Travel to our home in Turkey (1 Viewer)

[Bramidan]

We leave the UK on Tuesday 7th March.
First stop is the vet in Folkestone for the AHC, our vet in Bucks charged us £220 last year, so never again!
Second stop is the vet in Bruges to get the European Pet Passport so we will no longer be held to ransom if we just want to go abroad with our dog. Will update what happens on the appropriate thread.
From there straight down through Europe to our villa in Dalyan, Turkey.
First time with our new motorhome and going overland, previously we went through France, italy and ferry to Greece. on those trips we used a Pennine Fiesta Folding Camper, great trips but restricted to campsites rather than the flexibility of stopping where we wanted. It meant I had planned stops and campsites to aim for. The folding camper was a superb piece of kit, wonderfully engineered but it needed putting up every stop and of course putting down in the morning. I used to dread wet pack ups and looked enviously at those lucky b……,s with motorhomes. In fact I used to walk the dog around campsites with envy looking at motorhomes! No more I have one!
A whole new adventure with no defined stops but of course we are anxious! I am a worrier!
If it is of interest to my fellow funsters I will get the wife to report progress. I have already told her it is her job to fill out the Motorhome Fun journal on a daily basis!

 

[canopus]

Güvenli yolculuk ve iyi şanslar. Çandır'a selamlarımızı iletin.

 

[Riverbankannie]

I look forward to hearing about your trip, safe journey.

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[coroner]

Have a great trip look forward to following your route with interest we drove last year but cut out Serbia and routed through Romania at which time we got pet passports for our 2 pooches we are a little further down outside Fethyie enjoy the trip

 

[Bramidan]

First day was superb, details are on the EU Pet Passport Thread.
First night in Bruges by the side of a canal, no services but we felt safe, until some kids came by on the towpath and set off some fireworks. As we had been up since 5 a.m that morning we were in bed by 8 p.m and apart from that disturbance it was a good night.
As we were parked up I was going to walk to the vets but we woke to snow, so we drove to a Lidl supermarket and I walked to the vets whilst wife shopped, to buy those goods we were afraid to bring! We were not searched anyway!

Second day we set off after getting the passport at about 10.30 and drove to Koblenz, Wohnmobil Hafen which we found on Search4sites. There was water and EHU but we didn’t need either. The toilets were closed, in fact the gents was a shell, ladies was locked up. There was a disposal point for toilet cassette and grey water. Cost was 11€, ticket from a machine. The machine, water and EHU was all paid by cash, no card payments, you need coins for water and EHU.
As first timers, we felt safe to be off road and secure, about 5 other units on site as well. Probably without toilets etc it was overpriced but hey.
The weather has been grim, snow in Bruges and then rain, driving was not a pleasure, spray from lorries was pretty awful.
Third day to be posted tomorow.

 

[Bramidan]

Well I’m on Turkish time so everything slows down!
The third day we travelled to Wohnmobil Stellplatz Fritz Berger. This is in the grounds of a Motorhome manufacturers and there is a huge camping shop next door, with a coffee shop.
Free parking, free EHU and there were water taps but water was turned off.
The weather on route was terrible, heavy rain and wind. Very heavy traffic, with loads of spray from HGV’s I wouldn’t have wanted to be in a car, at least we were above most of the spray.
Loads of roadworks on route and one bad accident which held us up for about 30 minutes.
It was effectively a dual carriageway, no hard shoulder, vehicles in the outside lane hugged the barrier, whilst lorries etc got in as far as they were able in the inside lane, which allowed emergency vehicles to pass between the two lines of traffic. 5 fire appliances and a couple of ambulances. I was impressed with the way drivers all did this as soon as they reached the tail back. Very disciplined.

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[pjay]

Its called a "rettungsgasse" (emergency corridor) in Germany and Austria, lots of info on google about it depending on how many lanes there are.

 

[Bramidan]

Fourth day we travelled to Deutsch Jarhrndorf, set in a small village, it almost seemed like it shouldn’t be there! Right on the border
One caravan was there when we arrived. Quite a long day, 331 miles, lots of traffic and a couple of hold ups because of roadworks. At least weather was improving but still grey. The
A superb, quiet park up, no ECU, there was a water tap but turned off, there was a disposal point for black waste.

 

[Bramidan]

So Fifth day and into Hungary. Decided on a short day.
I guess this is where it all started to unravel!
We we’re heading for Harta Danube Parking, Harta, Kalocsa, Bács-Kiskun, 6326 Hungary.
Have a look on Seachforsites for the review.
Anyway when we got there everything closed up and pretty desolate. On reflection we should have just parked up, we are self sufficient but decided to have lunch and then move onto the second option about 1 and a half hours further on.
This involved getting a roll on roll ferry across the Danube, pretty efficient as it happened.
We headed for Mohacs District, Baranya, 7700, Hungary. It was OK but pretty seedy. Nothing there apart from the parking. This was obviously the place where car owning youngsters met up. A couple of look a like Ladas turned up with much revving. Bit of shouting and loud music, surprisingly enough they were playing ABBA, so not much street cred there I would have thought.
It was right on the Danube so it served its purpose but I can’t say we felt entirely comfortable.
We were travelling with a friend who had his own motorhome so we did feel better that there was two vehicles.
Not a place we would rush back to!
As an aside it is noticeable how poor these former communist, Eastern European countries look, although I guess we might not have been in an affluent area of the country so it might be a false impression. The housing stock, apartment buildings were austere you could see the Russian influence.

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[Bramidan]

Sixth day, we are heading for Serbia. Weather glorious. Happily following sat nav, get to a slip road for a Motorway which is under construction and thus not open.
Sat Nav will obviously just keep trying to circle us back to that route so we stop on the roundabout above the motorway, I grab my trusty Road Atlas of Europe and hop out of my motorhome to have a discussion with my friend.
A car drew up and asked us were we in trouble, we explained the problem and he said much quicker to go into Croatia and then Serbia. As it happened he lived in Croatia so just said follow me and when we get to your turn off, I’ll stop and direct you onwards. He then explained he was a motorhomer! What a star.
The tale of woe that was Serbia continues on my next update!

 

[Bramidan]

So after the initial set back of finding a route we were heading for Jacodina, south of Belgrade specifically Camp Ruza Vetrova.
I thought this was open all year but it was all closed up and somewhat desolate. It was here that I discovered our phones did not work in Serbia when I attempted to ring the number on the gate!
Another one down to me, they worked everywhere else and I just assumed they would work!
The access to the site was horrendous, my friend has a sat nav which allows him to load the dimensions of his motorhome. The access was extremely narrow and steep. When we got to actual site we were somewhat deflated! Whilst I discovered our phones didn’t work he walked on up the track to see if he could find somewhere where we could turn around. As I was walking up the hill to the Mohos he was coming down the hill being pursued by two dogs, one of which nipped him on the ankle and ripped his trouser leg. He was not a happy bunny!
Anyway after a lengthy exercise in reversing, trying to avoid overhanging trees and encroaching bushes we managed to get down the extremely steep hill to civilisation.
We had wasted so much time it was beginning to get dark so decided to press on to see if we could at least find a rest area off the motorway, we didn’t fancy driving on in the dark.
We were tired and getting irritable so I pulled into the first rest area.
To say it was noisy would be an understatement but traffic died down later in the night.

 

[Bramidan]

Day 7, we set off at 8.00 a.m figured we might as well be on the motorway as opposed to being adjacent to it! We had only been travelling about half an hour, when our friend contacted us ( we had cheap walkie talkies, a great laugh to use on our journey) to say he was losing power and would have to pull over. His Moho would not pull at all. We managed to limp to the next service station, fortunately within a mile.
The manageress in the station was superb, she pressed various buttons on our phones, telephoned the Serbian phone provider but confirmed we couldn’t use them.
On my friends behalf she tried to ring Ford Assist for him but Ford Assist were absolutely useless, nobody picked up but eventually when somebody did they immediately put the phone down.
Fortunately he had Britannia Rescue through LV. She phoned them and they were absolutely brilliant, took all his details and said their local operative would come out to him. They explained some carried diagnostic computers but if not they would transport the motorhome to the garage.
We all had a discussion and he told us to go on without him, there was little point in all 3 of us hanging around whilst his Moho was repaired. He also told us that he doubted he would continue on to Turkey, he had lost confidence in his vehicle and would rather be travelling north, after it was fixed, towards the UK, instead of south, away from the UK.
He suspected it was the diesel injectors so not going to be an easy fix.
It was a sombre parting and we continued on to Bulgaria.

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[Raul]

Next time consider Hu-Ro-BG. Much better roads.

 

[jongood]

Day 7, we set off at 8.00 a.m figured we might as well be on the motorway as opposed to being adjacent to it! We had only been travelling about half an hour, when our friend contacted us ( we had cheap walkie talkies, a great laugh to use on our journey) to say he was losing power and would have to pull over. His Moho would not pull at all. We managed to limp to the next service station, fortunately within a mile.
The manageress in the station was superb, she pressed various buttons on our phones, telephoned the Serbian phone provider but confirmed we couldn’t use them.
On my friends behalf she tried to ring Ford Assist for him but Ford Assist were absolutely useless, nobody picked up but eventually when somebody did they immediately put the phone down.
Fortunately he had Britannia Rescue through LV. She phoned them and they were absolutely brilliant, took all his details and said their local operative would come out to him. They explained some carried diagnostic computers but if not they would transport the motorhome to the garage.
We all had a discussion and he told us to go on without him, there was little point in all 3 of us hanging around whilst his Moho was repaired. He also told us that he doubted he would continue on to Turkey, he had lost confidence in his vehicle and would rather be travelling north, after it was fixed, towards the UK, instead of south, away from the UK.
He suspected it was the diesel injectors so not going to be an easy fix.
It was a sombre parting and we continued on to Bulgaria.

I'm looking fowardto hearing how you get on in Turkey, definitely on our list but difficult to work out the best time for us to go.

I'm finding it slightly ironic that your friend is limping back to Uk to get his Transit fixed. He does realise that it was probably manufactured in Turkey

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

If the injectors need replacing it's probably far cheaper ti get them done where you are rather than the UK and all the hassle of getting back

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[coroner]

And once in Turkyie even cheaper

 

[jongood]

If the injectors need replacing it's probably far cheaper ti get them done where you are rather than the UK and all the hassle of getting back

Tbf its probably just had a dose of poor quality diesel, the common rail engines like it clean.

 

[Bramidan]

I'm looking fowardto hearing how you get on in Turkey, definitely on our list but difficult to work out the best time for us to go.

I'm finding it slightly ironic that your friend is limping back to Uk to get his Transit fixed. He does realise that it was probably manufactured in Turkey

We have owned a property in Turkey for the last 15 years. Our own opinion is that May, June, Mid September to October are the best times, mind you I suppose it depends where you are going, we are in Dalyan.
Temperatures are not so high and of course not so many kids!

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[Bramidan]

Tbf it’s probably just had a dose of poor quality diesel, the common rail engines like it clean.

Well I don’t think I’ll be passing that on! Messenger, shoot, the, don’!

 

[coroner]

We have owned a property in Turkey for the last 15 years. Our own opinion is that May, June, Mid September to October are the best times, mind you I suppose it depends where you are going, we are in Dalyan.
Temperatures are not so high and of course not so many kids!

Cant beat a nice bit of heat but 40 plus C in July August doe take a bit of getting used to

 

[nicholsong]

We have owned a property in Turkey for the last 15 years. Our own opinion is that May, June, Mid September to October are the best times, mind you I suppose it depends where you are going, we are in Dalyan.
Temperatures are not so high and of course not so many kids!

Cant beat a nice bit of heat but 40 plus C in July August doe take a bit of getting used to

Once landed at Antalya and, although from ATC we knew the temp was 44C,we were not prepared for the 'furnace' we stepped into when leaving the A/C aircraft to wait for the crew bus. We scuttled back in till it arrived. That was after being in Antalya for some weeks so partly accustomed.

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[Bramidan]

So a continuation of day 7 and we ( minus one motorhome) continued onwards to Bulgari.
Quite a short day as we had lost a few hours in Serbia, you know what it’s like when you stop.
Anyway we headed for Plovdiv, specifically, Camping Alliance.
Bit of a back story here, Sat Nav said we were arriving in 6 minutes,I thought we had another hour to go, clocks had altered! Sat Nav picked it up we didn’t until we looked at phone, which now worked.
A large modern hotel at the front of the site, it looked deserted, we thought another one closed and I decided we would just park up out front. Wandering up to the barrier there was a sign saying internet booking only and their web address. Not a problem, ipad tethered to phone.
Whilst I am reading the sign, a window opened and a young Bulgarian woman asked could she help. Success, she opened reception and booked me in via my I pad, Expalined I would get an e mail with a QR code for entrance, toilet and showers. She explained they were all internet based and usually nobody on site, she obviously took pity on the old fart trying to gain access!
What a site, absolutely wonderful, equivalent to the best French campsites, really well sized pitches with individual water and ECU hook up. She explained the large toilet block, dish washing area etc was still closed because of winter but one toilet block was open. Fully tiled out, heated and constant hot water for a shower, luxury.
They even had an automated machine in Which you could place you toilet cassette, it then emptied it, flushed it all out, disinfected it and filled it with the required cassette stuff. I think that worked for your QR code but I was frightened to use it!
There was a BBQ area with built in BBQ as well as a massive grindstone to sharpen knives.
The next day, prior to departure, you logged onto your booking and they calculated your electricity costs, obviously you couldn’t get out of the barrier on your QR code if you hadn’t paid.
In fact less than a euro no charge. We hadn’t used any electric so all was good.
That one night in a first class site reinvigorated us, this was how it was supposed to be!
It cost us €15, the young woman had told me they were doing an offer up to the end of March.
We would have paid double for the facilities after the previous night.

 

[nicholsong]

So a continuation of day 7 and we ( minus one motorhome) continued onwards to Bulgari.
Quite a short day as we had lost a few hours in Serbia, you know what it’s like when you stop.
Anyway we headed for Plovdiv, specifically, Camping Alliance.
Bit of a back story here, Sat Nav said we were arriving in 6 minutes,I thought we had another hour to go, clocks had altered! Sat Nav picked it up we didn’t until we looked at phone, which now worked.
A large modern hotel at the front of the site, it looked deserted, we thought another one closed and I decided we would just park up out front. Wandering up to the barrier there was a sign saying internet booking only and their web address. Not a problem, ipad tethered to phone.
Whilst I am reading the sign, a window opened and a young Bulgarian woman asked could she help. Success, she opened reception and booked me in via my I pad, Expalined I would get an e mail with a QR code for entrance, toilet and showers. She explained they were all internet based and usually nobody on site, she obviously took pity on the old fart trying to gain access!
What a site, absolutely wonderful, equivalent to the best French campsites, really well sized pitches with individual water and ECU hook up. She explained the large toilet block, dish washing area etc was still closed because of winter but one toilet block was open. Fully tiled out, heated and constant hot water for a shower, luxury.
They even had an automated machine in Which you could place you toilet cassette, it then emptied it, flushed it all out, disinfected it and filled it with the required cassette stuff. I think that worked for your QR code but I was frightened to use it!
There was a BBQ area with built in BBQ as well as a massive grindstone to sharpen knives.
The next day, prior to departure, you logged onto your booking and they calculated your electricity costs, obviously you couldn’t get out of the barrier on your QR code if you hadn’t paid.
In fact less than a euro no charge. We hadn’t used any electric so all was good.
That one night in a first class site reinvigorated us, this was how it was supposed to be!
It cost us €15, the young woman had told me they were doing an offer up to the end of March.
We would have paid double for the facilities after the previous night.


View attachment 733670 View attachment 733672 View attachment 733673

I never envisaged Bulgaria being like that.

 

[jongood]

I never envisaged Bulgaria being like that.

There used to be a guy on here a lot recommending Bulgaria. It does sound interesting, but mostly campsites, i think but not 100% sure.

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[Littlewheels]

Great thread and so informative please do continue and do let us know how your travelling companions got on.
On a personal note l make a point of having my vehicle serviced whilst abroad,so much more professional and efficient when compared to U.K.

 

[nicholsong]

Great thread and so informative please do continue and do let us know how your travelling companions got on.
On a personal note l make a point of having my vehicle serviced whilst abroad,so much more professional and efficient when compared to U.K.

I certainly confirm that here in Poland at a small commercial garage that talks total sense. He was recommended by a friend who had a fleet of 5 vans.

About 3 years ago he did a bit of welding without asking, but I new from using him for 9 years it must have been necessary. We together pull the dipstick, smell, look at and feel the oil before deciding whether to change it - after 4,000 miles. Usually the answer is not.

One just needs a garage one can trust.

 

[Bramidan]

Day 8, we awoke to another glorious day and felt totally reinvigorated after our great night. One other Moho had come on the site, French plates.
The plan was to cross into Turkey at Edirne and then head south to Canakkale or perhaps, depending on the border crossing and time, make for Troy.
Well you all know the saying “ the best laid plans of mice and men!”
We are merrily rolling along, cruise control set, chatting away when we started to see queues of lorries in the inside lane all parked up, I wish I had clocked how many miles the queue of lorries was but it made Operation Stack around Dover look small time. We are passing all the lorries wondering what has happened, some security issue between Greece and Turkey?
At the last junction, theres a police car with a policeman in the road who flags us down and with a charming smile informs us the autostrada is closed and we have to get off, great, of course no diversion signs, meanwhile the Sat Nav is trying to correct the mistake the idiot who is driving has made by insisting we turn round.
As soon as it was safe out came the trusty Road Atlas of Europe. I explained to my wife that there was a main road heading south, parallel to the road we would have taken if we had crossed into Turkey and since it was in the same direction we might as well take that and make the border crossing at Ipsala. We had made that crossing in the past when we had driven across Greece from the ferry port at Igoumenitsa. We also decided we would stop the night at the municipal Campsite at Alexandroupolis.
Whilst driving South we reached a border and a queue of traffic. I walked up to see what was happening, the border guard was sitting in the back of his office absorbed in his phone! With that the man at the front of the queue went to window and brandishing his passport had a few choice words with the guard, he then got into his car and drove on, followed by the cars behind him, I ran back to the motorhome and followed on, the wife asked me what I was going to do, I said I was just going to keep going. The lorry in front sailed through with me close behind! I can only guess that this was a border between Bulgaria and Greece and thus for those “in the club” there was no requirement to stop. Perhaps that’s why the guard just sat there probably thinking why have those people stopped!
The road surface was grim, I found two wheels in the hard shoulder and two in the actual lane, avoiding the deteriorated surface worked quite well, interspersed with sitting in the outside lane.
The campsite at Alexandroupolis is very basic, a step back in time. Nevertheless it had all services. One of the benefits is that there is a Lidl just up the road so we were able to restock.
I had hoped as it was in Greece they might be having an “English” week with bacon, sausages and pork pies, surprisingly not. They naturally had beer, so all was not lossed.
Now only a day and a half to go to reach Dalyan, Mugla.

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[AG 2602]

We’ve been to Dalyan a few times now it’s a beautiful part of the country.
Did look at buying a property there, still tempted to be honest but may be best to wait for retirement.

 

[Raul]

Did you had to buy any road tax for BG? And where?

 

[Bramidan]

Once I’ve finished the trip report and only one more stop to go, I’ll collate all of the diesel receipts and amongst them I know I have receipts for the various vignettes we purchased, I seem to recall buying 3 but will confirm that later.

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