Latest update now in our files - see 'back into france update' for the text and End of part 1 of Oddwayround for photographs
Penny & Bill

...see our Files for more pics, (October 2008)
Penny
From a minor road west of Perpignan, France, we drove south east and joined the N914 to the Mediterranean coast where we instantly became just one of hundreds of campervans following the tortuous route into Spain. The views were fabulous but the crowds in the little villages were not. Our plan to while away a month or two on the coast was finally aborted, we had already accepted that we really cannot sit around doing nothing, however beautiful the place is; and with the list of jobs to do when we reach home growing by the day we finally agreed to travel north along the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and head for home, either from Santander or back into France and cross from Le Havre or Cherbourg.
Once in Spain quite few changes were noted; cacti loaded with ripe prickly pears covered the hillsides where they were not terraced and growing olives or vines; also the cost of food and fuel dropped, and people were again showing interest in the van which pleased Bill immensely.
Our first overnight stop was on a narrow ledge above a deep valley with a signed walk up to the crest of the hill. We didn’t go right to the top but wandered well up amongst old, unused terracing and some being reinstated. The countryside is very dry and stony with only stunted trees, mostly pines, but next day we turned inland, just south of Girona onto the C25, into entirely different countryside and along roads with masses of viaducts and tunnels as it led across the foothills of the Pyrenees. One lucky overnight stop (that’s a misnomer, we stopped in time for a late breakfast and didn’t leaves till after breakfast next day!) found us right beside a motocross event and below more great walking country with taller pines as well as deciduous trees. This walk was the first time we wished we had taken a compass as the numerous tracks twisted and turned till we were a trifle confused, the only thing to do was retrace our tracks which we managed to do with only one hesitation.
The town of Manresa proved a fortuitous diversion with excellent street parking around the University area and free use of the computers in the Bibliotheca as well as a very he lpful assistant who spoke good English. We decided here that it was time to invest in a good Spanish/English dictionary; especially as everyone was so helpful we felt we should at least make an effort to speak the language.
To avoid the city of Lleida we took to more minor roads, which was quite a relief as the traffic had become very heavy, before picking up the N240 at Binefar where we again camped in the street overnight to enable us to use the local computers. Again the van attracted a great deal of appreciative interest when ever we stopped in small towns along the minor roads. The weather was not good, sometimes rain, sometimes it was just low cloud but we were travelling at a much higher altitude than along the coast, averaging about 500 metres.
On 24th September we stopped to buy bread for breakfast in the little town of Angues and fell in love with the place so again stayed for at least 24 hrs. The first thing that attracted us was the village washing facility which was only built in 1952! They had obviously harnessed a natural spring, and we can vouch for the quality of the water as we filled our water tanks here. Then we discovered the old town buildings, the earliest date we spotted was 1779, the doorways and arches are great, I can see some quilts inspired by these. There are a series of photos of the village on file. Finally on our last wander round the streets we found two ladies sitting in an open doorway doing embroidery, they were really amused to find themselves photographed.
From Angues the route bypasses Huesca and heads north into the mountains again before bearing west towards Pamplona. The road climbs over several passes, with some really steep climbs but excellent roads and the van coped really well, our breakfast stop that day was at 1300metres. It was at that stop that we found the ‘giant’s foot’ protruding from the rocks (see the pics)!
After Pamplona we headed over the tops for France and are amazed to find huge supermarkets at the border packed with French doing their weekend shopping. So prices really are much lower in Spain than France, we hadn’t just imagined it! And the roads are suddenly packed with campervans again, makes us realise we’ve hardly seen one since leaving the Mediterranean coast.
Penny

Bill
How it is that two perfectly sane people like us seem to attract odd balls? (Now I wonder? Penny) Here we are enjoying the peace and quiet of a small Spanish village, when out the corner of my eye I notice “Robert” a greying 75ish chap sauntering towards us, baseball cap atop longish hair, ginger beard going grey, baggy trousers and holding a book in front of him a little like a monk chanting psalms! I thought “time to get behind the safety of the camera lens”. With three or four pretty ordinary photos taken I risked “A Peek”; Penny, silly girl, had only smiled at him, like girls do of course. So there she is trapped against some railings with this gesticulating German, Russian, French, Spanish, English speaking “I’ve been every where man,” intellectual who had escaped with his brother and mother from East to West Germany in the fifties, done his national service with the German army; possibly helped to shoot down a Mig fighter plane, or a Zeppelin, or possibly something like a barrage balloon; was recommended for a medal but settled for three days leave instead! And to cap it all, he, as a Boy Scout, had helped make hay on a Scottish farm! What a character, we have never met anyone who used his hands and arms so expressively, he was on his way to the Bibliotheque, and to our great surprise eventually said, must dash things to do don’t you know!

We really loved both the countryside and the people of Spain and look forward to returning one day, though not to the coast (well perhaps Barcelona as there are several patchwork shops there!).

That’s all for now folks but watch out for another French Blog coming shortly!
Penny & Bill

see photos in our Files (2008 Sept pics)

Penny
France has proved a joy and restored our slightly jaded spirits, we have laughed at our small problems again and enjoyed the many surprises the country has thrown at us, such as supermarkets closing for two hours at lunch time and every shop shut on a Monday, but the wild camping has been excellent and campsites very good and less expensive than we expected.
Our route was a bit of a surprise, we had expected a rather mountainous road from the Rhine Valley towards Vesoul and it was hilly, especially when a bit of wayward map reading took us up into the hills of Alsace (I suspect this may have been a subconscious desire to reach Ste-Marie-aux-Mines where a well known Quilt exhibition is held in September!), but the diversion led to some great little villages and good wild camping with walks up into the wooded hills. On our first night in France we pulled in to a lay-by behind the biggest ‘Exceptional Convoy’ I’ve ever seen, people kept stopping to admire the machinery and talk to us as they thought we were the guardians of the two trucks. The second night we camped in a loggers parking area beside a large forest which yielded plenty of good blackberries for supper. It also bucketed with rain while we were there (stayed a couple of nights) which reminds me we haven’t told you about the ants. When we were cycling round the world we had trouble with ants taking up residence in the frames of our bikes, they were tiny little fellows but had to go as they found their way into our bags and began to eat our clothes. We did not expect to have any similar problems in the camper, other than those brought in on our shoes, but we were wrong. Camping in forestry areas, mostly pine woods, the ants are large and two coloured; they only seem to bite if trapped between shoe and skin – fair enough; but they are not the sort of bed companions one would normally choose so finding a couple scurrying across the sheet is a trifle unnerving, especially when we had been so careful to knock them off our shoes when entering the van. The first time it happened was in Germany, the weather had been exceptionally hot all day, then the heavens opened in the afternoon and our parking area, which we knew was alive with ants, became inundated. We had a brief discussion over supper on how they survive such flooding and thought no more about it until we discovered we had company! How the devil were they getting in? Following them back we found they were coming up beside the engine cover. Braving the rain Bill investigated outside and realised we were parked over a clump of tall grass which reached up to the chassis and they were using this as a highway. We had to move the van to a grassless area and spray the entrance point as well as dealing with all those already exploring the van. But obviously the French ants are even cuter than the German ones because they did not even require the grass to reach the safety of the dry van in heavy rain. Fortunately the ground drained almost as quickly as it had flooded and they much preferred to be outside than in so the problem solved itself.
We were heading roughly south west and from Vesoul took a wide detour around Dijon via Dole and Beaune then on to Autun. The forestry parking areas are excellent, not official campsites, just places where the trucks have loaded timber at some time and local vans often use them as lunch stops. There are always good tracks into the hills and we have followed tracks that are obviously used for motorcycle events; another that led to a tiny hilltop mausoleum with fantastic views; and yet another that led to a Keep Fit Trail! Sometimes the area has been so lovely we’ve stayed a day or two but to our amazement we have never been joined by any other campervans yet there were many on the road and less obvious campsites than we expected. It was not till we reached Figeac that we discovered where they were all going; first we spent a day in the town car park and noted the road busy with campers; then we moved to the town campsite for a few days (mainly to do some serious washing (!), but there were virtually no campervans on the site, where were they all stopping at night? On our last night, we were in town about a week mainly doing patch working things, we moved to the top of the town to a large car park and there they all were, shoulder to shoulder, by the dozen!
Before reaching Figeac we stumbled on another great find, the town of Aubusson – the Tapestry capital of France; not patchwork and quilting but still thread work and extremely interesting especially as there were both historical items and modern design workshops to see and visit.
In Figeac we had a whole week mostly doing patchworking type things, visiting shops and local classes, as well as visiting family; and from there we continued south to the city of Narbonne, for another fabric orientated stay. A short visit north to the Centre European Patchwork at Salles d’Aude (a village on the canal Robine) and our friend Marie who, as usual has a great display of work from around the world (and more fabric). While wandering around this village we spotted a sign on the end wall of a house, above first floor level, stating that this was the level the water reached in Nov 1999; Marie told us the River Aude had flooded but only as far as the canal so their property had been safe. Apparently that was the reason for all the new flood defences we had noted.
From Salles we did a loop north and west to avoid Narbonne and Perpignon and discovered some really fantastically beautiful hill country, completely different to the hills farther north which are so densely green, this country is dry and stony with every tiny patch of levelish soil growing a few grapes, the rest just rough scrub, impressive towering rocks, caves and almost dried-up rivers that disappear underground for long stretches.
Then we hit the coast with masses of tourists, nose to tail campervans (the caravan has almost disappeared from the French roads), hairpin bends and nowhere to stop apart from a tiny patch if land on a steep hillside. But even there we found a trail heading up in to the hills. And today we have crossed the border in to Spain.
Penny.

Penny has been badgering me to “Do a bit for the Fre nch blog!”
Well I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, and to date have not come up with very much, “’Er indoors has just about said it all!” After Russia, Ukraine, and one or two notable exceptions in Hungary and Austria, things have just not been the same; the few people who have asked how we got on in those dangerous countries seem quite disappointed to hear we had not been robbed of everything we owned; and to hear that Russians and Ukrainians actually laugh a lot has been almost too much to bare for some!
And the car’s no longer the star! Even here in France where there are still a lot of older cars we have passed through almost unnoticed, but I tell a lie a jogger nearly jogged out of his trainers earlier today while waving wildly to us.
Like back home in the UK the sighting of a policeman patrolling the streets is a rare occurrence, and to our surprise also on the roads. Whatever happened to the comforting sound of one of the boys in blue enquiring “Now, now sir, are we in a hurry to get home to the wife, or something?” (hope I’m not tempting providence here). (Penny: they are more likely to ask if we have a problem than accuse us of speeding!)
Last but not least, borders and border guards; since the advent of the removal of border restrictions within the EC, movement between member countries is simple, in fact too damn easy, anyone can come and go as they please. This may seem fine to liberal minded people, but it seems to me that we should at least have some idea when we are entering a country that has a different set of cultural rules (however European they claim to be)! Eventually we may well finish up just a hotch-potch of nations that have no idea of their heritage. MEP’s take note; many of us do not like what you are signing-up to just so you can stay on the gravy train!
Bill

Penny
Wow!
I must add that today is the first time we have known we were entering another country since the border guards took the van to pieces on entering Hungary; today there was a clear sign welcoming us to Spain; and an instant reduction in the quality of the road! However they did improve once clear of the ‘border’.
We’ve seen some fabulous butterflies on this trip and sitting here in a Spanish garage car park we’ve just spotted a beautiful swallowtail on the herbs growing wild around the edge. We also spotted a truck driver collecting something from the neighbouring field, his carrier bag seemed pretty heavy and full quite quickly; so, short of something for pudding tonight, Bill went foraging only to find he’d been collecting snails!

see our Files for some pics (2008 August pics part 2)

There was a terrific electric storm on our last night in Austria and we were camped underneath those mountains in the pics with “The Walk on the Wild Side”! Neither of us said anything as the rain lashed down but I’m sure both thought, at least fleetingly, of all those cracks in the rocks above! However we both slept well and set off next morning at 8am. Somewhere in the middle of the first tunnel we entered Germany and the first sight on leaving the tunnel was a couple of fields of Llamas! Later in the day we were parked in a lay-by when another old Mercedes van drove by, a much larger version than ours and not quite so old but also converted into a campervan. It slowed down and backed into the lay-by and back past us, the lady driver giving us the “once over” before stopping. She pulled up in front and came back to meet us, on her own, wearing a beautiful sari. We still assumed there must be a partner, perhaps asleep in the van but no Sylvia is travelling alone in that huge great van. We spent some time chatting before she continued on her way to the next town to collect her mail from home, and where we planned to be next day for some emailing.
Next day we met up again and she was distraught, she wished she had stayed in the lay-by with us as during the drive into town she had had a small bump with another car and the other driver had just driven off. She had reported it to the police but was really desperate to apologise.
Within the next few days we found that several towns have large campervan parking areas, a bit like the towns in France that have free campsites to encourage visitors to spend time (and money) in their town. This proved a bonus as both campsites and lay-bys were a little thin on the ground along our route.
We had originally arranged to meet a quilter near Landshut, which we reached on Bill’s birthday 11th August; but we seemed to have lost contact with her in the last few weeks. We hope she is well. We met two lovely ladies as we parked in Landshut who told us the town has some beautiful old buildings and we would have spent some time wandering the streets only Bill’s sandal fell to pieces as we walked from the internet cafe. Now those who have been following the blog closely may remember that we lost one of his other pair of shoes back in Hungary (I had left it hanging on the back to dry after he went paddling in some flood water). Bill being Bill he would not replace the shoes back in Hungary so now he has a problem. As we return to the van to effect temporary repairs we glance in the windows of the shoe shops and he nearly has a fit at the prices. So now he is wearing a pair of sandals with one strapped together with gaffa tape!
We have spotted a few wind turbines here in Germany but many of the huge long barns have their roofs covered in solar panels. We have also seen some interesting road kills which look a bit like mink, plus one fox. There was also a wild deer grazing a field edge the other day and there are many shooting hides on field edges so there must be plenty of deer around.
On Thursday 14th we parked in a lay-by on the road 16 after a long and tortuous diversion during which time we could not see how we would return to the planned route and which led through numerous small villages and towns which must love having all the commercial traffic thundering through the main street. Anyway the lay-by was also a car park for a nature reserve and in the early evening I went for an exploratory walk following one of their signed routes which should have led to a circular route back to the van. Well it didn’t and the only wild life I spotted was a Jay; however what I did find was a small building with PUBLIC COMPUTER written on the outside. Of course! That’s just what you would expect to find in a Nature Reserve, isn’t it? On closer inspection it turned out to have internet connections too. Unfortunately I did not have our USB with me or any money for that matter, but next time I go for a walk I’ll be prepared!
We are still following the River Danube and will be right across Germany, almost into France, and the mosquitos are biting well here. Penny

Bill
From the moment we entered Russia “The car’s been the star!” When ever and where ever we stopped, be it in a market square, village or town centre, traffic lights, even the odd time the police pulled us over, out came the mobile phone cameras, even old ladies and their husbands walked up and murmured words of affection for the venerable machine. The praise went on throughout Ukraine; Hungarians were a little more conservative but still full of admiration for our durability. In Austria the old enthusiasm returned especially from motor cyclists, but then motor cyclists are a breed apart, nothing, not even torrential rain can dampen their enthusiasm for life on the edge. Nearing the Mercedes home land we could feel the tension mounting, what sort of a welcome would await our van? Many of the admirers in Austria were Germans but we did not expect flags and banners, just a quiet nod of recognition from other Mercedes owners and perhaps the odd word in favour of things old and loved. As we left Austria we were mobbed by a lovely family, a young father and three enthusiastic sons in a VW camper heading back home to Germany, we thought that’s a good start. Well it was almost the finish as well, it took three days before we met Sylvia a young German girl driving a very large 1977 Mercedes 406 campervan, a day later we met two families briefly at a service station and later in Landshut two old ladies who fell head over heels in love with the van and wanted to join our expedition! Other than these three brief meetings we motored through Germany almost unnoticed, odd, has there been a football world cup final upset that we have missed?
Bill

Penny again.
We crossed from Germany into France over the River Rhine with an amazing sense of relief on the 17th August. We had not felt comfortable in Germany, the weather had deteriorated, everything was so appallingly tidy, and the failure of the quilting contacts did not help either. We did eventually hear from our contact with an explanation that their holiday plans had changed. We did feel that we might have enjoyed the country more if we had been on the bikes as there are cycle tracks everywhere, and they are very busy too with both local cyclists and tourists. But the trails are as immaculate as the villages, so are the riders, it wouldn’t do to have a plastic carrier bag dangling from the rear carriers! But we do realise that we did not really give the country a chance.
All for now folks.
Penny

See our FILES for lots of pictures (2008 August Pictures) also a Walk on the wild side & a Lada lament


Penny
Well, what can I say about Austria, a place I’m sure many of you will know very well?
We left Hungary on 29th July prepared for another thorough search at the border post but there really wasn’t a border post at all; to all intents and purposes Hungary is already in the EU on their western border anyway. Within 7k there was a large shady lay-by with picnic tables, running water and four long-drop W.C.’s. We knew that over-nighting in Austrian Lay-bys is OK in a campervan as long as “you do not have any external erections”!
We spent the day in that first lay-by plotting a possible route through to Germany avoiding motorways. Our crossing point had been the most southerly possible and the road ahead led to Graz. That night we moved 100 metres up the road to an identical lay-by on the other side. We could see travelling in Austria would be a piece of cake!
Ha! Those two lay-bys were only there to tease, we’ve hardly seen anything similar since until pretty close to the German border. However we’ve had some great days (and nights) in the mountains including one in the remote mountains south west of Graz where our evening walk led down a side track into a world of devastation. Gigantic trees lay across the track, river and mountainside, their roots pointing to the sky as though dropped from a great height. Later we discovered there had been a major wind/storm 4 months ago which had wrecked vast areas (remember the torn-up trees back in Ukraine?). Apparently no-one was hurt in the storm but at least 9 people have died during the clearing up operations.
Our road map of Europe is somewhat lacking in detail and we stumbled on the old town of Wolfsberg almost by accident. On our second day there we needed water and spoke to a chap at the bus depot. Another one of our chance meetings that proves so fantastic. Our new friend Egon invited us back to his home in the hills for the night to meet his lovely wife Magdalena and their family (including a mad dog).
From there we headed for Klagenfurt, intending to stop for a day or two, but changed our minds as we struggled with the traffic and road signs. We did however discover where to buy a new bottle of gas, we knew the Hungarian one was running short, needless to say the Austrian bottle did not fit any of the numerous fittings Bill has in his tool box and we had to buy even more. But at least the new bottle does fit into the gas bottle cupboard so at last we do not have to have it standing by the fridge/sink.
Still heading west towards Lienz we found ourselves in real chocolate box countryside with wall to wall tourists. The countryside was beautiful, the van coping excellently with the mountains (1700metres was the highest point we reached), but we felt so out of place, every where was so immaculate.
Penny

(See our FILES for this blog as Word document)

A friend has said our journey sounds rather hectic and we realised we’ve only been picking out the “happenings” to tell you about, so thought we would tell you about one of the quieter days on the road. Mind you, we suspect our friend thinks of the journey as a holiday, which it isn’t if by holiday one envisages a long journey to a specific place where you stay for a week or more. We discovered a long time ago that the very best “happenings” and the most special people are found along the way in unexpected places. For instance today we were stopped in a lay-by when a motorcyclist stopped to chat. This was Horst, a local farmer and fellow traveller; he and Bill swapped stories for a while (Katmandu and Indonesia etc) and he told us it is the height of the fungi season just now then he was off only to return 15mins later with bacon from his own pigs, a pot of home made jam and a tin of fresh fungi. After giving instructions on using the fungi he was off again; we did give him our card but have no idea of his address or even surname so will probably never see him again but had we been on the motorway we wouldn’t have met at all.

Now that quiet day, I will choose one back in Russia.
We woke with the birds at 4.30am as usual but there is no rush to get up, just reach out of the blankets and switch the heater on, only when the van has warmed up will one of us get up and make some tea which we’ll drink in bed. By 6.30am we are up, washed and dressed and ready for the road, we like to breakfast a little later; we’ve been parked overnight beside a field track and against a thick hedge, completely out of view of anyone on the road but now we can see a tractor working on the other side of the field – bet he was surprised when he spotted us.
We drive till about 9am along minor country roads with all the normal potholes then stop beside another field but this time in full view of the road and passing traffic. As we breakfast road workers are strimming the grass verges and an occasional truck rattles by. We shopped yesterday so do not need to find a village so decide to stay put all day; a chance to do the washing, which Bill hangs in the bushes to dry in the brisk wind, and just a little housework before Bill cuts my hair – an amusing sight for passers by. The day is sunny and warm out of the wind so it is pleasant to sit outside and catch up with our writing while watching for hares and hunting birds across the field; both of those we see but the real surprise is the number of butterflies. Bill goes off with his camera and returns with a few more unusual spring flowers to press.
A leisurely lunch of smoked sausage and cucumbers with more of the tough bread is followed by coffee and a long discussion of the route ahead – which way shall we go? Do we need much shopping? A list is made then added to after I’ve prepared the evening meal of chicken hotpot and popped it in the slow cooker (hay box type). The washing is all dry, the van tidy and we are ready to move on; we rarely stay over night in a place where we have been in full view all day.
Within a few bone shaking miles there is an interesting side track, we stop and Bill goes for a recce; “Fine” he says and eases the van down the dirt track and behind another thick hedge. Here we are beside rough grazing land but the animals are all still snugged-up in their winter quarters somewhere. The sun is setting behind a distant ridge and we seem to have almost a 360degree view –it’s fantastic, who would have thought such a glorious sight was just behind the hedge? We can see distant habitation in a far valley but nothing close by. Supper is cooked and we toast the setting sun with vodka before drawing the curtains tight to keep out the rapidly encroaching cold, switching on the heater and having a short game of cards before turning in, snugged-up beneath the quilts by 9pm.
Now we really enjoyed that peaceful and uneventful day and you may have enjoyed reading about it but if we included too many, and there have been plenty, we think the blog may become a trifle boring.
Penny

See our Files for more photos (2008 July pics part 2) or to download this blog as a Word doc (2008-07-21 Blogupdate Hungary 2.doc)

Blog update Hungary 2

Penny
I am going to start this entry with a few photos that relate to the previous entry.
The first shows Tamas and his wife Mercedes with their eldest daughter as we were about to leave the riverside camp. The second is of our host Imre (hope I’ve spelt his name correctly) our host and owner of the bar. The third is the elderly gentleman who brought me a bunch of flowers presented with kisses and hugs.

Tamas and Mercedes set us on the road to Sarospatak, where there is an ancient fort, via an unusual river crossing that reminded us of one on the River Fal in Cornwall.
From Sarospatak we headed up into the Zemplen Hills. We were not especially looking for castles but liked the look of the densely wooded hills above the highly cultivated vineyards. Stopping, even for a tea break, proved impossible as there had been another storm the previous evening, the ground was too muddy and mosquitoes terrible under the trees. Then the narrow road ran out of the trees to open grazing country with a sign pointing up a track leading to a ruined castle on a mountain top. There was no need for a discussion; we just set off up the gravel track. This ended in half a kilometre at a small car park, from there 2k of earth track led up to Regec Castle. As it was late in the day and we were tired and exceedingly hot we decided to camp there overnight and walk up at first light.
That was a great decision. We strapped Bill’s knees up, they have not improved, took some refreshments in a rucksack and hiked up the hill through another wood to a glorious ruin of a castle with 360 degree views over the surrounding countryside. What an excellent spot as can be seen from the photos. We were back down and breakfasted before the tourists even started to arrive (& feeling disgustingly smug as they all headed off in the heat of the day!).

But we did have a problem – our gas ran out as I started to cook. Fortunately we have the paraffin stove so could still produce a large pile of egg bread to restore our energy. However it dictated our next move, instead of looking for more castles as planned we now needed to find gas. The first garage would not contemplate filling our bottle nor would they sell us a Hungarian one as we did not have an empty Hungarian one to exchange. This looked like a catch twenty two situation! We found a small business and decided we would not leave until they sold us a bottle of gas. Bill started to open the rear door to get at our bottle, and the door came off in his hands!!!!!!!!!!! Yet another breakage caused by the Russian roads.
Penny

Bill
Stay calm folks, this is your captain speaking everything is under control; well almost, but at times you might be forgiven for thinking this is a bit of a goon show. Once the two lads at the gas station realised I was supporting a heavy door on my head they rushed to my assistance, and took over while I sorted out tools and disconnected the gas struts. They were unable to refill our bottle but agreed to sell us a Hungarian bottle without exchange. It’s the same old rip-off as back home, so we gave them 10,000 Forint, = about £26.00 and set-off to find a friendly welder. These proved to be thin on the ground, but while discussing the problem with a tyre dealer one of his customers knew just the man; he phoned and explained we were on our way. Armed with his instructions and a hand drawn map, Penny amazed me yet again with her navigational skills and within twenty minuets we met-up with a Hungarian madman! Over the next 4 hours he worked like a slave, kept a full running commentary on his method of getting the job done (all in Hungarian) while only partially setting the van on fire; though to give him his due he was very reluctant to use “oxygen” to free the seized roll pins from the hinges. But I could only stand so much of his method i.e. laying into the problem with a 7lb hammer and drift; cast hinges can only take a little bullying. In the end we were all ready for the road but had to settle up first; we offered him our calculator and stood back, 12,800 flashed up on the screen; we gave him 15,000, he had no change, we hesitated, he said “koszonon” (thank you) and stuffed the notes into his overalls. Job done!
A few days later we were being visited by a few jumbo sized wasps; we of a less aggressive nature than ‘you know who’, I attempted to shepherd a particularly large one out the cab and received a sharp reminder that one should not try to be kind to jumbo wasps. I despatched him swiftly but within ten minuets my thumb resembled a very large sausage; this of course gave Penny a great chance to improve her skill at administering all manner of pills and potions, mostly to little effect on my thumb, hand and arm. Despite all this I enjoyed a good night’s sleep (perhaps due to some of the potions? Penny) but in the morning it was very plain we would not be driving anywhere today, so rested in our lay-by camp site and watched my hand gradually return to a more normal size. But word was out in wasp circles that we were the cause of the demise of one of the clan, so we had to fight off several sorties from the rest of the squadron; but we were ready with wasp killer and fly swat and finished the day victorious. (He is now as much as a killer as I am! P)
Being thoroughly fed-up with an A/C system that did not work we Googled Webasto Hungary and set off armed with a map and a good idea on how to tackle Budapest traffic. Sunday evening seemed our best bet, once again Penny proved an expert at navigation and we wound up almost outside the Webasto depot, having only had to ask our way once, from an English speaking filling station attendant; our luck continues to hold. We camped on the grass verge alongside a truck just as the heavens opened and thunder and lightening fizzed around. 8am next morning found us first in the queue. Excellent service from all and sundry over the next 3-4 hours put the unit back in service; one new water pump, new fuses, and a thorough briefing on how the system works; corrosion caused by lime scale deemed to be the culprit, distilled water being recommended! They all had to agree that was a bit of a joke when we told them where we had been and where we were headed, also we pointed out the manual only recommended drinking water! So this is something we must look into. Fit and ready for the rest of our journey we set-off to take on the mid-day Budapest traffic, but first Penny just happened to spot a fabric shop!
One last story must be told, we had shopped at a small village store, a few days later we found ourselves passing the same shop, “Stop!” yelled Penny “we need a litre bottle of drinking water”. She was gone ages, eventually staggering back with a jumbo bargain 12 litre pack. 12 litres, I ask you! There has to be a reason. “Oh you should have seen him, he had wonderful eyes, and he tried so hard with his English, I hadn’t the heart to tell him I only asked for 1 litre!” That’s grandmothers for you!
Post script to the A/c saga, as we departed the office staff advised us that the forecast was not good for the coming week, correct, it’s turned cold, rained most of the time and we have hardly used the A/c more than a couple of times. But it works!
Bill.

Penny again
I have to have the last word simply because I have found a fabulous fabric shop! After leaving Webasto we drove round a corner in a back street of Budapest and there was this great old building filled with every kind of fabric you could require, from patchwork cottons, flimsy stuff for evening dresses and all manner of fleeces for a babies snow suit, they even had some proper wadding for quilting. I spent ages choosing some fabrics and then found that Bill was off choosing threads for his third piece of cross stitch!
Now we are in Kecskemet, the capitol of the Hungarian Plains area, and for the first time on the entire journey we have connected to WiFi, just sitting in a back street of this lovely town. We have also found a market here (just as we had agreed not to spend any more money after the last few expensive events!) and Bill is happy again – he was really missing chatting with all the stall holders.

See our Files for an update from Hungary - photos too

More from Ukraine! - see Files for an update;
2008-06-20_More from Ukraine.doc

also in Files some pics in the folder:
2008 June pics from Ukraine

See our Files for a blog from Ukraine (9 MB word file)

see our files for a blog from May 2008. Also pictures in the Russia May 08 folder.

see our files for blogs from 15 and 26 April; also some pictures in the Russia April 08 folder.

(via email to Tony)..... We are at a place called Kachmob (or similar) having a really great time made decision not to go to Mongolia due to roads .....

we are safe and really well. forget everything you have heard about Russia it is beautiful & friendly....

Will try to send blog updates but probably noit for a week or 2.....

Heading for Ukraine eventually.
All our love to everyone
Penny & Bill

See our files for an update April 05 2008

Hi everyone
With only 18hrs to go before setting off on the 1st, as instructed, we phoned the Bank to inform them we'd be leaving the country shortly. They informed us our account was under threat from card fraud and we'd need a new card which would arrive in 5 days! PANIC!

Race to local Bank where assistant sorts problem for us. All we lost was 2 hours packing time.

7am 1st April our waggon rolls down the lane and we are heading south on the way to Russia and into the teeth of gale force winds, finishing the day in Kent after a hairy crossing of the Thames bridge with the first 198 miles of the journey achieved. Expect to cross the Channel Saturday evening.
Penny & Bill

This is a whole new learning curve - writing a blog direct to the computer - so please bear with us when we make some silly mistakes. We have to learn how to do this when travelling & using internet cafes. I wrote a brief blog yesterday which can be found on the web I think under the title 26th March update, there should also be some pics in a file called Tais & Nalo. Will clarify how to find them when I am certain myself!

Now I think I know what to do. If you wish to read the 26th March update & view the pics on the file Tais & Nalo then click on FILES at the top left hand corner of this page & the two files will be there. Just click on which ever one you wish to see. This is probably the way we'll be using the blog while on the road. God luck.

But todays good news is that the passports, complete with visas for both Russia & Mongolia have arrived safely today. So now there is nothing stopping us leaving on 1st April.
Penny

Penny's prayer flag idea galvanised her into action. Within an hour colourfull creations began to emerge from her "past projects stash!" at last here was something that would reduce, rather than increase our stock, though I can see this idea getting out of hand, as the van begins to disappear under a multitude of brightly coloured streamers!! Bill

A week to go. A big family gathering yesterday - Easter Sunday, only spoilt by a heavy fall of snow which prevented the Cumbrial branch of the family travelling south. Final packing of the van this week, including my tiny sewing cupboard. This months Patchwork & Quilting magazine has an article by Lesley Brankin about Prayer Flags, an idea which has solved my dilema about broadcasting to the world about our patchwork connections. So I've decided to make a few this week to hang from the outside of the van. Start next article for Patchwork & Quilting mag. Penny

Other last min: arrangements include; van insurance cover for our re-entry into Europe in the autumn (Russian & Mongolian insurance will be arranged at border crossings); Roubles/Euros/$ & travellers cheques (this time we must remember to take the receipt with us!); cross channel ferry booking? Bill