Nomansland and a Shirley Valentine moment!

Sat 23rd Aug

Our first boarder issue! So far every boarder we have crossed has been uneventful, at most just showing a passport but often nothing. Not so on the Bulgarian/Turkish boarder. The queue into Turkey was only a fraction of what it was coming out. The crossing procedure was in stages. Through passport control, show visas - all ok. Stop go into duty free and admin section, buy a vignette for Fay, a bit of a wait but we got it. Then off to customs clearance, here lay the difficulty. Despite my having confirmed with our insurance company that we were covered for Turkey, the Turkish were not going to accept the policy we had. We got parked up in limbo land between the two countries. After three attempts to get through to our insurance company I was told, albeit by a helpful man, that there would be a delay whilst he listened to the tape recorded conversations I had had with them before we left! It is now 36 degrees and no shade. We walk back to the admin area, cut our losses and purchase local third party cover. The minimum time period you can have is three months. Back to customs. By now Fay should have topped up her tan nicely, she is like an oven inside, thank goodness she has air-con.

As we show our new documents, which ironically is the same insurance company as we have in the UK, I receive a call. "We have emailed you a green card."

At last, and now with two insurances, we enter Turkey. If it were not for the odd mosque on the horizon, Turkey appears more European than either Romania or Bulgaria.
Richard wants to go to Gallipoli and I would like to see Troy, so we head off in that direction on the motorway to make up some time.

Thanks to Fay's four wheel drive, we reach a campsite, effectively cut off by roadworks. Again, we have a campsite to ourselves and what a view.