The Middle East: 19 Countries in 22 days

After receiving the humble bill of 250 pounds for 2 days labour, 3 new CV joints and new suspension dampers (?) from our incredibly friendly mechanics in Aleppo we left with high spirits and new faith in the cars on the southwards road to Damascus where amid the dusty haze of the Syrian capital we somehow managed to succesfully meet up with the latest members of the team, Jon Winfield and Alberto, our Mexican photographer. By now we were all accustomed to the unpredictable driving and learned that the best way to deal with six (invisible) lanes of yellow taxis is the constant use of ones horn and a lot of aggressive driving. And so armed with fresh team members we set off ever southwards to the Jordanian border and yet more bureacratic hassles. As we bounced from one chain smoking official to the next we soon realised that any sense of frustration was pointless and the sooner you get used to the shrugging of shoulders and the fatalistic Muslim expression of Inshallah (God willing) all the better. Despite presenting our Arabic translation of the charity letter to several guards we still had to wait 2 hours before being allowed to enter our 17th country.

Having already been forced by circumstance to miss out on Lebanon we agreed that we should endeavour to get as close to the Israeli border as possible to enable a quick foray and so we sped over the increasingly barren mountains down into the lush Jordan valley, reminding us that we were well and truly in Biblical lands. As it was going dark on Saturday night, with no prospect of crossing into Israel before sundown, we decided to camp in the desert overlooking the famous river.  What began as a reasonable road soon deteriorated into a dusty track that led away from the permenant villages into the tented encampment of a family of Bedouin nomads. Fortunately they waved us down and warned us not to camp near to the pleasant looking woodblock since it was infested with deadly snakes and instead insisted that we camp alongside them on the hilltop overlooking Palestine. Grateful for their hosptality we bought some chicken and presented it to our new hosts including the 70 year old headman, Abu Sulimein, who regally plied us with endless glasses of sweet chai in return for seeing our photographs of the green lands of Europe that we had driven through. Like a scene from the 1001 nights we whiled away the evening lounging on the ancient carpets around the campfire contemplating just how lucky we were to have such an incredibly genuine experience.

By now the temperature had risen to over 40 degrees during the day and at night it wasnt much cooler so sleep was rather difficult, especcially when combined with the inescapable call to prayer and a host of roosters and bleating goats. Another early start ensued yesterday as we bade goodbye to our bedouin friends and the new drivers had their first chance to get behind the wheel and take us to the Hussein/ Allenby bridge into the West bank of Palestine and on into Israel.

Yet another 3 hour wait as we were interrogated by the Israelis who seemed to think for some reason that we were on some humanitarian aid mission to the Gaza strip. Finally, having had a grand total of about 4 hours sleep over 2 nights we were admitted into Israel where we proceeded to drive through the west bank to Jerusalem. It was a high point so far to be able to tread the venerated streets and visit the church of the Holy Sepulchure and see the Western Wall in all its glory. It is incredible to think that so far we have followed almost exactly the same route as the soldiers of the first crusade some 900 years ago and now to see the grafitti they left on the pillars of the church they came to liberate was quite inspiring.

In the evening we met with Ronnie and Dahlia on the top of the Mount of Olives, a suitably spectacular meeting place before they very kindly treated us to a fantastic dinner in the Old city. We all agreed that the hassle we had at the border was well worth it to experience such a warm and hospitable welcome to the holy land.

Back in Jordan we took the dead sea highway and managed to have a quick dip in the famous lake before driving through the dusty evening across the Negev desert to the valley of moses where we are currently awaiting the arrival of another mechanic- this time for the other car which needs a new set of brakes.

Into Asia…

As we negotiated the roads of Istanbul it suddenly became apparent that the first phase of the journey had come to an end. Gone were the familiar hues and comparative peace of Europe to be suddenly replaced by the frenetic crowds of the Muslim world. Our intoduction didn’t bode well as we were stopped at some traffic lights entering the city by a gang of feral street children who proceeded to steal the ambulance crescent off one of the cars. Nevertheless we managed to drive through the ancient streets and found possibly the only car parking space in the old town where we stayed for a two day rest.

For a couple of the team it was their first introduction to the Islamic world and we spent a very cultural day exploring the world famous Aya Sofia and indulged in a Hammam otherwise known as a Turkish bath. We were a little suprised that although it was ramadan there was no problem in finding food and that the majority of Turks were very liberal and western minded. It was time to say goodbye finally to Dragan, who flew home on Monday. Dragans contribution has been immense and we all agree that we have made a friend for life and look forward to visiting him again, whether it be in Slovenia, Serbia or Montenegro. In his place came Ritchie, who will be with us for the next fortnight and has promised to put into practice his fluent Turkish and Arabic. A modern TE Lawrence, no doubt Ritchie will put his valuable middle eastern experience to good use.

It was time to cross the Bosphorus into Asia minor and so we set off along the fast Turkish motorways into central Anatolia, stopping off for a night of rough camping in the incredible Cappadoccia. Surrounded by the oddly shaped rock formations that have housed shepherds and byzantine pilgrims for centuries we really felt that we had entered the wilds. We were treated to a spectacular sunrise over the unique caves but unfortunately the surreal experience was dampened slightly by a few problems with the cars as we motored southwards towards the Syrian border. It became apparent that we were suffering from a fuel intake problem and we broke down at least six or seven times, usually in the 40 degree heat with no shade at the side of the road. Luckily for us, Stu- the only mechanic amongst us- with help from Russell and Toby were able to fix the problem using lots of rubber pipe and plenty of elbow grease and looking rather like a one of the local taxis we limped embarrassingly across the Syrian border at just past midnight on Tuesday. To our dismay we found ourselves confronted with a massive £250 ‘tax’ on diesel at the border and no amount of charitable pleading would convince the border guards to lower the fee. Having paid up we drove through the desert night to arrive in the ancient city of Aleppo at 2am, swerving through a sea of yellow taxis before finally discovering a very pleasant hotel near to the old citadel. At a meagre £5 for an aircon room we were glad to have arrived at somewhere a tad more budget friendly. The next day we agreed that our priority would be to get the cars fixed and so checked them in to  a local garage in amongst the bazaar where a gang of very friendly Armenians  worked like madmen on the cars under the watchful eye of Stu. Whether it was the prospect of a good tip or just genuine hospitality, all other work was suspended while they plied us with beer good advice as to what to see in the city for the 2 days it would take them.

The realisation had just set in that we were now well and truly in the middle east and so while we waited for the mechanics to do their work we enjoyed the sights and smells of the old souq, eating falaffel, haggling over the price of coffee and cramming 6 people into a 3 man taxi…To top it off we had an enjoyeble Gin and Tonic in the Baron Hotel where Lawrence of Arabia once drank.

By the way apologies for the intermittant email access. Internet cafes are few and far between and regular power cuts mean that we can only check and update the blog as and when. The latest blog update was recently interrupted by the hotel manager deciding to have a full fist fight with one of the waiters… i’ll post some photos somewhere a little safer….

Week 2, the Balkans

 

As the Dalmatian coast unfolded in its magnificence so did our appetite to enjoy the pleasant waters of the Adriatic and so after a 350 miles drive we set up camp near to a beach in split. We were all thankful for the opportunity for a rest and also it gave us a chance to address a few of the vehicle problems. Nothing too serious we hope but have ordered some new axle bits that need to be changed which all being well, Richard will be able to bring out to us in Turkey. Fingers crossed that we don’t have any issues before then. Whilst in Split the team had a few social drinks and managed to discover the obligatory Irish pub. Somehow we acquired an extra two team members that night, a couple of Finnish backpackers who were to tag along for the next few days. So with the team now at nine we crammed into the Landcruisers and headed over the mountains into Bosnia. Dragan took us to see Mostar, the fabulous medieval town in the heart of the Prenj hills. Amid bullet scarred houses and crater pocked ruins loomed the red tiled roofss of the Jewel of the Balkans and its famous bridge, Stari Most. The unique feat of engineering was originally built over 500 years ago but was tragically destroyed by the Croats during the Balkan wars and so the new bridge was built by the UNESCO using exactly the same materials and design. We watched with awe as local performers jumped from its impossible heights into the freezing depths below. At over 35 metres it is one of the highest bridges in the world that people attempt to jump with any hope of surviving. We settled on a quick swim and Lev laid down the gauntlet by jumping off the 10 metre high board. Twice.

 

Invigorated, and still shaking with adrenaline we carried on south, back into Croatia stopping off for a night in the beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik and then crossing into the little known gem that is Montenegro. Unbelievably, after such incredible scenery elsewhere the best was yet to come. What with its high rugged peaks and rustic coastline Montenegro was a sight to behold. A true 10/10 experience! To top it off, Dragans seemingly endless local knowledge took us to what we all agreed was possibly the best nightlife in the world. But alas, another very early start meant that we couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked.

 

Genuinely sad to be leaving such a beautiful place we set off once again to the south and into the badlands of Albania. By now we had travelled through 13 countries in only 12 days. Sleeping on average only 3 or 4 hours per night the whole team was truly exhausted, despite Grahams best efforts at boosting morale. The hardest part was yet to come. As we crossed the Bojana river into Albania, the cultural difference was immediately apparent. Mosques now dotted the rural villages and Kosovan refugee children clambered over the vehicles whenever we stopped at a junction. As night fell we ascended the heights into Tirane where driving became lethal. With no road markings, random animals sleeping in the streets and drunken taxi drivers speeding through red lights, John and Russell had to be on their guard to ensure the safety of the vehicles and the team. We were all keen to get out of the seedy capital with its sinister looking Policemen and suspiciously brand new Mercedes all with British number plates….

 

Fortunately we found a garage owner- the only one who didn’t appear intent of murdering the lot of us, who escorted us out of the city and we now found ourselves driving for a further 10 hours. The situation was made more miserable after we were turned away from the Macedonian border for some minor paperwork discrepancy and had to backtrack 250 kilometers before finally reaching northern Greece. Exhausted we slept for a couple of hours in the cars in a lay by to avoid the vicious looking packs of hounds that lurked in these parts, not to mention the bears… In the morning we did the last stint through Thrace into Thessaloniki where we had to say farewell to John. His contribution to the mission has been outstanding and his company will be missed by all. Although it has only been two weeks, it seems that we have completed so much already. We have covered over 2,500 miles and the European phase is almost at an end and as I write this we are speeding along (well not quite speeding) towards the edge of Europe and Istanbul, the gateway to Asia.

Europe, the first week

 

Eight countries, Eight days: Motorways, mountains, and at last the Med…

Crossing the channel from Dover to Calais watching the white cliffs fade into the distance the realization finally set in as to what we were about to attempt. Up until now everything had rushed by in a haze of emails, telephone calls and greasy hands trying to prepare for the longest journey any of us had ever attempted. Six busy months of fixing up two ancient land cruisers and getting all of the right documentation left little time to think about the practicalities and reality of driving pretty much non stop across three continents. The group wasn’t even confirmed until a couple of days before departure what with peoples hectic work schedules, exams and the uncertainty of helicopter flying, but despite the odds everyone made it to our set off point of Bishops Hall in Essex kindly offered by Dennis and his family as the start point for out twelve thousand mile adventure.

 Sporting not inconsiderable hangovers we slowly made our way around the M25 towards Dover. With the best intentions in the world we were never going to make the original ferry timing and so with the aid of some of Grahams best chat on the phone to P&O we rescheduled for the following one. A couple of hours later we were whizzing down the motorway into rural Picardy and looking for somewhere to set up first camp and ended up in a rather wet corn field.

We decided that our first objective would be to make as much progress as possible in the first couple of days and drove over 700 miles over the Rhine into Southern Germany and onto Switzerland. Up until now it had rained incessantly and it was with some relief that we entered the alps and rose above the clouds. We thought it would be good to visit Lichtenstein, one of the smallest countries in the world, and we were amazed at how the whole country seems to fit onto one mountainside. The first real test of endurance for the cars was to drive up the incredibly steep winding passes and fit through the tiny tunnels that carve their way through the picturesque peaks and grassy meadows. Happily the people of this mountain nation were very proud to have us as their guests and before long we were invited to camp in the garden of Christian Fuchs whose wooden cabin had excellent views over the whole kingdom, as well as a plentiful wine cellar to ensure that we slept well. In return for their hospitality we introduced our Liechtensteini hosts to curry and cooked a slap up Jalfrezi on their log burner.

 Back down the mountain we moved on regretful in the knowledge that most people have barely heard of Lichtenstein, much less able to point it out on a map, but it counts as a highlight for us so far. It was time to press on and we continued through the alps, briefly traversing Austria and into northern Italy where we slept amongst the grapes of a traditional vineyard before being woken up at five am by an angry farmer trying to spray his crops. Undeterred we washed away our sins in the Lago Caldero, a beautiful mountain lake warmed up to a pleasant 20 degrees by thermal springs before carrying on south to Venice.

 Having been on the road for almost a week we agreed that it was high time we treated ourselves to a spot of luxury and checked in to a budget hotel on the mainland and taking a pleasant stroll through the ancient streets of the famous city of romance… 6 blokes in a gondola would have felt a little out of place and instead we chartered a speed boat to explore the legendary canals.

Thoroughly refreshed we set off again around the gulf of Venice with a couple of Polish hitchhikers in tow into Slovenia where we had arranged to meet up with Gregor, an old friend from previous travels. We found ourselves in the town of Piran, a quaint port at the head of the Adriatic and we were able to get in a quick swim in the turquoise waters of this fabulous suburb of the Mediterranean. Our new hosts, Gregor and his Bosnian-Serbian friend Dragan, showed us the local sights and we were able to get a real feel for the culture and hospitality. So much so that we ended up staying another day in Slovenia, this time in Ljubljana the historic capital where we had the chance to sort out a few teething problems with the cars and do some much needed washing. As a stroke of luck Dragan had a few days free and decided to join us for the next week as far as Greece- the fact that he speaks all the languages en route will certainly be a massive help. Day 8 and we set off again for the long drive through Croatia, following the coastline and turning heads all the way to Split. Ten thousand miles to go!

Next update in a few days…

Departure

31st July saw the team gathered at Lambourne End at Bishops Hall, which was a rather grand start to the expedition. Our thanks go to Dennis, (Ruthie’s cousin) and to Pat for their awesome hospitality and ensuring that we set sail rather the worse for wear!!

Currently the team are on the road to Dover.

Watch this space for further updates!!

Big thanks to all of you who made this possible and please log on to the site and leave us a message.

Departure of the Ambulances from Bishops Hall

Champagne lauch!!

Leaving party!

A huge thank you to all that attended the fundraiser in Clapham on Saturday, it was a massive success and we had a great time. It was good to see so many old faces and the generosity of everyone was outstanding. We managed to raise over £500 throughout the course of the afternoon and the raffle did especially well.  Thanks also to Lizzie for making the much sought after cakes, and to everyone who donated a bottle towards the raffle. Thanks also to Jannet and Stephen and Jane for coming along. Finally congratulations to Irma who won the first prize! see the photos section for a selection of the days events.

All that remains is to pack and we will be setting off next Sunday towards the continent!

Fundraising

We had a very successful day at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power  show where the ambulances attracted plenty of attention, despite the fact that our stand was crammed between the RAF helicopter and the Ferrari displays. 8 of the team spent all day on saturday hard at it, pulling in the crowds with the chance to win the Landrover day experience tickets (prize draw held next weekend on saturday 24th July at the Windmill on the Common Clapham). Our efforts were rewarded with a total of over £500 towards the vehicle preparation and medical supplies. Thank you to all that donated. Please see the photo page for a selection of pictures.

Graham gaining the support of the Ferrari girls…

Preparation

Currently in the finishing stages of the preparation. Since January, Lev and the team have been involved in buying, modifying and fixing two Toyota Landcruiser 80 series vehicles and turning them into ambulances. The Expedition aims to deliver the two vehicles to Malawi by driving overland from London halfway around the world to the tiny African nation. The project is being completed in support of the AMECA trust in memory of Alex Coutselous who died in 2006. The Ambulances will be donated to the new hospital wing that is being built as an extension to the Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre.

Getting ready has been a long and steady process and the team have faced several problems, not least due to a tight budget and busy schedule. Buying vehicles on ebay has its own particular issues needless to say, however after much letter writing and begging for sponsorship we finally raised the  amount needed to purchase two good quality 4x4s. The team then needed to become conversant with the inner parts of an engine and now most of us can at least change a tyre!

We are now almost ready for the off. There is still work to be done and despite having raised in excess of £15,000 we still need support to pay for spare parts and fuel which will come to around £5,000. All of the volunteers driving have contributed significant amounts personally and from their workplaces but we need all the help we can get so please see the sponsor us section if you would like to help.

We will be holding a stand at the Cholmondeley Power Pageant http://www.cpop.co.uk/ on saturday 17th July and the following saturday (24th) at the Windmill pub at Clapham Common, London to raise funds- Please come along and show your support all are welcome.

DEPARTURE 1ST AUGUST 2010!

Welcome to our new website for Expedition AFRICA CHALLENGE, supporting the AMECA Trust. Please take the time to have a look around and read the latest about the project which aims to deliver two ambulances to the impoverished nation of Malawi.

Kind Regards,

Lev and the team

Hello world!

Welcome to EXPEDITION AFRICA CHALLENGE’S Website on behalf of the AMECA Trust. First of all thanks for visiting, whether you are a sponsor, team members friends and family or just an interested follower!

We have only just set up this page so please keep on checking for updates and new photos!!!