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This is a travel tale, involving two Englishmen, and a Scotsman. We were all engineers, working in Kuwait in the petrochemical industry. Don Williams, a rangy guy from the north of England, William McDonald, a typical dour Scot, who hailed from even further north, the windy city of Aberdeen, and myself, who had all been based in Kuwait for the past year.

The holiday schedule whilst working overseas, was not exactly generous, with only a three week break after a four month period in Kuwait, where the working week was normally six days, of ten hours per day.

Our contract stipulated that the company provided a return flight, back to source, in our case, the UK, together with out of pocket expenses.

The prices of most goods in Kuwait were far below the cost of similar items back home, being free of duty and taxes, and thus during our time in the Middle East, we acquired a vehicle, (a Land Rover), for our personal use, and had toyed with the idea of travelling back to England overland, with this vehicle.

Discussions on this plan were formulated, the routes studied and the possible hazards evaluated.

Travelling through the Middle East has its advantages. Fuel prices are considerably less than Europe, although some of the roads are a little rougher, and although the time spent on such a journey, (approx. one week) rather than a six hour flight to London, it was a trip that appealed to us and promised to provide a bit of adventure, after the tedium of the past months.

Day 1.

It was an early start, leaving Kuwait city at 4am, Off down the 6^th Ring road, a three lane motorway, heading for "Jahra", the northernmost town in Kuwait, bypassing the military zone, a relic of the Gulf War, and the deserted road which led to Iraq and Baghdad, before crossing the border into Saudi Arabia.

It was 160km from "Salwa", our point of departure in Kuwait, to the Saudi Arabian border post of "Salmi", and we made good time, arriving at the border in time to disturb the Saudi immigration at their breakfast..

Not forgetting to get the "Carnet" signed at the border, we headed (on a single carriageway), to "Haft -el- Batin" some 280km distant across the desert.. At the first major junction,(2^nd set of traffic signals), with the Fao Hotel down the side road to our left it’s a right turn, and only another 4km to the Pipeline road

The route across the desert of Saudi Arabia, was via this new road. Originally built in order to service the Oil Pipeline, this sand track had over the years been upgraded to a tarmacadam dual carriageway, although due to the possibility of sand drifting across the surface, still provided with posts at 200 metre intervals.

We were now heading for Jordan, only approximately 1000km to the Jordanian border.

The next big town is "Rafha", some 570km, the end of the dual carriageway, to be replaced by a rather poor single lane tarmac road. and although our progress was a little slower we continued to make reasonable time, with "pit stops at "Hafr-al-Batin, Arar", (865km) and "Taruf"

Border to border was 11.5 hours, (1130km), and 62 Saudi Riyals for 99 litres of fuel..

Jordan…

Not forgetting to get the Carnet signed as you leave Saudi Arabia, we pulled into the immigration area car park, in Jordan.

It was another early start for the second day of the adventure, and heading for another country, Syria, The roads across Jordan were perfect, and almost motorway, standard, although there were a few places where the surfaces were less than perfect, due to the army using the same road to transport their heavy tanks..

Only one border crossing is available, at "Ramtha", into Syria from Jordan, and this stage of the journey proved to be uneventful, but tedious, with a few stops to replenish both ourselves with refreshments, and the vehicle, with fuel.

Immigration was the major delay here. .A yellow card, for everyone, and to ensure all the car details are stamped on the person’s card, who is specified as the driver. Its 10 US$ for road tax, and don’t forget to obtain insurance for the Syrian part of the journey.

More stamps are necessary on that all important Carnet, and then its into the customs area, which for us did not present any problems, only taking one hour, although we had heard that on occasion the customs would spend the whole day in checking the vehicle.?

On the road to Damascus, via the Ash-Shimmer, or Dimasq motorway both well sign-posted. We were driving through Damascus (1630km), and Hama (1848km), by early in the afternoon, the signs informing us that is was only another 60km to "Aleppo", where according to our map we should take the road to "Idleb:. From there the road is sign-posted to "Dana" and "Bab-al-Hawa" which is the border crossing. to Turkey. Time to border was 5.5 hours, (500km).

Arrival in Turkey almost felt like being back in "civilization". The Turkish visa costs 10 pound sterling, and suddenly that all important "Carnet is no longer required, as the Turkish authorities issue their own, which is another minor expense. With more details of the car stamped into the passports, we are on our way once more.

It’s a mountainous area, with good, although winding roads, p and over mountains, and down to the town of "Iskenderun" Rather than stop at the local hotel The Hatayali, we decide to press on to "Adana".

The road from Iskenderun to Adana is Toll, and we handed over Turkish banknotes with more zeros than we could discern, which we later calculated was approximately two pounds sterling.

Following the signs we took the second exit for "Adana", which runs directly into the City. The Surmeli hotel was not difficult to locate, and very good, costing only 40 pound sterling for a twin room, and inclusive of dinner.

We were all pleasantly surprised to find how far we had travelled, in just a few days, and after a good night’s rest we were rearing to go on the next stage of the journey. Its motorway all the way to "Ankara", and we were on the Ankara ring road at 11.30 that morning, heading for Instanbul, which we hoped to make by that evening.

Our plans proved to be correct and we were driving through Instanbul at 4 in the afternoon, and decided, it was a little early to stop for the night, and we should continue for a while, and get off the Motorway, before looking for a place to rest up According to our travel guide, there is a hotel at a place called "Tekinirdag", about halfway between Istanbul and the Greek/Turkish border. This hotel was not easy to locate and it was late when we did finally see the sign "ER DE HA Hotel". Despite it only having six rooms, it was comfortable, and only one room was necessary for all three of us. The room was enormous, with five double beds, two bathrooms and contained more furniture than most semi detached houses.

The food was sparse, but after the days travel we were grateful for almost anything, and we dropped into the cavernous beds, not arousing until late the following day.

Our third days was the most stressful, and the journey was to be the longest stage Sharing the driving we reached the Turkish/Greek border late in the evening, and having travelled for almost fifteen hours we were all tired. Border to border had been 1470 kilometres, and it was decided we should drive into Greece before stopping for the night.

Greece.

Still a long way to go, and the strain is beginning to tell on all of us. We failed to find a suitable hotel on the Greek side of the border, and elected to spend the night in the Landrover, which was not ideal but there was no alternative, as we were all completely bushed.

Its now day four, and after a cold and restless night, and after breakfast, which was obtained at a roadside café, thick hot coffee, with Pitta bread, filled with what tasted like sardines, we headed for Thessalonika, our destination Athens, via the Toll motorway.

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The motorway was superb and our spirits rose, as we headed through the Greek countryside. And we arrived in Athens on Sunday morning. The mileage in the Rover told us we had travelled 4396km so far…..

At this point we were about to take a rest from driving, as we planned the available routes and the available ferries heading for Italy.

There are plenty of choices from the port of Parts. The short route to "Bari", or the overnight service to Ancona,. The overnight trip would give us a welcome break from being behind the wheel, and we opted for the evening ferry, departing at 2200. After the previous days marathon, the 200km to Patras was just a leisurely drive, and gave us plenty of time. The Ferry although another expense, was a reasonable cost, and comfortable, and spot, on at ten o’clock that evening, we sat drinking a beer, whilst watching the lights of the port disappear. We were on our way. Destination Italy.

Italy.

After a cursory glance at passports, the Italian officials waved us off the ferry at Ancona. Its 0630. The Autostrada was minutes away.

Back in Europe at last, and on a motorway, which allowed the true potential of our Rover to be achieved. With all three of us taking turns at the wheel the travel through Italy was virtually a blur and we stopped only to fill the fuel tank, and follow the call of nature.. .

It was my stint at the wheel as we headed through the Mont Blanc tunnel, which is the most eerie places at 0200 in the morning.

After a leisurely breakfast at a French Motorway restaurant, we were on the last leg of the journey, through France, heading for the channel ports, avoiding Paris by taking the A6 to Beaune and on to Dijon via the A31, and finally the A26 to Calais

Just 12 hours after entering the Mont Blanc tunnel, we were boarding Le Shuttle, heading for our final destination.

Our arrival in UK was late afternoon, weary but exhilarated after a six day journey from the Middle East…