but smile!

Romania was another surprise - really beautiful. I hope the pictures do justice to it. Its quite a big country and took us two full days to get through. We stopped the first night at a hotel car park where we met a Romanian who lived in London and asked the hotel if we could stay there. The next day we set off on the scenic route through the mountains.

If I tell you it took us 4 hours to travel 80 km then you get an idea of what the roads were like - potholed and some of the time just dirt track. It was a real experience - we stuck the classical music on and enjoyed the views!! However, life in the mountains for those that work up there is tough. Loggers, road builders and shepherds all living under bits of plastic and tarpaulin with their families. We are very lucky!

There was also an international motorcycle enduro on, so lots of waving bikers and one wheel action, I was rather jealous, looks like a fabulous place to come back and do some trail riding some day.

The van however, didn't fare so well; wardrobes came apart and we - well Mark- had some fixing to do! Bulgaria was the perfect place to do it. We didn't know that Bobbi - our friend and old neighbour from Walthamstow - would be there, so it was a lovely surprise when thanks to Lori our fixer we managed to get in touch.

Bobbi lives in Plovdiv. We took a day to get to her and parked up in her friend Zlaty's courtyard and used their washing machine, shower and fantastic hospitality to the max! Bobbi took us out to eat the first night and insisted we tried every thing on the menu, which I think we did! Her and Zlaty took us to see all the local sights and then to the seaside for a couple of days where we stayed in a hotel room, yes an actual room with tv and wet room It was a lovely break and a bit of luxury.

Sunday morning and we were headed for Istanbul. On the way we saw a flock of storks and I mean hundreds - absolutly amazing sight. At the Turkish border, we bought our visa and insurance and headed off. We stopped on a beach front that evening 60km west of Istanbul; not before squeezing around the tiny roads of a private housing estate where every body was having Iftar on their balconies. A few blank faces and many smiles we bashed a few trees and left . At 5am we were woken by a knock on the door from the military police!! Hmmmm been here before G8 in Genoa i think. However this guy was lovely. They reckon our door was open and wanted us to shut and lock it.

We arrived into Istanbul at 8am that morning, dealing with rush hour! Hey, it couldn't be any worse than London! We parked up and got the train in. Istanbul is an amazing city - next post full details.

Photos coming soon xx

P.S Shaun thanks for the CD we're playing it to death.