We left Tehran about seven in the morning - our enthusiasm for leaving early being dimmed only fifty miles out when our sixth tyre threw its tread. It was on an outside rear wheel, and to our dismay we found the inner one punctured. Our single spare wasn't going to get us anywhere, so we put out a radio call and were fortunate in acquiring a spare wheel from the Kent coach and a new tyre from Newcastle. We had the new tyre fitted in a nearby village but only one hundred miles or so further on a front tyre threw its tread - tyre number seven, our very last. Let's hope we are finished with faulty tyres. So far, at least fifty faulty tyres have lost their treads (all of a well-known make) and there are now only about seven spares left in the whole Comex outfit. Thirteen coaches, including our own, are with out spares at present.

We arrived at Tabriz rather late that night in a cold wind. In our usual brass-necked fashion we staked out a sheltered corner beside the camp cafeteria and had tables and chairs by way of a little luxury. Back

  The following day we crossed the Turkish frontier and made camp at the University of Erzerum. Sited as it is on an expansive plateau, the wind is cold and relentless. At least we had a hall to sleep in while the temperature dropped to 38 degrees F., but had to make do with three toilets and three wash-basins among five hundred! We cooked outside in the wind and the dark. As luck would have it, I was on duty to light primuses and help wash-up. How miserable! Back

  The journey next day was to Persembe on the southern Black Sea coast. We crossed passes at 6000 and 8000 feet, Cuddles making short work of them with her throttle stop lowered another inch. We collected a number of dents from stones being flung or catapulted, but again lost no windows. Pru received a rotten tomato amidst her long blonde locks, from a passing lorry. Not only did it give her the hairstyle of the day, but it smeared the inside of the coach cab with a nice film of ?????? Back

  The college at Persembe greeted us in darkness with mud and pourinig rain. We got bunks for the night and found only three other coaches there. The others had stayed on the U.S. base at Trabzon about 100 miles back. Cooking in the dark and rain was a miserable prospect but we sought out the kitchens where we were allowed to use woodfired stoves and all other facilities. The morning was fine and the Black Sea calm. Back
 We breakfasted in the kitchens and left-for Ankara about 9 a.m. No-one seemed to know where the campsite was but we had been told there was a tea party to be held the next day. However, when we reached Ankara there was neither campsite or any news of a tea - party so we just camped by a garage and spent the next day in Ankara looking round shops, Ataturk's famous mausoleum and the ancient cobbled citadel of Ankara, high on the hill. The rest of Ankara is comparatively modern, being the new capital of Turkey. Constantinople, or Istanbul as it is now called, is the former capital. Back

 We left Ankara in the early evening and reached Istanbul about one in the morning. We camped at the same college in Scutari (the Asian part of Istanbul) where we had been on the outward journey. In the morning we and Cuddles crossed the Bosphorus in a ferry against the strong current of the Black Sea as it flows into the Mediterranean. The day was spent in the bazaars, the last cheap shopping opportunity we had, and by evening the coach was up to the gunwales in suede coats, suits and bags, rugs, sheepskins, fur coats, hats etc., etc. Some people were spent right out. Every last traveller's cheque, rupee, penny or drachma had gone, but the smiles were all around.

There wasn't much enthusiasm for a night drive but we had enough of a crew to make it over the Greek border where we simply fell asleep by the side of the road. Back
 At 9 a.m. the following day we were off again. We stopped for coffee and chocolate cake by the Aegean fishing port of Kavalla then pressed on to Thessalonika where we spent the afternoon. Some way out we found a spot on the beach to camp and watched the octopus harpooners patiently fishing by lamps on little boats being rowed silently by with soundless oars. Back

  By the following night we had crossed the Jugoslavian frontier and camped in an official campsite (by law) near Skopie. It was the coldest night yet, but we still didn't use our tent. As a result our sleeping bags were soaked with dew by morning and there were colds all round. This made us realise rather forcibly that we were now in Europe and it was the end of October so it must be Autumn. Certainly we had seen gold and russets amongst the trees in Western Turkey, but the temperature was still reaching the eighties and the possibility of it being Autumn was unthinkable. That day we covered 530 miles on reasonable roads to Zagreb in Northern Jugoslavia and didn't hesitate to erect the tent even though it was 10 p.m. Back