Back Fae Baku

Martin's story

2009-07-31T00:42:00.003+05:00

Day 9
None of us slept very well last night because of a pack of dogs barking all night. I am sure one of them was right outside my tent barking and giggling at the same time!!
We got packed up and hit the road once again. Again there was a little of wondering what this border would be like and how ‘moody-me’ would be. But the signs are certainly showing us that we are getting closer each day to home and the Europe we know. No borders, real road signs, good condition of the roads and also the Tom Tom’s showing us a lot more roads, petrol stations etc
We arrived at the Main Camp site at the Hungoraring Budapest, just after lunchtime. Got the tents up and gave the cars a good look over. And opened a Beer. The outside temp was a lovely 30-35c. At our campsite there was an Aqua park that we just had to try, so we did, and got drunk there too!!
That night we went down to the tented area to eat. Alan, Baz and Col had a Chicken Breast in and pan bread, Martin had a Beefburger. We then had a great laugh with another bunch of guys from Finland. Baz and Martin showed them how to dance, poor guys will never be the same!!!!

Day 10
Woke with blinding hangovers from the following night, but we new that we must press on. We decided that because we left a day early on our trip and hence arriving a day early to the track, today we would go to Bratislava Slovakia for the evening. We managed to secure the tents down and crawled into the cars for the 4 hr drive.
(by Martin). At this point I am very confused with my hangover. My toilet visits were way above the level of normal hangover toilet visits but we pushed on, stopping at every opportunity possible. By the time we arrived at the hotel in Bratislava, I knew I had got food poisoning from the Beefburger.
Bratislava was not what everyone was expecting, it is a much more modern country than we all thought. We went for a small walk through the centre to a local restaurant and had a wonderful meal. After the meal, Martin went back to the hotel. He didn’t feel too safe being too far away from a toilet!!

Day 11
We left the hotel early’ish for the drive back to Budapest, we wanted to get back for the F1 qualifying which started at 2pm that afternoon.
We got back to the campsite to the relief that the tents were still there intact, and no-one had pitched their tents on our parking area or even in the little gap between out tents.
We spent the rest of the day watching the qualifying and lazing around until it was time to go and meet Kevin and Jim in Budapest, who had come out to meet us and watch the GP.
We met Kevin and Jim in the Hilton hotel in the centre and as we were leaving I saw Lewis Hamilton’s Father checking in. Guess where Lewis is Staying tonight?
We all proceeded to get drunk that night,,,,,,,again.

Day 12
This is the only day that we are not driving.
I was first up this morning and got showered for the big event. I even made breakfast for everyone and got my first ever compliment from Cuz. I nearly cried………
We didn’t really have hangovers this morning because of the excitement of the F1. Even though we should have!!
There is something about a Grand prix that just makes you feel special, every hair on your body stands on end when the cars come by, it’s a good feeling if you are a petrol head.
The final results were good enough for everyone apart from Cuz. The night before the race, Cuz TOLD everyone that Alonso will win. Col said that Hamilton will win, so, cuz then laughed and said (in front of us all) “if Hamilton wins tomorrow, Uncle Col I will suck your big toe!!”.
SO,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Did he?????

The six of us went down to the tented area for a feed and few drinks. By this time the night before was starting to hit us and we were fading.
We said our goodbyes to Kevin and Jim and walked up the hill to our tents.

Day 13
Today Cuz and Baz decided that they didn’t want their tent anymore so they left it!
We left Budapest for Nurnberg in Germany passing through Austria and over the stunning Alps.
We are not too sure who yet, but some hooligan placed a magnetic Learner Plate on the back of Cuz’s car in Budapest and he actually drove through Hungary, Austria AND half of Germany with a big red “L” on the back of his car.
You might be wondering at this point what about the Czech Republic. Yes we changed the Czech Republic for Austria, still visiting the 14 countries.
We arrived at Nurnberg at 6pm and checked into a local town hotel and ate at a small restaurant around the corner. We were all in bed by 8.30 and asleep by 9pm. Shattered!!!

Day 14
We met for breakfast at 7.15am and hit the road at 8.15am. We immediately lost each other as soon as we left the little town where we stayed. We traveled north through Germany, through Luxembourg, through Belgium and into northern France to Calais where the Channel tunnel is.
In the train, it will be the only time our cars will have moved without us driving them from Baku to Aberdeen, but still technically on land.
When Col and Son got to the other side we heard that Cuz and Baz were an hour behind, so we thought we would push on up as far as we could and then find a bed for the night.
Between me and my father we are alike on a lot of things, but very much the opposite on some. When Col drinks a can of Red Bull he goes straight to sleep. When his loon drinks a can of Red Bull, he stays awake for hours. So the loon drank down 2 cans of Red Bull and drove non-stop from Dover to Dunblane!!! At that point, Col was awake from a 5½ sleep and was fresh enough to drive the rest of the way to Chapel of Garioch. We arrived home at 6am to my wife and kids on the corner of the street holding up a big banner of “Back Fae Baku, Welcome Home” We both had a wee lump in our throats.
It was good to be home………..

Alan's story

2009-07-31T00:42:00.001+05:00

Day 9

There was a huge change again in the scenery as we crossed from Romania into Hungary as all the mountains disappeared and were replaced by flat but lush open plains with a great road system. The border crossing was pretty much a non event – just a flash of the passport and onwards. Not much to see until you arrive in Budapest which was another surprise to all of us. The buildings in the centre are worth a look and are most impressive. We found our way to the Hungaroring with the help of Tom (Tom Tom) and made our way to the camp site. This was a bit of a change in plan as we had planned not to reach here till Saturday for qualifying but after giving it some thought we realized that as the camp site was fully booked that we should go and set up the tents in a decent spot as they are big tents. We got set up and headed into the tented beer village, after a visit to the Aquapark, for some light refreshments and a grade C burger and fries which are charged at Carlton Hotel prices. One bar played nothing but ACDC and Nirvana which was superb. We saw the drunkest group of people in the world there. How they managed to be that drunk and alive baffled me. Tomorrow we are off to Bratislava in Slovakia because Martin is making me face up to my fears of the movie hostel.

Day 10

Set of this morning toward Bratislava which was around a 3 hour drive through mostly flat dull scenery and excellent roads. It looked like we were supposed to stop and buy a toll road ticket but missed the turn off and kept going. To our relief there was no check? We stopped off at a shopping centre and much to their disgust gave them all our 10 days of washing. They promised to have it ready for the next day and as we walked away one of them shouted as a beastie that had obviously been in the tent crawled out of a tee shirt! All we could do was laugh. Again our expectations of a city were totally wrong. Bratislava is a beautiful city in the centre and we had a good look around, ate in a local restaurant and stood and watched the Danube trying to work out if it ran east to west or vice versa. As we found out it flows from the black forest region of Germany into the Black Sea in Russia just above Bulgaria. There were a lot of trees and branches in the water which was a sign of the storms that had taken place upriver. A classical music festival was away to start up as we passed in the main square but we headed off as the rain started. A real shame as it looked as if they had put a lot of effort into setting it all up and as the car floor was soaking the next morning it must have gotten pretty heavy. This is another city I will take my family back to. Oh by the way we did not stay in a hostel. Some things in this part of Europe are very liberal as I found out as I went for a swim and steam room in the hotel to discover that swimwear is not allowed in the sauna or steam room and they are mixed facilities. It was nice and quiet though so no probs.

Day 11

Saturday today and qualifying day at the Hungaroring so off we go back to Budapest. We got back to the campsite just after 12 and found our tents had not blown away as we thought may have happened. Martin’s heavy duty tent pegs paid off. We could hear the Porsche racing which was enough to speed us to our Silver 1 section of the track which turned to be some of the best viewing seats there. We could see the cars coming through 3 corners and a chicane. The beer tent furnished us with some of the cold stuff and we settled in to watch Q1. We were all shouting for our respective drivers but my main man Kubica had a terrible time of it and never made Q2. Alonzo and Hamilton were running well though. Right at the end of Q3 though disaster struck and Massa (a Ferrari driver) seemed just to drive straight into the tyre wall in front of us. Help was quickly on the scene and one of the first things they do now is sheet off an incident to stop anyone seeing what has happened and it seemed serious. The area was soon busy with medics, marshals and Ferrari crew members and Massa was transferred into an ambulance. News was very slow in coming out and we could not understand what had happened. After a while we saw the replay which the first time you saw it he simply drove straight on making no effort to turn. In slow motion though you saw something flying through the air and striking his helmet. Turns out it was a spring from another car which hit him. Last we heard he was making a recovery although may not return to F1. Good luck Massa. We jumped into a taxi and headed off into the city to meet a couple of mates who have flown over for the GP and we met Kev and Jim at their hotel before a wander around, a few beers and the best kebab ever.

Day 12

Race Day……

We all had a bit of a headache this morning but this soon went with the anticipation of race day. Martin and Colin made a fantastic brekkie which was wolfed down. Walked down to the track, met Kev and Jim, got comfy and at 2pm the race was started. It does not matter how many GPs you go to the hairs on the neck of you neck will stand up. It is an incredible feeling as the cars go passed. You do not appreciate their power until you witness it first hand. Alonzo did very well and had a strategy slightly different to most others so he pitted first, got more fuel and a new set of tyres, drove back out onto the track only for one of the wheels which had not been bolted on properly fly off and race him down the road. I would not like to the crew member that was responsible for that. After that it was a one horse Hamilton race so Colin and Baz were both delighted. We visited the tented village after that and tried their pork knuckle and ribs. Fantastic. We saw the drunkest people in the world again in exactly the same condition as last time. Really quite impressive.

Day 13

Big drive planned today as we headed for Nurnberg and not with the clearest of heads. We stayed in a town outside Nurnberg in a great little Principle which is like a B&B. Whilst unpacking the car we discovered that Martin had attached an L plate to the back of our car and we had just driven around 10 hours with it. Revenge will be had. Ate in a wee Italian round the corner and then it was a much needed early night.

Day 14

Plan to day is Nurnberg to north of the M25 all going well but judging by traffic we are sitting in as I type we will struggle to do that. We have been pulled by the police this morning as they thought the car was unusual and thought the AZ plates were not for Azerbaijan but Arizona. They were very professional though and even asked what language we wanted to speak in. Should have gone for Azeri. German efficiency showed here as I cannot see the police in Scotland asking that question. Satnav system played silly buggers a bit today and sent us in circles twice in the countryside of Germany. It is true that you start just to depend on the Satnav being correct and taking the most sensible route but that is not always the case as we discovered so we bout a map of Europe and used the two systems to get us to the Channel Tunnel and up to just south of Luton. Martin and Colin had charged on and was determined to get to Aberdeen but Baz and I were pretty tired after a couple of busy nights at the GP and a couple of hard driving days. My car was also now showing signs of the dreaded number 24 error code returning which we had just spent 14 months and a lot of money getting rid of. A bit worrying when we were still in Germany.

Day 15

Up and away towards Aberdeen in very heavy rain. This was a first for my car which has never really been tested in rain. The soft top roof proved to be a bit dodgy to say the least at the seal with the top of the front window. The water started coming through at dual carriageway speed and was landing on us and the steering column which we had to cover with a pillow case to absorb the water and stop it getting into any of the electrics. We came over the top of the hill and Aberdeen came into sight…… we were over the moon to have made it. The whole trip was a great experience for us all. My car had held up well and seen us home safely. We had completed 6,640 km according to my speedo most of which was in 4th gear so it was not the most economical journey ever taken. Third gear was possible but only when changing up gears and not possible going down the gears. My old enemy error message 24 had returned and the car was running very rough until at full temp and there is something wrong at either the rear dif or rear axle but that will need further investigation. Would I do this again? Damn right but a different route this time. There is an organized event that is run from Budapest to a place in central Africa and that is my next goal – but not for a while yet. Now the Wrangler will be left in storage in Aberdeen I will really miss it so will need to find something else to keep me busy outside work. Baz found the trip as rewarding as I did and felt a real accomplishment as we pulled up to his house. All good stuff……………….

2009-07-24T20:26:00.000+05:00

15th July 2009

(By Martin)
Martin, Baz and Colin’s version since we all thought (apart from Alan!), that Alan (Cuz) was administering the Blog for all of us!
Day 1
Well that’s the first day complete from Baku to Tbilisi Georgia. All went smooth enough for a 10 hr drive I thought. From Baku to Tovuz is 412kms and I used 62 litres of fuel. Which equates to a wee bit above 17 mpg. Dad is driving today from Tbilisi to Trabzon Turkey.
Coming through the AZ/Geo border we got a wee glimpse of Cuz turning into a grump.
We stayed in the Sheraton Metechi Palace hotel for our first night. I took the guys out to a local café last night for a traditional Georgian meal, we had Hinkali – big ravioli things with a spicy’ish mincemeat in them, Hajapuri – Georgian cheese in bread base, Pork Shashlik- to this day, I still say the best pork is in Georgia, and we washed it down with the local lager/beer - Kazbeghi

Day 2
At the moment I am sitting in the passenger seat with my laptop going through Georgia and remembering what a stunning country it is. Georgia, I am sure is going to be a cracking tourist spot one day, it has a magnificent history of wine making and very old monasteries.
We stopped at a Georgian restaurant for lunch, which also was typical excellent Georgian cuisine, it cost us all of a total 12 pounds
A few hours on the road later we stopped for a wee swim in a river that I used to swim in when I worked on the pipeline.
When we got to the border we saw Alan turn into a real grump again, with my dad tried to wind him up even more hee hee. We now call Alan (cuz) ‘moody-me’ now instead of ‘mini-me’!!
We’re in Turkey!!
After a wee tour through the city of Trabzon at dark oclock looking for the hotel, we finally found it and had a well deserved sleep

Day 3
On check up of the cars this morning is seems that Alan has broken a disconnect bracket, and damaged a spring on the back surprisingly on the same side as the disconnect!!! H still blames my welding!!
Today we are told by the receptionist that Sinop was a good spot to stop. We managed to get to Samsun and camped the night. I am not sure who’s idea it was to open the bottle of Rusky Standard but we lost the top for it so we had to finish it!!!

Day 4
We started the day with a lovely swim in the black sea to clear the head. Then set off with intentions for getting to Zonguldak. On the road, we thought we could get a bit further so we decided that if we drove for a bit further then we would treat ourselves with another hotel near Istanbul.
(from Martin) – As Alan (moody-me) would have glorified this part about my crash, I thought it my duty to advise of it. As we came on to the motorway, we had to stop and take a ticket, the booth that I stopped in was not working so I checked all three rear view mirrors and started to reverse out, just as I inched out slowly letting out the clutch. There was a guy HARD up my rear, hiding directly behind me and I hit him!! My spare wheel dented his bonnet and my bumper cracked his grill. I felt terrible!!!
We drove to the side of the road and I offered him my insurance or 300 dollars (which was more than enough for the repair) He took the dollars and shook my hand
We then drove on for almost 10 hrs this day to Istanbul and checked in to the Marriot. And proceeded to get pished, again!

Day 5
Today we left Istanbul, (after taking a few photos of the oil leak that Alan’s car left in the Marriott car park!!), crossing the Bospherous and heading north on the coast road. We decided in the morning that we would deviate from our original plan by taking the more scenic road on the coast. Once we got to the Turk/Bulg border we were all braced for moody-me’s grumps to start again, but we’ve got to hand it to him, he kept his cool and stood in the cue and kept a brave face on, even laughing and joking with the rest of us.
We managed to get to Bourgas in Bulgaria and checked into a local hotel and spent the evening at the bar on the black sea coast enjoying the view.

Day 6
Cuz and Martin left the hotel early to find a workshop to weld Alan’s car, after about an hour we finally managed to find a weld shop that fixed his car.
Once on the road out of the city we stopped ‘again’ to tend to Alan’s car. This time to change out the oil in his gearbox and flush it through. From what we saw in the old oil, it seems that the damage is not terminal and we have a good chance of getting his car to Scotland without having to tow him.
We arrived in a beach camp resort in the north of Bulgaria for a night. Had swim, then noticed it was a “clothing optional” beach, and got pissed again at the beach bar!!!!

Day 7
We packed up and left Golden Sands camp site after our refreshing last swim in the black sea, Bulgaria for Romania.
We got to the border at about lunchtime expecting the usual plaff and the chance to wind-up ‘moody-me’, but to our surprise the border was a passport check and a toll fee for crossing the bridge over the Danube into Romania. At this point it is evident that we are edging closer to the Europe we all know.
We continued to drive to Brasov crossing the truly stunning Transylvanian Alps. We manage to find a nice quiet little camp site, pitched the tents, and went for some Romanian cuisine listening to live Romanian music.

Day 8
Woke up and proceeded to pack away the tents, during this pack away, Alan (Cuz) thought he had a fire in his car so fired off his extinguisher, next thing we knew, we covered in white powder!!!!!! He was trying to pack things away in the car and knocked the extinguisher off of its clamp, it landed on the floor in the back of the car and went off and kept going till it was empty. The car and all the nearby tents were covered in powder. That will make the border crossings interesting as the car looks like it belongs to drug dealers.
So far my car (Martin) has held up really well with only one fault and that is my speedo, it hasn’t worked since we left Baku. I have checked the wiring, and need to dig a bit deeper to find the fault at the next campsite. For now, thankfully I have Mr Tom Tom to advise me of my speed. I did have a blown fuse but that was because of the little crash I had – when I hit the car it damaged my number plate lights and caused the wiring to short, but it is fixed now.

(By Alan)
Today we went from Brasov to Oradea in northern Transylvania just minutes from the Hungary border. After a bit of hunting around we found a campsite at around 8pm. This route took us through some of the most stunning scenery yet. Romania was not really what I expected. We did see some poor areas in fact one area was very poor but generally it looked like any developed country and its villages were well looked after and a pleasure to see. As we drove through Bucharest there were impressive boat sales and Ferrari dealers. They also had some cracking traffic jams and we were held up for some time. There were people by the side of the road selling fruits, cobs of corn nuts and also some ladies of the night selling their own particular produce. The road quality once you get away from the main cities are pretty poor though and progress through the vast mountain ranges whilst enjoyable was slow and not the best for my unhappy gearbox but as Martin points out I think it should get us home. After a quick shower we went out to a Romanian restaurant and had a great feed watching a Romanian band and some Romanian dancing. Early night tonight for an early start in the morning so we can reach the Budapest campsite by lunchtime. At this point we have done around 3500km.

Day 4

2009-07-19T11:09:00.002+05:00

Day 4

Awoke to a hangover, the wonderful sound of dogs barking, a cockerel that was exceptionally happy to be awake and 40 tonne artic trucks roaring past around 20 feet away from my head. Ah joy. So we got up and packed up the gear before going into the black sea for a swim. It was a great temperature and none of us wanted to come out. Off then for a shower and they were kind of what we expected. The bit that I can not quite understand is how they manage to get the water in the showers colder than the sea? They must chill it somewhere onsite. Baz and Colin driving today and we are headed for Zonguldak which is around a seven hour drive but unfortunately it is the inland road. This area must get less rain as it is dry and barren. Quite a contrast to the coast which is only around 30 km away and Baz reckons it is an ideal place to shoot a spaghetti western, assuming you are not in Italy. As we progressed it goy more mountainous and we were soon back to some stunning mountain ranges. Road was pretty poor quality but eventually we reached a toll road which was top notch. So if you are in Baku and want to drive on a decent road you only need to travel 1850km towards Turkey to do so. We pulled up at the toll gates and we took a ticket which you pay for at the other end of the road. Martin went through the gate next to us which turned out to be the wrong one. Once he noticed that he went into reverse to move back and come over to the same gate as us and proceeded to place his monster truck on the bonnet of a Ford Focus. A neat bit of driving although he says he checked his mirrors and saw nothing which is not surprising considering the Focus is half the height. Obviously we were very mature and did not laugh at all. A settlement took place and we were on our way again with much laughter on the CB and a red face on Martin. Photo attached. We were really chewing up the kilometers now and we made the decision not to head for Zonguldak but to go for Istanbul which seemed like a long way away but with these roads it was pretty easy. The Tom Toms are struggling a bit with the hotels but using a blend of Tom Tom and Google Maps we found the Marriott Hotel. There were a few concerned faces on the valet parking guys as we pulled up at the door which was amusing. They had to park the cars out front of the hotel with the Porsches and Ferraris as they were too tall to go into the underground garage. Plan for tomorrow is to get to a campsite on the Black Sea coast on the west side of Bulgaria. So far we are a bit ahead of time so all going well we will be in Hungary in plenty of time for the Grand Prix.

2009-07-19T10:05:00.001+05:00

Day 2

Up early this morning, quick brekie and away. Tbilisi is a beautiful place and somewhere where I had planned taking the family for a weekend. It is definitely on the cards now. It has a real European feel to it, you could be in Austria. Hotels here are a ridiculous price though so if you do visit shop around. We stayed at the Sheraton and it was extortionate. The drive from Tbilisi to the Turkish border took around 8 hours driving time and we were more than happy that we had gone through a time zone and gained an extra hour. We stopped a small road side café half way to Supsa that Martin used to go to when he worked on the pipelines and he has always raved about it. We were not disappointed. The pork, shashleek, mushrooms, bread and hajapuri really were fantastic washed down, not with lashings of ginger beer, but a local fizzy peach juice. The total bill for four of us was around 9 dollars!

An hour or so after that we turned off the road to visit another of Martin’s suggestions. Around 15 minutes up a very bumpy dirt track there is a picture postcard pool surrounded by rocks which is great for a swim. There were guys diving from around 4m into the pool but none of us braved that part although we did go in for a swim. Just what you need after 5 hours in the car.

Once we got to Supsa and turned south towards Turkey we got our first glimpse of the Black Sea. The border was only another 180km away, then there was the border control and then around another 3 hour drive to go to Trabzon so we worked out that we should get to the hotel around 9pm. What we had not allowed for though was the efficiency of the border control. We got through the Georgia side and into no mans land with little problem other than the guard there discovering that we had each others number plates on. We had both cars registered at the same time at Xirdillan just outside Baku. I have no idea how but we had managed to mix them up and I had Martin’s number plates and he had mine. This caused considerable confusion for the border guard however Martin turned on his charm and we got through. Then we had to make a decision. Do we change the plates in no mans land in clear sight of the Turkish guards or just go for it and hope they do not notice? We did the latter and as expected they never noticed. It helps if you put the documents for both cars in to get processed at the same time. Getting through this border is a nightmare. It turns out that Turkish people are not good at queuing. The procedure is not clear before you go through but just in case you ever go then here is what you have to do. Bare in mind it is also around 35 deg at the time. Once you are through the Georgian side which is pain free, you enter the Turkish side through a gate. You join a “queue” at a kiosk to be told you need to go to another kiosk for a medical which is actually an infra red scanner which ensures you do not have swine flu, leprosy or any other horrendous disease. He gives to a ticket which says you are not going to die in the next 10 minutes and you back to kiosk one and “queue” again. When you get to the front he then tells you that you need to get a visa and come back again. So you wander around this place that has no signs or directions until you find the visa kiosk. Then you back to “queue” again at kiosk one. Well this time I was saying to myself no way am I queuing again and walked to the front. No-one challenged me as I think I was wearing my “go on I dare you to say something” face. Kiosk one man then stamps the passports and you are free. Ah well not quite yet. Now you have to get the cars through. So off you go wandering around trying to find out whet the heck you need to do. We finally found that you go to another kiosk and get the cars documents checked. If the number plate dilemma was going to be discovered then it was going to be here. After “queuing” nervously we got our stamps and were then directed to the customs counter which of course was unmanned. We joined this “queue” and after what seemed like a millennia the customs guy came back and he did his stamp. He then told me to wait by my vehicle and a customs check would be carried out. By this time I am ready to give him the car keys and just walk to Aberdeen. After some more waiting around the customs check was done by a guard and his drug snuffer dog. With the amount of unwashed sweaty clothes in both cars there was little chance of the poor dog smelling anything again. Finally we are moving but that is short lived as before you get into Turkey they do one more check to check that all the checks have been checked. It amazed me that they could do all these checks and not notice the number plate bungle.

The Turkish coastline on the Black Sea is drastic and stunning. With all the mountains there they obviously get plenty rain and the lush green mountains are impressive. They have built a new road along the coast from one side of the country to the other. With all the mountains along the route you spend a lot of time in tunnels. This has been a massive project with what must have been a huge budget funded by the EU. It means you can get a bit of speed up and still enjoy the scenery. We stayed just outside Trabzon at a very good value for money Novotel which just opened. I think we are all glad to get use of the pool and gym after 2 days solid driving. It was 11pm till we arrived and just caught the end of their buffet, 2 beers and off to bed knackered.

Day 3

Had a bit of a long lie this morning and set off around 10.30 after checking oils and waters. My car is starting to show signs of fatigue. The gear box is slowly getting worse and we cannot use 5th at all. As if the 4 litre engine is not thirsty enough! One of my quick disconnects (which Martin welded) has broken off and the back right spring is sagging. Nothing to hold us up though. I think it was the roads in AZ. The goal for today was a simple drive from Trabzon to Samsun and it was a leisurely 6 hour drive. It is only now that the Tom Toms are starting to work properly and we used them to find a camp site. After a bit of shopping for the essentials, beer and toilet roll, we4 set up camp beside the sea. Nice small camp site with a swimming pool. We got the BBQ on and had a great feed prepared by our now adopted chef Colin. At this point Martin thought it would be a good idea to produce his bottle of vodka that the guard at the Georgian border had found. Toast after toast ensued and it was not long till the bottle was gone. It turned out to be the best sleep I have had since leaving home. I am not sure if I was asleep or unconscious though. I will catch up as soon as I can with an eventfull day 4!

2009-07-17T12:43:00.000+05:00

And we are off………..

Let me go back 2 days to Tuesday which is when Colin and Baz were due to arrive in Baku. I got a call from Martin who whilst shaking his head told me that Colin was having problems getting from Malaga to Baku. It turned out that the airline, who will remain anonymous, (it was AZAL) had changed their flight times and not told Colin who had booked his flight about 30 mins after we had agreed we would do the drive which was months ago. Anyway after a lot of messing around we got him an alternative flight with Turkish Airlines. This all happened with hours to spare! When Colin got to the airport they asked why he did not have a return leg flight booked and when he told them he was driving back they said that was a problem and they would need to contact Baku airport and give them special instructions which would not be easy. Colin’s solution was to tell them that this was a very high profile trip and that the Azeri news teams and other media companies which was indeed a bit of a stretch of the truth. He then proceeded to embellish his story and tell the airport official that as a team we were also meeting the president of Azerbaijan. Colin has never been one to let the truth get in the way of a god story. The result however was positive and Colin got here earlier than he would have if he got the original flight he booked!

Day 1

So Martin and I picked Colin and Baz up from the airport and we got back to my house at 1am, bed for 1.30 and up at 5.30 to get an early start. We got out of Baku by 7am which was not bad considering there were hellos to be said to Angie and Sophie by the guys and a few prezzies. The plan for today is to get from Baku, Azerbaijan to Tbilisi, Georgia which we estimated as being one of the hardest legs of the journey due to a mix of the lack of sleep, the distance at 570km ish and the quality of the roads.

Off down Salyan Highway which is the main road south to Iran and we were all in high spirits and looking forward to the adventure ahead. Within 1 hour Martin had been pulled over by the local police at the first checkpoint we passed. Turned out he did not actually want anything other than a look at his car! If this is a sign of things to come it could take us a while to roll into Aberdeen. We charged on (within speed limits obviously) and at the second police checkpoint I get pulled over. This is a relatively young officer of the law and obviously not even remotely interested in card. He salutes, shakes our hands and proceeds to tell us that our tyres are illegal as the protrude further out than the wheel arches to which I try to show him my MOT window sticker but to do that I have to remove Baz’s padington bear (do not ask) from the dashboard and the police officer thinks I am trying to bribe him with a stuffed toy. The look on his face is priceless. After a bit more conversation and haggling he toddles off with a mutually satisfactory folded persuasion in his pocket. There was nothing wrong with the car at all but it is often easier to play the game, especially if you want your documents back!

The drive was not too bad although the road conditions in places were hilarious. Fair enough they are doing a lot of upgrade work but come on – this is the main road from Azerbaijan to the west. At first we were a bit surprised at the lack of trucks and lorries but once we saw the road conditions in places it made sense that the roads were relatively quiet. We took full advantage of my cars adjustable shock absorbers and ran at the softest setting most of the time. I spoke to someone who did the drive a week ago and he and his mate suffered back pain due to the road conditions but surprisingly we were all fine. These cars really are designed for these roads. I am not sure I will be saying that on the autobahn in Germany?

Azerbaijan is a desert country around the Baku area. I have been up north a few times and a two hour drive takes you into incredibly green lush fruit growing country. It is the same if you go south and AZ is still a sizeable fruit exporter. I guess based on this we assumed that it would be the same heading west but even after 6 hours of driving towards Georgia it is still very dry, flat and barren. Suddenly up from the plains rises the Caucuses Mountains far ahead. It is a real contrast in the shape of the earth and it makes you feel very small and insignificant.

The AZ/Georgia border crossing was not what I expected. As we approached all we could see was a mass of trucks and busses. We had been told beforehand about this and we just rolled past the lot of them to the newish part which lets cars through separately. It consisted of a couple of old shacks and some very old rickety gates. We got through that bit quite quickly with a few of the normal “Ah Scotland, William Wallace” comments from the friendly guards. It was really hot at that point and relief was offered by a small waterfall (or was it just a leak in the wall) which was thrown over head and face. Bliss.

Once we had then got through no mans land we were faced with a completely different scenario. This was Georgia now. A much more European country and it showed straight away. We pulled up at the electric barrier guarded by a well dressed efficient guard with an automatic machine gun and asked in very good english to wait a few minutes. We were wondering at that time what would happen if you did not take his advice and just drove on. Would he lift up his weapon and open fire? From the feeling you got from this guy I think there was little doubt that you did not want to find out. At the passport and customs point again out came a well dressed and professional team of guards came over and had a look in the cars which are stacked to the gunnels with bags of clothes camping gear and the likes. First question is “are you carrying and automatic weapons?” Luckily the answer was no. Martin’s car was in front of ours and the second question they ask is “are you carting any alcohol or ciggies?” Martin says “no” whilst at the same time a guard is lifting a bottle of Ruskie Standard vodka from his holdall. “Ah” says Martin. But all credit to the guard – he did not take it for himself – he just smiled and put it back. Thank god the vodka is safe!

Before setting off Martin and I had been winding each other up about break downs and what constituted a break down. We are still not in total agreement but I can tell you that Martin has had a break down of sorts already. Before we left he started his car and the fuel filter started leaking all over the drive much to my delight as I was 1-0 up already but Martin does not acknowledge that. Once we got going his speedo gave up which makes it 2-0 me but again he does not acknowledge it. Half way across AZ and I am starting to get a bit concerned about my gearbox. I knew before we left that if anything was going to break it would be the clutch or gearbox so I have taken a spare clutch. I do not have a gearbox however and really want to get to Turkey before anything drastic happens as it will be much easier to get a replacement there. As I type this we have lost 5th completely and 3rd is a bit of a fight to engage. I will however concede this as a form of breakdown which makes it 2-1. C’mon me…….

We arrived at the Sheraton in Tbilisi at 5.30, quick very cold beer which was a god send, a wee swim, out to a fantastic local Georgian restaurant and off to bed for a much needed sleep. What will tomorrow hold……

Back Fae Houston (briefly)

2009-06-19T18:05:00.005+05:00

Here I am, 27 days from going on some mad-cap adventure across the breadth of Europe (admittedly with some great company), and I'm trying to get over the jet-lag from returing from Houston yesterday. And just when my family are getting used to the sight of me (yes, that is what I look like, and no you can't call me Uncle Baz), i have to leave again in 2 weeks, back across the pond (only a week this time) - that leaves 3 days to prepare for the journey - not quite what I had in mind :) And just to make the ultimate in anti-brownie points, I leave for Baku on my wife's birthday - man this is gonna hurt when I get back! (and leave to Houston 2 days later!!)

Great to see that the engineer(s) amongst us - that would be Martin - are actually building the cars now and making them roadworthy - was starting to wonder whether we would actually get out of Baku (I have faith). Perhaps they'll let us do a circuit of Hungaroring now...

Despite my apparent moaning above, I am really looking forward to the trip - it's gonna be a blast. Sure we will have some "interesting" situations, and not all will be quite as smooth as we might want, but that's the fun of it all. To be able to do all this, and in the process make so much money for excellent causes is simply fab

Y'all have a nice day now...

Getting Ready for the big Move Home

2009-06-10T21:02:00.002+05:00

With my work in the past I have had to do seminars and training sessions with sometimes up to 40 people at a time, I never had a problem with speaking in front of big groups. But the other day was different, speaking infront of about 60 women from all over the world made me nervous. Glad that is over.

Anyway, I am moving home to Bonny Scotland on Sunday to a monumental task of getting an empty 3 bedroomed bungalow fully furnished and ready to live in for Natalya and the girls coming home the sunday after. In a way I am glad I have had other things on my mind to distract me from the trip. On Monday the shippers came in and emptied our house of all our possessions, preparing them for delivering them to our scottish home.

On sunday, we indeed finish the cars. Fully serviced and ready to go. Last night I loaded my car up with all the tools, spare parts, camping gear etc. Tonight, I was supposed to drive it around to Alan's for looking after while I'm gone, but I didn't have the heart to... I will try to conjur up the courage to take it around tomorrow night. I just know he is going to do something to it......

I have just had a thought, I will give the keys to Angie for safe keeping!!

5 weeks to go..............

2009-06-10T08:50:00.001+05:00

www.backfaebaku.0catch.com

Ok – it’s the 9th June and it is only 5 weeks till we head off.

The cars are now ready apart from all the sponsor stickers to be put on. Sunday past saw us carry out all the last tasks on my car. New radiator and fan clutch, new rear number plates lights to conform to Europe standards, engine, gearbox and transfer box oil change (oh oh – quite a few metal shavings in the gearbox – gulp), wired up the roof spot lights to a new switch and immediately blew a fuse but ok now, greased up my nipples (oh please) and did a bolt tension exercise. Car feels great and it is as good as it is going to get before we set off. Just needs a clean and top up the tank.

Sponsorship is going well. I reckon we are looking at raising maybe 2k GBP in the UK and around 12k GBP in Baku so the fundraising has definitely been worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. Martin and I have just returned from a IWC lunch where they were kind enough to invite us along to give a talk on what we are doing as the monies we raise this side is going to be donated to them. All in all a success I think although we now know that Martin and I are not cut out to be town criers or public speakers in any form.

We now have my wife’s (Angie) and daughter’s (Sophie) tickets bought for July. Well I say bought – we won them in a raffle at the Irish Society Dinner so Lufthansa are shuttling them off to Edinburgh FOC and the society are paying for a weeks hotel and car hire for them until I meet them in Aberdeen at the end of July (all going well) which is a great prize and much appreciated.

Nothing more to say for now except – chapping at the bit to get going.

Here is Martins car – good to go.

2009-05-26T12:40:00.000+05:00

http://www.backfaebaku.0catch.com/

It’s the same for me, the 15^th/16^th July couldn’t come quick enough.

Even though lately has been quite a stressful time for Natasha and I, what with the big move back home to Scotland, changing our country of residence, changing house, changing Job. And this drive home, all coming at the same time.

And what caps it all off is fixing my cousins car every day for the last 14 months!!!

Each time he drives away from my house, he says “OH YEAH, that’s it, ye haa” Next weekend he breaks it again and comes limping back to my house. We took off a perfectly good exhaust manifold the other day to put on a “boy racer Stainless steel one” and at the same time I fixed a niggling idle problem by fitting new fuel injectors. We fixed the idle problem, but the “professional calculator operator” thinks that it was the boy racer exhaust manifold that has fixed the idle problem!!!! DOH!! No, the Gasket was NOT leaking Cuz!!

Anyway, we all went out last weekend camping with the families and also to test out all our new camping gear. No major niggles with any of the gear. We realised we needed more table space, which has been resolved. The tent pegs we got with the new tents were a bit KAK, so we are replacing them also. I also wanted to test out my twin battery system on my car. I left the fridge on all night and in the morning had to change over batteries to start the car. All was OK until we were leaving, the 2 main charging fuses blew in my car. So a little “back street” repair got us home to change the fuses. There is a debate that I feel is going to grow on this blog, its regarding the meaning of a “Breakdown”. My car actually didn’t stop on its own during this so-called breakdown, I switched it off by the ignition, lifted the bonnet, made a little adjustment, and started it again with the key, without the need of a bump, a jump or a push. Yes ok, when I was ripping a bit of old wire it did electrically short and melt the plastic (with no flames). And my bigwee cuz had to be standing there at that precise moment screaming “Fire Ha Ha Ha”. Yes I did burn my finger a little on the melted plastic!!!

BUT, is this a breakdown?

Anyway, that little problem is fixed now with the help of guys on the UK J33P Club that we are members of. I am glad that the ‘promised’ camping weekend is over now so I can get on with renovating my car from a 4 seater Jeep to a 2 seater with lots of storage area. I have fitted my secure box and the cargo rack, the 240volt invertor, and other lots of other things.

Yep, it’s getting closer and we all just can’t wait…………

Most Senior Expedition Member

2009-05-22T19:21:00.000+05:00

http://www.backfaebaku.0catch.com/

At this point we have 52 days to go, and I wish it was less, because it is all I think about, I have already done the journey a hundred times in my head, and at least 5 times on google earth.

The journey will be great, and I am certain, knowing the type of people I will be with, will be full of unplanned events, the big question is how many unplanned events will there be ? The one thing I am sure of is we will take it all as it comes and rectify problems as we go what ever they may be.

Just cannot wait FAECOL

Back Fae Baku - Preparation for the big trip

2009-05-22T13:30:00.000+05:00

http://www.backfaebaku.0catch.com/

This is where the "Back Fae Baku" team plan to keep anyone interested up to date with events surrounding our trip from Baku, Azerbaijan to Aberdeen, Scotland in two 14 year old Wranglers which have been modified for offroad use - certainly not for a 4,000 mile drive to the UK. We plan to update it daily once we set off circa 16/07/09 and now and again during the build up. Details of the team and the route can be found at the link above.

OK it is currently the 22nd May and we have less than eight weeks to go before we leave. Baz (Alan Forsyth)and Colin have their flights booked and are heading over to Baku on the 14th July ready to leave here on the 16th although if we are ready we may indeed bring the departure date forward to the 15th. We will wait and see.

We are doing a lot of work with the sponsors at the moment and with the IWC trying to get all the pledged money into bank accounts and so on which is proving to be a bit a challenge but then no-one said it would be easy. So far RBG and Swift Oil & Gas have stepped up as the main sponsors with KCA, Rutland Diesel, PSN, Hydrolink, EMM, and Red Spiders also making generous pledges. So far I can tell you that we have raised a lot more than we first expected. Best guess at the moment would be around $9,000 in total between corporate and personal sponsorship. Wow!

My car (Alans) has had a niggle for the last 14 months that has managed to totally stump us and the numerous Jeep forums which are plentiful on line. The engine check light has been light up like a xmas tree since the end of Feb-08 showing a fault in the Throttle Position Sensor (bored yet?) and we set around changing everything out on that system through to the air and fuel systems. A lot of parts were changed (ouch $) out and after emptying Alan's bank account a solution was found. It appears that the exhaust manifold was leaking at the gasket and not providing any back pressure. Although we did change the fuel injectors at the same time and Martin reckons it was that. I know he is the mechanic between us but I will never give in..... Anyway the main thing is it is good to go and is once again the best running Wrangler in Baku. All that's left to do is wire up some number plate lights and spot lights, lube change, bolt tighten and a new fan clutch, radiator and hoses.

Martins car is nearing completion with just a few bits and pieces to do like spotlights, roof rack, wiring so it does not catch fire again (will come back to that in future updates), and a service and bolt tighten.

I think all the team are just desperate to get going and to start chewing up the miles. There is a lot of competition between the two cars to see who will break down first and any breakdowns will reported in here believe me. We will probably keep a scoring system :-)

Anyway enough for now and the next entry will probably be from Martin.

Ciao
Alan