JOHNXL70:
robert1952:
Wasn’t Death Valley on the old Bolu to Ankara road, now bypassed by a motorway? RobertI always remember Death Valley being in the area of Bolu
Some drivers may have had their own version of Death Valley, but the generally accepted one was coming down on the Ankara side of Bolu.
well you all got me thinking ,I recall the Bulgey camp at Bolu was on the Right heading for Ankara so it puts the drop off on the left,going up Bolu but death valley drop off is also on the left going to Ankara,I think the worse part was the old road up Tarsus before the duel carriageway the corners were tight and if two trucks met on the corner that was that for several hours,just. Im just back from Sweden for Xmas ,been trunking from Halmstad to Gothenburg 60ft bogey no loading just jump out of one truck into another and return, such an easy life 3day week home every night just luvin it,great money ,great people ,clean country,leave the UK while u can guys its going to get worse Take care all
Roger Haywood
Loose-wire:
well you all got me thinking ,I recall the Bulgey camp at Bolu was on the Right heading for Ankara so it puts the drop off on the left,going up Bolu but death valley drop off is also on the left going to Ankara,I think the worse part was the old road up Tarsus before the duel carriageway the corners were tight and if two trucks met on the corner that was that for several hours,just. Im just back from Sweden for Xmas ,been trunking from Halmstad to Gothenburg 60ft bogey no loading just jump out of one truck into another and return, such an easy life 3day week home every night just luvin it,great money ,great people ,clean country,leave the UK while u can guys its going to get worse Take care all
Roger Haywood
Hi Roger,
Your comment about those tight hairpins on Tarsus reminded me of my first trip. My brother Andy and I had loaded cotton in Adiyaman, away up in the hills in central turkey, this was January '76. Andy was in front of me and we were going down the Ankara side of Tarsus. I have one of those short videos in my mind where I can replay the incident, but nothing before or after! On one tight bend, Andy was about 3/4 of the way round when a Turkish artic just kept coming up. Maybe he was too heavily freighted to slow down. The result was a foot long tear in Andy’s tilt - to be fair it could have been a lot worse.
The ‘truck washers’ at the harem offered to fix it when we got to Istanbul. This caused plenty of ‘is nix gut TIR’ problems at borders following - they just glued some tilt material - I think it was yellow, on his red AFS rental trailer. Yes we were naive!
I think there was a narrow strip of Tarmac up the middle of the old Tarsus, but it was mostly dirt. However there was a great cafe up near the top - think there’s a photo of it in Kevin Noble’s book, Baghdad Trucker. I always tried to stop there because the lamb was delicious!.
John
This was on the way up!
Loose-wire:
well you all got me thinking ,I recall the Bulgey camp at Bolu was on the Right heading for Ankara so it puts the drop off on the left,going up Bolu but death valley drop off is also on the left going to Ankara,I think the worse part was the old road up Tarsus before the duel carriageway the corners were tight and if two trucks met on the corner that was that for several hours,just. Im just back from Sweden for Xmas ,been trunking from Halmstad to Gothenburg 60ft bogey no loading just jump out of one truck into another and return, such an easy life 3day week home every night just luvin it,great money ,great people ,clean country,leave the UK while u can guys its going to get worse Take care all
Roger Haywood
Hullo Roger,
Sounds a great life you’ve embarked on in Sweden. Good to see you back on here and to see you’ve come home to a good old English Christmas. Too cold though for me at that time of the year, I’m in Brasil., lapping up the Sun and warmth. Anyway have a Happy Christmas, and I wish you well for your future in your new home.
Archie.
Hi John, wasn’t Tarsus a pain in the rain with all that spilt oil from those Tonka Tankers coming back from Iraq. 
I remember a café near the top where you could also fill up your water containers with drinking water and they served goat as well as lamb kababs with fresh egmek salad and a luke warm coke.
Tarsus following Roy.
Tarsus.
mushroomman:
Hi John, wasn’t Tarsus a pain in the rain with all that spilt oil from those Tonka Tankers coming back from Iraq.
I remember a café near the top where you could also fill up your water containers with drinking water and they served goat as well as lamb kababs with fresh egmek salad and a luke warm coke.Tarsus following Roy.
Tarsus.
Yes, the road from hell (and to hell!) with a foamy covering of diesel and rain.
There’s a frightening tale on the middle east/astran thread of a Turk (I think) flashing by, having lost the brakes and going into the back of a bus. A gory mess. A memory to keep you awake 40 years later I guess.
That’s right, as well as the good food, there was good spring water at that cafe.
John
I used to stop at the top of the Taurus to fill my water bottles, it was a thing like an old stone horse trough with an old pipe trickling into it… I stopped there one day and there was a skull and cross bones sign on it… It didn’t look very official, but then some times things don’t in that neck of the woods… Wasn’t game enough to try it. I had a very bad case of the skoot in central Kazakhstan which I put down to drinking dodgy water from an “idealic location”… didn’t want a repeat performance…
Jeff…
South Eastern Turkey between Adana and Urfa
Jazzandy:
South Eastern Turkey between Adana and Urfa
You clearly had an ‘eye’ for really evocative pics, Jazzandy. They’re all charged with the atmosphere of the run, and of the period. Marvellous. Robert 
Here you go sort these 2 out … The sign on the shop gives the location…
Gravel road and everything…
Mountains and dust as well
Jeff…
What’s the TIR-plate for, Jeff? Robert 
Hey Jeff that plate will have the Tasmanians baffled ■■?
That’s the TIR plate of my old tilt, I also have my Syrian transit plate that goes on from time to time and a set of Uzun Arac plates that “fell of” a Turkish truck…
Most of the guy’s here know a bit about my history, there’s a copy of Destination Doha and the DT Truckers DVD floating about as well…It created a bit of interest when I lent then to one of the guys, and has been getting passed around for over a year now. I probably wont get them back. but I’ve other copies any way…
Jeff…
Jelliot:
That’s the TIR plate of my old tilt, I also have my Syrian transit plate that goes on from time to time and a set of Uzun Arac plates that “fell of” a Turkish truck…Most of the guy’s here know a bit about my history, there’s a copy of Destination Doha and the DT Truckers DVD floating about as well…It created a bit of interest when I lent then to one of the guys, and has been getting passed around for over a year now. I probably wont get them back. but I’ve other copies any way…
Jeff…
What did the Syrian transit plate look like? There were none when I did it. Or do you mean a Saudi transit plate (reflective yellow jobs)? Robert 
Which country was it that used to seal the 5th wheels on transitting lorries?
robert1952:
Jelliot:
That’s the TIR plate of my old tilt, I also have my Syrian transit plate that goes on from time to time and a set of Uzun Arac plates that “fell of” a Turkish truck…Most of the guy’s here know a bit about my history, there’s a copy of Destination Doha and the DT Truckers DVD floating about as well…It created a bit of interest when I lent then to one of the guys, and has been getting passed around for over a year now. I probably wont get them back. but I’ve other copies any way…
Jeff…
What did the Syrian transit plate look like? There were none when I did it. Or do you mean a Saudi transit plate (reflective yellow jobs)? Robert
Sorry Robert senior moment there… It’s been a long week, I could do with an extra 20 hours sleep… Yes Saudi transit plate…I don’t put it on very often as it must be a couple of kilos, and I believe they’re worth a bit of cash as well…
Jeff…
mushroomman:
Hi John, wasn’t Tarsus a pain in the rain with all that spilt oil from those Tonka Tankers coming back from Iraq.
I remember a café near the top where you could also fill up your water containers with drinking water and they served goat as well as lamb kababs with fresh egmek salad and a luke warm coke.Hi Mushy
Is this the place ? I used to always stop there, but I would drink the Ayran instead of the warm coke!
Great salad and fantastic lamb by the kilo or half kilo.
GS
newmercman:
Which country was it that used to seal the 5th wheels on transitting lorries?
Deffo Saudi Arabia, mate. I also remember having the 5th wheel sealed when entering Turkey to deliver there, but I don’t remember being sealed to transit. Robert
While I remember… what would be the translation for the Arabic on the Saudi transit plate■■?
Jeff…
Jelliot:
While I remember… what would be the translation for the Arabic on the Saudi transit plate■■?Jeff…
Hi,
Bit rusty on the Arabic now, Robert will be more up to date than me. Think it’s something like transfer transit.
The letters in English are something like nql balabor - the two a’s are different because one is a long a and the other is a short one.
Excuse me - you weren’t yawning and looking out of the window there were you!
John.
