Efes-Project (sounds like a Turkish Beer Haulage firm 
) moved these harvesters from Ashgabad to the port of Izmir
âŚanother 1 with no chains 
Thatâs a heck of a load on that Volvo, I assume the cutting bars and wheels went on another truck.
It wasnât uncommon to see loads that werenât secured, some of the stuff I saw was dodgy to say the least. We passed a Kamaz near Symkent with a couple of tractors and farm equipment on the back of a low loader. All there was holding them one were a couple of bits of wood hammered front and back of the rear wheels and that was it.
We saw it again the next morning waiting to cross the border to Bishkek, it doesnât seem to bother them, they just seem to plod along regardless.
I would like to know what an insurance assessor would say if they knew the kind of things we were sharing the road with; more money probably!!
JeffâŚ
great old photos there mate!
Iâve already put these on another thread, but as theyâre about only photos I took while I was doing Italy China I though Iâd post them here as well.
The first one was taken somewhere between Bishkek and Almaty on the A 2. The photoâs pretty crap but thereâs a story behind it.
When I was doing it in the mid 90âs , there werenât many western European drivers on the job and it possible to travel from the Ukrainian border to China and back with out seeing another truck from the west. That was anything up to 25 days. We were give our travel documents before leaving and the route we took through Russia and Kazakhstan was very strict, and no deviations were allowed. If you were caught of route then you were obviously a spy and treated accordingly, and in the vastness of the Russian empire any kind of help was a long, long, time in coming.
The route we took was Italy Austria, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia via Volgograd and used to cross border near Astrahan into Kazakhstan.
The roads got gradually worse the farther you went into the country, closer to towns and big cities they werenât to bad, or I should say not as bad.
Once into Kaz the deterioration was quite rapid. When we got our permits Which look like a badly drawn map with a red line indicating the route we were permitted to take wondered why it didnât follow a logical direction.
When we got into Kaz quickly became apparent that we were following the only road,( for want of a better word ) track ,or direction other people have gone before would have been a better description. From Astrahan ( on the Caspian sea )it was north east to Aqtjabrâsk, which is fairly near Aqtobe.
About 10 kâs south on the M32 ( military 32 ) the road was nothing more than a track The Russians put in a rail in the 70 when they were interested in Afghanistan and it was a major supply route. The M32 was a maintenance road and has since been used by locals, upgrades have been kept somewhere between minimal and zero. A lot of the road is nothing more than a track, a lot of it hasnât got a bottom so you just drive over nature, every once in a while thereâs some tar, but thereâs usually about a 2 feet climb to get onto it, and itâs so rough that itâs better to drive along the side of it rather than on it. The only advantage it has is if you arrive at it near bed time then it a good idea to get on to it as youâre pretty much guaranteed you wonât be bogged in the morning.
The road takes you down past the Balkalour space station and 1400 empty kâs farther south after about 3 towns and a not many more villages, you finally join up with some of the oldest routes roads in the world. "The silk routes "which ran from the ancient cities of the early civilisation of Urr ( Persia ) to China. The Russians have been in charge of them for the best part of 30 years and again maintenance hasnât been a priority, and if you can still use it then itâs good enough. Some of them arenât to bad and in recent years it looks like there has been some bridge building and other stuff going on, but in general think eastern European mid 80âs
One other thing I should pint out is that there are check points ( controls ) along the way where your travel permits are checked and stamped. The official version is that if you donât turn up at the next check point in good time then youâve had some kind of problem and theyâll send some one out to look for you. At a control it could be anything from a few minutes and a nod from a less than interested guy, to 4 hours while some nosy dood in a big hat asserts his authority. They tend to move the staff about so you canât predict where certain staff members are going to be or when.
In one of the villages down the M32 we used to stop at the bakery for fresh bread and it wasnât uncommon for people to turn up when they saw a truck and try and sell you anything they had. There was woman selling a camera which was an old Russian copy of a Kodak 35mm point and shoot. A western driver having a camera in Russia and Kaz was dodgy, if the authorities caught you with it, you could easily be brought forward as a spy, or at the very least the camera would be taken from you, but the small amount the woman was asking for it, and fact that I though my Russian was good enough to argue my side of the story, I thought it was worth a punt.
After about 6 days of bumping along dirt tracks, we finally come across this⌠Fairly smooth tar, and even lane control markings, Iâm not sure if the locals actual know what theyâre for but given the small amount of other road users, it doesnât really matter.
from there on to Almaty itâs pretty civilised.
If I remember right this was taken about mid May ( summer )
The other photo was taken with the same camera. Iâve already mentioned the dislike the Kaz and Russians had for western people with cameras. Iâm sure you donât have to explain how sensitive the Kazakhstan China border was.
About 3 in the morning I was writing my name in the snow from the top step, and decide that some photos with the new camera would be a good idea.
I had no idea that the camera had a functional auto flash. About 4 seconds after it went of there was almighty commotion and I knew it was going to be trouble, loads of armed guards, shouting and dogs every where. By that time Iâd already chucked the camera onto the top of the fridge trailer, and quietly closed the door. A few minuted later every one was ordered out their trucks in what ever they were wearing to bed, and thatâs how it was for the next 3 hours in 3 degrees c, and with damp fog, until the fully armed Chinese guards with their dogs had gone through every cab.
3 days later I was out of the transfer station and stopped down the road a bit where I managed to get the camera of the roof of the trailer, it spent the rest of the trip in the air cleaner.
Tashkent Merc SK with a Smitz fridge, Orty Ocey Trans ⌠their trucks were fairly common along the silk routes.
There were always plenty Iranians getting about as well.
Even though the work in that region was very demanding I always enjoyed it and every one always helped everyone else, no matter what the nationality. The comradely and hospitality was fantastic, no one ever went hungry at evening meal times, you never went past any one with stopping to see if they were alrightâŚ
JeffâŚ
Well done Harry, thanks for that, you couldnât do much with the top one then.
JeffâŚ
Jelliot:
Thatâs a heck of a load on that Volvo, I assume the cutting bars and wheels went on another truck.
It wasnât uncommon to see loads that werenât secured, some of the stuff I saw was dodgy to say the least. We passed a Kamaz near Symkent with a couple of tractors and farm equipment on the back of a low loader. All there was holding them one were a couple of bits of wood hammered front and back of the rear wheels and that was it.
We saw it again the next morning waiting to cross the border to Bishkek, it doesnât seem to bother them, they just seem to plod along regardless.
I would like to know what an insurance assessor would say if they knew the kind of things we were sharing the road with; more money probably!!JeffâŚ
Hi Jeff,
yes, the tyres and headers went on a separate truck, it took them a good day or so while to get the load just right before setting off.
Love reading about your trip to Kaz, Iâve never been in the place but heard from those who have, the rumour was that the zig-zaggy bit down around chimkent/amaty was a dodgy place to be. I was working and driving round Tm & Uzb a lot from early 96 till mid 99, as you say it was pretty much unheard of to see a european truck on the road, i remember hearing about the guys (Colin, who posts here from time to time) doing the run to ZarafshanâŚbut never saw them
Hi Richard, I added a few more sentence to that last post,.
On one trip we did one of the 143âs wouldnât start in the morning near Bishkek. Weâd had computer problems with one of the other Scanias before and realised it was the same thing. The only thing we could do was disconnect the prop, put it on a straight bar and tow it 900âk across through mountains to Almaty. The Scania was about 38 tons as was the Volvo FH, we all took turns at being towed and towing. Scania few the part to Almaty where we had to figure out how to fit it. All up we lost about 3 days. Lucky enough all the trucks were fitted with satellite phone/faxes, so it was easy enough to ask for help.
By the time we got to Almaty there were 4 of us, ( 2 Scainas 2 Volvos ) 4 Iranian trucks and 2 Turks. None of them would go on with out us. The Iranians stayed with us until the Scania fired up.
Can you do anything with the snow shot Harry ?
JeffâŚ
Thanks for that Harry.
JeffâŚ
Jelliot:
Thanks for that Harry.JeffâŚ
just read your post above.
what a fantastic read it was, must have been some cracking trips 
and there was me thinking when i started in the 90s that italy and spain was long distance 
I did Italy and Spain in the 90âs as well and some of that could be just as much of an adventure.
When the Scania was on the straight bar, it was only 7 feet behind the fridge, the engine was dead so no power steering, and no heater or demister either. The night heater only blew into the passenger foot well, and we had to drive with the window open to stop everything from misting up. If I remember right it was November, because we had all been discussing the possibility of getting another trip in before Christmas. When I was doing my bit on the driving duties it was raining/ getting on for snow, by which time the batteries were dying as well. It was only possible to use the wipers for one wipe every minute or so. We eventually swapped the batteries of one of our other trucks so we could get some kind of electrics. The 900 kâs took a long day and most of the next one as well.
In the fleet we had 3 computer failures on the Scanias, the boss insisted that all of them were changed.
Happy daysâŚ
JeffâŚ
Jelliot:
I did Italy and Spain in the 90âs as well and some of that could be just as much of an adventure.When the Scania was on the straight bar, it was only 7 feet behind the fridge, the engine was dead so no power steering, and no heater or demister either. The night heater only blew into the passenger foot well, and we had to drive with the window open to stop everything from misting up. If I remember right it was November, because we had all been discussing the possibility of getting another trip in before Christmas. When I was doing my bit on the driving duties it was raining/ getting on for snow, by which time the batteries were dying as well. It was only possible to use the wipers for one wipe every minute or so. We eventually swapped the batteries of one of our other trucks so we could get some kind of electrics. The 900 kâs took a long day and most of the next one as well.
In the fleet we had 3 computer failures on the Scanias, the boss insisted that all of them were changed.
Happy daysâŚ
JeffâŚ
Your old stories are a good read jelliot keep them coming
Great reading that Jeff what mileage was involved in the round trip. Eddie.
It was about 5800km each way, between 10 and 14 days depending on weather and other things. They were always pretty good at getting us turned round at the border. Coming back there were usually pre arranged loads coming out of China for us, if not then there was a bit of fafing about. Novosibirsk, Tomsk, or Omsk or some of the other Novoâs in that area were all good for stuff and would put another 1000 to 1500 kâs + 3 days on a trip.
After every long trip I was always offered a trip back to Scotland, and a couple of days of there as wellâŚ
JeffâŚ
your right. italy and spain could be great fun, much preferred it with the older roads, rather than all these boring ap toll motorways in spain now. i used to enjoy going down the national from barcelona to valencia, passing places like cambrills, upstairs/downstairs and the like, good times
iâve been abit further since, but only in modern times to moscow, istanbul and the like. pretty easy these days tbh. although still some interesting drives to be had, only did romania and bulgaria for the first time last year, that was all entertaining.
The Spanish nationals always offered scope for a good adventure, as did anywhere south of Modena or Florance in Italy. I did a bit of M/E stuff in the 90âs and most of the good stuff was already gone, by then a lot of the Turkish stuff was fairly good and even motorway ( autoyola ). I heard theyâre even putting a tunnel under Bolu.
JeffâŚ
only been to istanbul 3 times, and thats over the last 2 years. have to agree though, once youâve done customs at the border, found the roads very good, although abit manic when you get to the city, its like wacky races 
thought the bridge over the bosporous was quite smart.
certainly an interesting mix of wagons there aswell, from old too new.