After travelling the length and breadth of Europe, last winter we joined a group to go to Libya; we were very happy and delighted with this country with its deserts, salt lakes, towns and villages; we had already visited Morocco on African soil, but the Libyans, with their kindness and hospitality, won us over. This preamble is to explain our thirst for adventure beyond Europe's borders, in countries not yet reached by mass tourism. Through the internet I set about looking for other motorhomers for a trip to these unknown countries; among the first I found a group that was going to Iran in the spring, but after initial contact we ruled it out: it was too close to the previous trip to Libya and, what's more, it was very expensive as it was organised by an agency-magazine in the motorhome sector.
Then, through the Traiano Camper Club of Benevento, I heard about a group who, after visiting Iran last year, wanted to extend the trip as far as Samarkand in Uzbekistan; I contacted the group leader, who sent me the rough itinerary, the cost for the organisation, including visas, the guides for the various countries, parking at the various hotels with electrical hook-up and the supply of electricity (Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), quoted at 1,850.00 euros per crew; we agreed to meet at Porto Recanati at the Bellamare campsite on 2 June, and in the meantime I sent confirmation with 50% of the total. MEETING: The Bellamare campsite is very nice and welcoming; we arrived the day before, the crew from Aosta got there before us and we soon make friends. At departure a welcome surprise: the stay at the campsite was paid for by the crew from Osimo.
CREWS: There are 12 of us in motorhomes from 9 different regions, the average age is 64, the oldest crew is the one we already knew: they are both 76, there are two crews from Piedmont who were with us in Libya, and the last crew was added even though it took us over the agreed number (10+1) because they are doctors, very useful for the group. LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS: The group leader lists the various problems for us: logistics, borders, water and fuel supplies. DOCUMENTS: he lists the various documents needed to obtain the visas: passports, 8 passport photos (the women will need to have 3 photos taken with a veil on their heads), filling in various forms and a photocopy of the vehicle registration document with the full list of accessories (radio-CB-stereo-PC), tyre make and size, engine number.
All of this is fairly complicated because the embassies are not all in Italy: for Iran in Rome, for Turkmenistan in Paris and for Uzbekistan in Vienna. CARNET de PASSAGE en DOUANE: Each crew will have to arrange a bank guarantee for two or three times the commercial value depending on the age of the vehicle, and through the ACI have issued the document we'll need to cross the Iranian border. My vehicle was valued, on a friendly basis, at 10,000.00 euros, a figure doubled because the vehicle is 6 years old; at the ACI I paid 180.00 euros and at the bank (Friuladria) 60.00 euros of fixed charge plus 359.01 euros for the one-year guarantee (interest at 1.80%); on my return, presenting the documents duly signed by the various customs offices on entry and exit, I will be refunded the unused months.
LICENCE: In these countries an international driving permit is compulsory; to get one at an agency I paid 50.00 euros. SPARE PARTS: The group leader advises us to equip ourselves with various spare parts, filters, various belts, top-up oil, mounted wheels in addition to the spare, inner tubes and an extra gas cylinder; I also provided myself with a reconditioned starter motor (120.00 euros). MEDICINES: The two doctors will send us a list of medicines that may be useful, and they will obtain drugs for extreme cases, to be available to everyone. CLOTHING: Besides the headscarf, the women will have to wear long, loose clothes with long sleeves, so as to cover their figures; Tina, my wife, got two outfits at a Moroccan shop in Udine.
Men will not be able to wear shorts; the group leader advises wearing long-sleeved shirts, though on tv I've seen them wearing short-sleeved shirts and polo shirts instead. All of this only for Iran; in the other two countries you dress however you like. MAPS and GUIDES: through the internet I found some Lonely Planet guides ( Guide to Iran at 23.50 euros Guide to Central Asia at 28.00 euros and some Freytag & Berndt maps ( - Central Asia scale 1:1,750,000 at 9.80 euros - Iran and neighbouring countries scale 1:2,000,000 at 9.80 euros bought the lot in a bookshop in Udine. FERRIES: Ventourisi Line company, all motorhomes will be accepted from 5 to 7 m. (some, including mine, are over 7 m.) at the price of 156 euros (Bari-Igoumenitsa and return), boarding on 4 September at 20.00. 30% to be paid to the company at once for the booking.
The group leader will make a single payment; we will pay that sum along with the balance of the trip fee in July. THE CATS: One of our problems is the cats; we have two, they have always been with us on every trip, now they're getting old: Schizzo is 14 and Principessa 18, we don't feel up to putting them through a trip like this, we're thinking of putting them in a cattery in a nearby village; it will cost us about 800.00 euros, but there's no getting around it, especially as they warn us that at the borders they could refuse animals even for no reason, and that settles it for us. RENDEZVOUS: The starting point is Benevento; for various reasons we can't be there, we'll meet at the boarding in Bari. They inform us that two crews, for different reasons, are pulling out of the trip; I'm sorry for them, but on a long journey like this it's better to be a limited number
Day 116 Sep 2005
607/5739 – Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) – Nissan Hotel
Continues from "Samarkand 2005" Part Three
We set off again at three, but we are too tired, we stop again after a short while for a two-hour nap and set off again, we will travel relentlessly, the lack of rest causes no. 9 to momentarily fall asleep at the wheel with the vehicle swerving, immediately brought back under control, avoiding crashing into the mountain.
Arrival at the Iranian customs at 14.10, exit from the Turkish customs at 17.05 Our efforts have been rewarded, after the bureaucratic delays and having paid $117 in tax for the camper which includes: disinfection, transit tax, diesel tax and insurance, plus $10 per person, we manage to cross the border in time before they close and force us to camp out in no man's land; at the last barrier we meet, right on time, the Turkmen guide: Elena, a likeable lady but who only speaks English, she accompanies us to the hotel parking lot; along the way we see the various monuments and tall buildings all lit up, very spectacular. We set our clocks forward by half an hour.
Woman in floral dress weaves a carpet on a loom at Ashgabat museum
Day 217 Sep 2005
0/0 - Asggabat – Nissan HotelMeeting
At 9.30 departure by minibus to visit the city; what we saw last night presents itself to our eyes in all its imposing and grotesque grandeur, enormous buildings seemingly uninhabited, fountains and monuments with colonnades such as are seen only in blockbuster films, everything seems built with Lego bricks, the president's mind has given free rein to all his questionable creativity. Visit to the Carpet Museum, quite interesting. Covered market with purchases of wine and foodstuffs, very colourful. In the afternoon, visit to the hippodrome with a display by horsemen, then to the Shopping Center; I go back for maintenance on the camper, my wife stays and will return on foot with the others.
Empty grandstand at Ashgabat hippodrome, white canopy, steel trusses, green track
Day 318 Sep 2005
0/0 – Asgabat – Nissan Hotel
Visit to the Tolkuchka Bazaar, a chaotic jumble of stalls of all kinds, everything is sold from food to clothing, from carpets to furniture, from used bicycles to used car and truck spare parts, used or retreaded car or truck tires, everything and more. National Museum: a mammoth building, with very tall columns, extolling the president and his mother,…….. it can be skipped. Ancient Nisa: a few dilapidated ruins of this ancient city. Dinner at venues used for parties and receptions by the local agency, enlivened by three beautiful and very talented dancers with two musician-dancers; as usual they involved those present, including a group of French people; they dressed no. 6 as a bride and a Frenchman as a groom with a fur hat, miming the wedding ceremony as is their custom. It was very nice and entertaining.
For tomorrow's crossing of the desert, the guide warns us that until Urgench we will not find any petrol stations; each of us has a spare can of diesel, but that is not enough; we set off in search of containers, it is Sunday and not all shops are open; after much wandering we find in a paint shop some used jerrycans that contained solvents, at the so-called price of $8; we have no choice but to buy them and then wash and rinse them out with more diesel; tomorrow morning we will fill everything up.
Tourist at the entrance of Ashgabat Independence Monument, uniformed guards standing
Day 419 Sep 2005
279/618 – Darzava – in the black sands desert, the "Karakumy"
The road begins as a new 4-lane highway, a fast crossing is already anticipated, but our enthusiasm does not last long, the road is reduced to 2 poorly maintained lanes with potholes and dips, forcing us to a very slow and strenuous pace; the desert presents itself as a great expanse with low shrubs, a very monotonous landscape. We camp in an open area near a town that no longer exists, it was destroyed in previous years, why??? no one knows, the guide preferred not to answer; nearby there is a characteristic nomad tent, Elena will spend the night with them; they have dromedaries with very beautiful young, much photographed; at dinner time it is decided to have one big table together, I, no. 10 and no. 6 prepare the pasta, no. 5 sets the table with plastic plates, then everyone brings what they have, I have many jars of vegetables from my garden which are much appreciated.
The LP guide recommended a visit to some craters with gas emissions, one of which is still lit, setting out from this town and hiring a taxi; unfortunately, since there is nothing left there, we turned to a family living near our campsite in a yurt; a boy, for one dollar per person, would take us into the desert to admire this spectacle; everyone said yes, only the boy showed up after about an hour, many had already retired; with an old Russian off-road vehicle that could carry only six people, I gave up, my wife managed to get on and told me about this apocalyptic spectacle, of these flames from a Dante-esque inferno bursting forth from this immense crater, standing out high in the night sky.
Tolkuchka bazaar in Ashgabat: men browsing scrap metal and used parts
Day 520 Sep 2005
353/6371 – Urghenc – Uzbpoy Hotel
The desert continues, the road, if you can call it that, does not improve, it is perhaps the ugliest route I have ever travelled.
Woman beside a motorhome on the paved road through the Karakum desert, Turkmenistan
Day 621 Sep 2005
12/6383 – Customs Turk/Uzbek
This morning I get up earlier than usual because I want to check the step that won't close; sand and dust have got into the hinges and prevent the steps from closing completely; I worked for about half an hour; by pure chance I see the fridge indicator light, plugged into 220 volts, off; I go to check and see that the cables connected the evening before are disconnected and left on the ground; someone unplugged everything, took back their own cable and didn't care about those who, like me, were left without power and with the freezer full of meat thawing. When I complained, the response was that it was I who should have been paying attention and not others who should have warned me………. Angry, after a small argument, I retire gracefully and resolve never again to travel with people I don't know and who don't have the comradely spirit of the camper.
Moreover, I learn that some campers took on water the previous evening despite being told it was not allowed. Departure at 8.30 Refuelling with diesel at a station where the pump did not show the litres dispensed, the attendant stopped when the diesel overflowed and charged a flat rate; one way or another everyone took the same amount, but the price paid ranged from one to three dollars!!!!!!! The road is good. We arrived at customs at 11.30, we leave Elena with the hope of seeing her again on our return to Turkmenistan and we meet the new guide, Shucrat, who helps us with the endless bureaucratic delays; in the end, exhausted and angry, after paying a bribe to an official, we manage to set off again, it is 17.00.
CONTINUES IN "Samarkand 2005" Part Five
Brick mausoleum with turquoise dome at Kunya-Urgench
Day 730 Sep 2005
388/8035 – Mary – on the road
Continues from "Samarcanda" Part Five
The border is 100 km away. We lose a lot of time on customs procedures. We pay the camper tax again in $99. In these countries propped up by the bureaucracy left over as an inheritance from the communist regime, this practice was predictable. We have lunch right after the border, then we cross the Amu-Darya river on a pontoon bridge with a toll ($50 for the camper and $10 per person) which, in a previous trip report, since the river level was very low, the boats were not well aligned, because they weren't floating, causing considerable differences in level that were difficult to overcome with vehicles like ours. While waiting to cross, no. 2 asks a policeman if it was possible to take photos; after the affirmative answer he takes a few photos. At this point another policeman comes forward and confiscates the camera. Turmoil and fear for the crew. Everyone crosses the bridge except no.
2, to whom the camera is kindly returned and who is invited with a gesture to take the tail end of the group. It all ended in smiles and waves. Tip of the day: Don't take photos when there are policemen around. Very far behind schedule, we proceed on the M37 crossing the "Kara Kum" desert, which was supposed to be very beautiful to see, but, driven almost entirely in the dark, it is already late evening when we arrive at the city of Mary. We were driving along the ring road to reach our hotel when, all in a column, we are flanked by a large white car. It comes dangerously close to two campers ahead of mine and then hits me from the front, precisely with the intention of stopping me or pushing me off the road. I react by ramming it. The car turns sideways in front of me; to avoid it I swerve right, going off the road and ending up in a ditch.
Fortunately, by steering further right I manage to keep the vehicle upright, preventing it from overturning. I stop almost vertically. Out of the corner of my eye I see the car backing up and taking off at high speed. Fortunately my wife and I have our seat belts fastened, we weren't hurt, I only have my right foot stuck between the pedals. I alert everyone by radio to stay calm: we're fine. Someone has already stopped and is helping us out of the driver's cab. The camper is dangerously tilting. We secure it by hooking it with a cable to another camper diagonally to prevent it from overturning. Meanwhile the guide, who with no. 1 was at the head of the group unaware of what had happened, called by radio, comes back and calls the police. They arrive immediately and stop a truck to try to recover the vehicle, but the cable we have breaks.
They will return in the morning with other equipment. Three policemen will stay on guard. In the meantime my wife and I were in shorts and T-shirts. Everyone rushed to dress us, with socks, tracksuits, and to refresh us. Since we couldn't get into the camper because it was unstable, for the night we were hosted by no. 2, who kindly offered us the dinette. A thank-you goes to all the friends who stayed very close to us.
Elderly Turkmen man with long grey beard and fur hat walks with cane, red car behind
Day 81 Oct 2005
266/8301 – Serakhs Turk/Iran Border – P. at customs
In the morning, up show: a large tanker truck with United Arab Emirates plates and an old truck with a crane. The tanker hooks the camper diagonally to keep it upright, the crane moves to the opposite lane and with the cable pulls the camper out of the ditch. When I got into the cab, I started it, moved it, and found that I could go home. I'm not ashamed to say it, I burst into tears; the tension accumulated during the night released in a crying fit. The camper is quite dented and I hear a noise in the transmission, and my foot hurts. During the recovery the police forbid us from filming with a video camera or taking photographs; someone secretly managed to film the whole thing. Before setting off again, my wife, I, and the guide are taken to the police station, a rundown place, where the report is drawn up on an old portable typewriter, in Cyrillic characters and without making a copy.
After signing I ask, through the guide, for a copy; the answer is no. While they take us back to the vehicles, the policeman accompanying us stops at the Renault dealership to photocopy my driver's license and the vehicle registration. I have confirmation that the police office, besides carbon paper, also lacked a photocopier. The column sets off at full speed. We have the same problem as on the way there: leave Turkmenistan before five o'clock, otherwise the visas expire. Along the way at lunchtime a big mistake is made: instead of eating a sandwich while traveling, we stop for almost an hour, lost time that will cost us dearly. The road that follows is longer than expected and we arrive at the border at 17:00, closing time. The insistence of no. 1 and Elena is useless; they are immovable: no crossing. We will spend the night in a truck parking area.
Motorhome tilted on sand at night in Mary, flashlight beam
Day 92 Oct 2005
215/8516 – Mashhad (Iran) – Homa Hotel
Bright and early we present ourselves at customs and wait for the arrival of the local commander. Once again we explain the reason for our delay, which the police chief of Mary can confirm. In the meantime I had prepared the photos of the accident on the computer to show him. Elena almost burst into tears. The bureaucrat would not listen to reason. To cross we had to pay $118 per camper for the visa renewal. This sum could have been avoided if we had arrived on time. I feel guilty because of the accident that happened to me, everyone had to shell out unexpected money. I know…….. it wasn't my fault, but it troubles me all the same. At the last barrier of Turkmenistan, another vehicle check. They confiscate or force us to drink all the alcohol in our possession, bottles or cans that we bought in their country but that they don't want taken into Iran, where the use of alcohol is prohibited.
Once this adventure is over, we arrive at the Iranian customs, where we find the good Hadi again, who will help us with the endless customs procedures of his country. The clock is moved back an hour and a half.
CONTINUES IN "Samarcanda 2005" Part Seven
White cargo truck with covered trailer on dirt road at Turkmen-Iranian border
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