Slow Lane To Nowhere Update !

Hello to all of you !

Waouw, 6 years of silence, that is a long time...
6 years that I came back from exploring Middle-East and Europe with my Land Rover !

I am always submerged by a wave of nostalgia when I read my posts and browse through the pictures of this trip...  I still have the Land Rover but could not register it the last few years because of the CO2 emissions, so it is taking dust in the garage.  She is turning 30 next year and I will then register it as a classic.  Cannot wait to be back on the road with her !  She is not just a car for me, when I am at the wheel, I am always on holidays and I forget all the worries of the day-to-day life.

To this day, some people still ask me when I will write a book about my trip.  And my answer has not changed for 6 years : "I could write a book, yes.  But I would prefer you to pack your car and go for your own trip, see the world with your own eyes and create your own memories.  Don't travel by procuration !"

Every now and then, friends, or friends of friends, or unknown people still reach out to me for advice on how to prepare such a trip.  It is always a pleasure to help them and to re-assure them when they face moments of doubt.  It has lead me to think that I really have valuable knowledge, experience and expertise to share.  I realised that things that I consider normal are out of the confort zone of many people.  So for a while, I have been nursing the idea to formalise the transfer of this expertise and help people to kick start the project of such a trip and eventually hit the road.

I have decided that 2019 would the year for converting this idea into a project.  So it is time for me to sort out all the bits of idea and make it concrete.  Still a lot of unknown on the format : an online course ?  a virtual summit ?  Something else ?  As a first step, I bought the domain name slowlanetonowhere.com as it really reflects the philosophy of these trips : Travel for yourself, take your time, be on a minimalistic schedule and be open for the unexpected.

I would like also slowlanetonowhere.com to be the reference place to come for all information related to car trips around the world.  I would like also to share equipment reviews.  A lot of content to create !

So stay tuned and expect regular updates.  Marcel the Camel will also be part of the adventure.  And if you have been keeping in the back of your mind the idea of such a trip, with Marcel, we will put you on the road.  You don't need to be an off-road expert or an adventurer, with the right preparation, world travel is for everybody !

See you soon !
Patrice & Marcel

Kurdistan Forever !

After leaving Cappadocia, I crossed a last snow storm and I stopped for the night near a small village.
In the morning, some people knocking at the door wake me up and invite me for breakfast.  No doubt about it, I reached Kurdistan during the night !  Another hint ?  Police is patrolling the cities in armored vehicles and the police stations are protected like Fort Knox, reminding me of the Belfast of the nineties. 
I really like this remote region of Turkey.  People as friendly and welcoming as in Iran and beautiful landscapes : lakes, mountains, ...  That is the kind of place I would spend holidays.  And eventually I get the weather I dreamed of for this trip.  For the last 4 days it is bright sun and a nice -5°c to 0°C. 

First invitation for breakfast

Lakes, mountains, sun and snow, what else ?

I haven't succeeded in reaching the confluence points I tried.  The villages nearby are not inhabited during winter and I didn't want to walk for hours in 1m snow.  I will come back one day in spring or summer !  I left some people puzzled and wondering why on Earth I wanted to go to Yigitharmani, and why in winter :-).  I didn't even try to explain and left after tea :-)

I have got now the winter I prepared for.  3 nights ago, the temperature went down to -28°C.  And I decided not to sleep in my tent.  I can manage -15°C, but nearing -30°C is not fun anymore and can really be dangerous.  I am not sure I am equipped for that so I didn't risk it.  I was invited to sleep in a petrol station.  Around Van Lake, no sign of the earthquake of few months ago, all buildings are up and standing.  Not even a crack in the walls.  What did they showed us on television ?  The only visible signed where some "container towns" and few tents of the red croissant that are now used for the cattle.

Van Lake

I had the first view of Mount Ararat when going to Dogubayazit on a road 2600m high at sunset.  Really beautiful but I hurried to reach the city, as it was already near -20°C at 5pm.
The border to Iran was closed yesterday for I don't know what reason so I went for a drive around mount Ararat.  It seems reopened today so I will try and cross to Iran.

The minute I enter Iran, it means that I have only one month of traveling left, except if I extend my visa.  After that, it is back to normal life, work, etc, ... :-(

I didn't pay for this !

Hi all,

Since I left Belgium 3 weeks ago, I had a maximum of 12h of sun.  And everyday there is something falling from the sky...
I am now in the middle of Turkey heading for Cappadocia.  I decided to bypass all the Agean coast that I planned to do.  It is raining cats and dogs also over there and the grey sea is not really appealing in winter.

Testing the car at a higher speed in a hairpin.  Well, not really succesful :-)

I really preferred the -10, -15° where at least it was dry.  Now with the temperatures reaching above 0, everything is getting wet.  All off-road tracks are muddy and spongious and 2 days ago, I had to winch me out of a path I took for camping for the night.  3h30 for 200m, killing one battery in the process. And of course under continuous rain.  It stopped raining only when I got back on tar.

3h1/2 to winch me out of this track !

Everything is wet in the car and wouldn't dry.  Even the inside of the tent is becoming a problem.  I am now back in the snow, which is already better than rain.  I am driving from morning to midnight as I don't enjoy camping in this weather (it is straight from wheel to bed) and I will only stop when I will be back in the sun.

Crossing the straight of the Dardanelles

I am in a small restaurant with wifi access.  I will hit the road again as soon as my jacket is dry.  Next time you here from me, I will be in the sun.  I hope I won't have to wait until Dubai !

On the road again !

12 days on the road already through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland.  Not much sun so far.  No positive temperature for the last week.  The ideal to test the car and equipment in deep winter conditions before I leave for the middle of nowhere.  Few pictures from the road :

Visibility between 50 and 100m in the south of Belgium

No movies for now...

In the Black Forest in Germany.  Only -7°C at night

Somewhere in Switzerland

-18°C at night, but OK to sleep

Feeling like skiing but in a car, pretty much like in the sand desert

Frozen waves along the Leman Lake.  Not seen in a long time.

I did it !

Shame on me, I didn’t give you news since the 24^th of September.  Thanks to all the people that ask for news.  And my apologies for not having been in the mood for writing.  I arrived in Belgium on October 2^nd, after 2 months, 12600 kilometers and 17 countries.  Family and friends were on the main square of my hometown to welcome me.

I am writing from a shisha place that I discovered in my town.  I heard my engine roaring again today (better than ever) and I received the green light for my Iranian visa.  So I am in an excellent mood.  It has not always been the case in the last 2 months.

I planned a pit-stop of 3 weeks here to see some friends and service the car before hitting the road.  Unfortunately it has not been that straightforward.  The engine was pretty worn after 22 years of service and more than probably lack of correct maintenance at times.  Since Kosovo, I was running on 5 or 6 cylinders instead of 8.  It was not only a carburation and ignition problem, but also a totally worn camshaft.  So it took me already one month to find the places with availability, skills and fair price to do the jobs. 

And you know how it is when you want to change the curtains : “Maybe we could also repaint the walls in that nice yellow.”, then “Well, if we do these changes now, why not increase the height of the door, we always wanted to anyway.”  And you end up with three times more work at five times the expected budget.

It was exactly the same here : “As we took the engine out, we might as well have a look at the cylinder heads” then “Since we opened the cylinder heads, we might has well have a look at the pistons.” Then “You know, since we opened the engine, it would be a pity not to change the rings and have a look at the conrods bearings”.  And it went on and on.

So I have now a totally renewed engine.  Maybe not a bad idea after 22 years of service, but maybe at a wrong timing financially speaking.  I hope at least that I will have now the sensation to drive a F-16.  Let’s see.

The visa for Iran was another story.  I expected a 2 days process like in Dubai.  But from Europe I needed an approval from the Ministery of Foreign Affairs that arrived only today after 7 weeks (note to travellers : If you fly to Iran with a European passport, you get the visa on arrival).

It has been pretty frustrating to be only 2 months out of 8 on the road (Even though I spent 2 amazing months).  I started my trip at the worst time.  Camping along the Gulf shore on the first days of August is not something I would advise to my worst enemy.  And I will start the way back at the deepest of the winter…  At least I am sure I won’t see too many tourists on the way.

These 2 months in Belgium have not been quality time.  I was on call everyday for my car, working in 3 different places, driving to get parts everywhere, as far as in Germany.  So I could not plan anything else.  You know how it is, as an expat, when you go back home, you have a schedule that even prime ministers don’t have.  I have never been so long back in Europe, and I have never seen so few people.  Pretty frustrating… 

Now, I can really start preparing the car for the way back and I hope to be on the road in less than 2 weeks time.  When I see Emirates cargo planes landing at our small airport, I start feeling homesick.  Either in Singapore, Bangkok, Atlanta, Lagos or Cape Town, when I climb in an Emirates plane, I feel already home. 

So I don’t have any bottlenecks left before I can start travelling again.  I can’t wait to be back on the road, enjoying amazing landscapes with good music in the ears.  Depending on the weather, I will cross rapidly all these mountain ranges that separate Europe from Asia to reach quickly the deserts of the center of Iran.

I will let you know.

The next pictures at last !

I was going to leave Plovdid, Bulgaria when I got a message from my friend Max.  He is on his way back to Dubai with his Land Cruiser.  He is 500km away from here and we make an appointment for the day after.  I got soft and I book a nice cosy hotel overlooking a park.
 I am surprised by the city.  I was expecting cold concrete communist buildings, but the city centre definitely has something European about it.  A lot of pedestrian streets and a lot of terraces.  So I can sit and watch people passing by while chain-drinking irish coffees for 1,25eur.
Wifi in the room means that I have to work.  Paying visa and phone bills ans also send you some pictures.
Something I really hate is to go through my pictures and select one rather than others to publish.  I like to take pictures, that's it.  The more I look at them, the less I like them.  I hope some friends will help me in Belgium to do a decent selection in the 4000+ pictures so far.

Here is a quick & dirty selection in the next 2 series :

  Iran & Naxcivan

Irak & Turkey

It is time to check out and head towards the ex-Yugoslavia republics.  First time I went in the region, Tito's remains where not even cold yet and last time, I was wearing an Army uniform.  I am looking forward to see the changes.
50 days witout rain so far but I have a feeling it is about to change...

I keep you posted !