Return to Ankara for Repairs

Posted on October 18, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Will I be Arrested???

13/11/2025

A loooong driving day. Over 11 hours with a shop stop, lunch and the border back into Turkey. Sim replenished and cash obtained. 560km, most of it in driving rain.

J, as passenger had to walk through the border. I nearly got arrested for smuggling. Stupidly I hadn’t checked the regs for importing wine from Georgia. Only 1ltr pp!!! After an hour, I was allowed to keep 10 bottles. 9 were confiscated. I hadn’t tried to conceal the other 4 boxes in the door well. But once I realised, they’d not been spotted, my fleece was flung over them. I also stashed another bottle in the fridge! I can collect the confiscated wines within 3 months, on re entry to Georgia 😂. I nearly suggested the border guards might drink it, but remembered this may be insulting to Muslims!

We finally parked up at a place we stayed at before. It’s so much easier going somewhere you know after a long day. A takeaway in the van so we could have a glass of the contraband!

*Horrendous wet driving conditions. And some more mad overtaking / undertaking*

And Repeat

14/11/2025

9 hr driving day. Another 590 km. Stopped for lunch and diesel/LPG. My neck and shoulders are suffering.

Çorum our overnight stop, is modern with a lovely park, where we spent a super quiet night.m. With doing all this driving, I’m refusing to cook. And J can’t / won’t cook. So supper was in a pretentious restaurant called The Suits 😂. Food good though.

*Corim parking perfect for Corrie walking*

Ankara: Ada Karavans

15/11/3025

Only 233km today to our lovely repair chaps. We went shopping and for some lunch. Sat inside whilst a man on the roof. Another in the shower. And the little one said Roll Over.

*Really messy mastic removed and neat new sealant applied to the rooflight.*

We spent a good hour with them trying to work out why the heating works on electric but not gas. Erfan phoned a friend. Eventually they said we would have to go to an Alde dealer in Istanbul. We didn’t really want to mess with Istanbul traffic. I put a post on wildcamping.co.uk. Woke in the night and checked for answers. One suggested a tick box under installed settings on the control panel. At 0400 I did this. By 0500 we were warm, too toasty! I can only think it had been fiddled with on the last service.

Airbag repair 1

16/11/3025

A wasted day really. I imparted the good news about the heating. We had to wait for the son to return to pay up. £265 for new shower drain, resealed skylight, a window frame turned the correct way and gas investigation. Again, very happy to pay for quality workmanship at such a good price.

ADA Karavans had rung the airbag people so they were expecting us. After a few checks, it is a new problem. A relief that the airbag glue from our last visit held up. But he needed to order parts and to return tomorrow morning.

We looked on P4N, but the nearest was the lake campsite 65k north. So we returned to this peaceful sanctuary. Ducks, geese and a strange looking rabbit. £13.34 with all services and free to use the washing machine. A needed relaxing afternoon.

Airbag Repair 2

17/11/2025

Up early, walk around the lake and services done. The 65k back south to Ankara. We were 6 hours at the air suspension place. But they had to identify the problem and buy parts. Fortunately not the same air bag leaking. It was the inlet to the bellows (Google translate). We walked to the nearby shops. Had coffee. Walked Corrie around a park. Took out another wedge of cash not knowing what the bill would be. Paying 20% extra is a plastic card deterrent. I knitted and caught up on Strictly. J napped and read. It was a long 6 hours. We had thought we would need to go to Zampatas Brothers in Thessaloniki, as they are a Goldschmidt agent, but now we need not.
The bill was only £123. We’ve a lot of Turkish cash to spend in the next two days. Maddy, my daughter, suggested it has become free money!!!

We drove 2 hours to a lake side picnic area. Supper out was only £10.67 for fried carp and koftes. Not made much of a dent in our wedge of cash.

*Nothing wrong with the cooking, but uninspiring. Missing the tastes and choice of Georgian food.*

Air Bag Repair

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Clunegapyears

03/09/25

Chores chores chores. Unpacked. Momentarily lost the V5 which would have put paid to Georgia and Armenia. But found once we cleared up.

*Whilst I did a marathon laundry session, J cleaned inside*

*A few gins (Dublin duty free) on a deck over the campsite lake followed by a BBQ.*

Very peaceful. Just what we needed after such a busy 6 days.

Airbag Repair

04/09

Early up. Services and the best part of an hour back to Ankara. This time to fix our rear air suspension. I knew I was having to put air in more regularly, but one airbag had completely collapsed over the 6 days whilst we were away. The garage doing our long list of repairs had spotted it.
They had arranged for us to visit an air suspension specialist. Just how helpful is that.
Sure enough, one airbag was expelling air like a whale does water.

*They took the wheel off and removed the airbag to fix it*

A couple of hours later, they asked me to drive around the block. We hadn’t paid at this point … can’t see that happening in the UK. But my goodness the handling and smoothness over bumps is SO much improved. I guess with hardly driving Jez last year, I hadn’t really been aware of how bad it was. Fingers crossed it stays good.

We are now back touring. Stopped tonight a little off the main road in peace and quiet. There is a near train line, but the P4N entry says they are infrequent. They were also super friendly. They parped their horns and waved as they slowly trundled past.

*Corrie able to be unchained and collecting fur burrs*

*Corks. Yes, they deter fruit flies and flies*

Ankara

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Walking the Sights

01/09/2025

Once J arose from his slumbers in the Ankara hotel, we did our own walking tour around Ankara. We liked it as by far fewer tourists than Istanbul.

*The Hittite symbols were once the Ankara emblem*

*The Ethnographical Museum which house Ataturk’s body until the mausoleum was built*

*And again. The Victory Monument. The folk at the bottom* *are 2 soldiers and a woman carrying a cannon ball to recognise the part women played in the war for independence*

*The* Column of Julian was built to honour Julianus, the last pagan Roman emperor. He declared war on the Persians and passed through in 362. The city folk were so excited at his visit (all of them?!), they *erected the obelisk. It is now in University grounds, but the nice guard let us through*

*Melike Hatun Mosque, only opened in 2017. Complete with exhibition halls, a congress centre, civilisations museum, meeting halls etc. Oh and a 5 storey car park. I like the elegant lines of it.*

*Genclik Park / Youth Park constructed from 1936 was one of Tutkey’s first urban parks. This is complete with an amusement park, a pond a theatre and various halls and cafeterias.*

*We walked back in the dark through the market, which was being closed up. Much preferred to Istanbul’s spice market crowds*

Supper local to the hotel. J keen, but I dissuaded him from the £30 (cheapest). bottle of wine. We imbibed back at the hotel room.

Ataturk Mausoleum and War of Independence Museum

02/08/2025

A 2.5km walk in a different direction to the Peace Park, which housed the Ataturk Mausoleum and independence museum. With all the recent travelling, I didn’t know what to expect as I’d not read up. Just knew the Aged Ps rated it and one of the motorhome repair guys said it was good.

Wow wow and triple wow. Perhaps we should experience more sights blind.

*The Peace Park has trees gifted by different nations. Great Britain’s submission was a cherry tree*

We climbed some steps between manikin still guards to the main square. Three corners displayed Ataturk’s state cars.

*Two Lincoln and one Caddy. Beautifully restored. Two were armour plated after assassination attempts*

Three different uniformed guards on duty; naval, army and air, I guess. They seamed to change the guard every 2.5-3 hours before total cramp set in. Seriously, the only movement was a slight rise and fall of their chests. Once in position, they were inspected … actually just their feet repositioned. I wondered if the inspector was tying their shoe laces together so they couldn’t move.

*At one changeover, the Last Post was played. It always makes me moist*

*Tomb of a subsequent PM foreground and Ataturk’s Mausoleum*

*The mausoleum. But actually Ataturk’s body is below behind closed doors*

The museum was free and the audio guide was only 36p. Totally NOT rip off the tourist. The gift shop and cafe were also very reasonably priced. Despite the queue, they controlled the speed of entry so it was manageable.

I knew how revered Ataturk was. Legally you can’t criticise him. And what an inspirational military leader he was. He’d figured considerably when we toured Gallipoli. At Amasya we’d seen where his manifesto was written and where he’d launched the Latin alphabet. There are images of him everywhere, with his blue eyes looking up as if he has divine inspiration.

*This image had alienated me to be honest*

Anyhow, I learned so much.

There were 3 large painted panoramas. One was Gallipoli, which we have visited.

I remember reading that Mustafa Kemal, before he obtained the surname Ataturk, inspired his forces by telling them it was their duty to die. Other soldiers would replace them to fight for the soil of Turkey

I had not realised quite how carved up Turkey was in 1919. And the citizens had no rights. The Sultan basically protected himself. Resistance was widespread but localised. Mustafa Kemal, war hero, consolidated efforts. The Greeks saw an opportunity to gain ground into Antalya which had been Greek centuries before. But Kemal coordinated the attack on Greek lines. Culminating in the population exchange of 1923/4. Atrocities committed on both sides, so I can completely now understand the Greek Turkish animosity that still exists. When we told Greeks we were coming to Turkey the standard response was a) why and b) be careful. Yet they share so much in cuisine and human nature. We have been bowled over by Turkish kindness and generosity.

The galleries and Audi guide told the stories of the wars and reforms really well. Ataturk (was given this name, when he introduced the law for everyone to choose a surname) was part of a government but had his enemies. There were various assassination attempts, but he died from sclerosis at 58. Apparently he like raki.

His legacy was total reform across all sectors. His main foci were agriculture, education and industry. Previously, Turkey had imported wheat. Women got the vote in 1930.

Lunch in Ankara then a taxi (couldn’t find the correct bus stop) out to fetch Jez. The guys did so much work in such a short space of time. We didn’t mind handing over £1000 (in £4 notes) as they deserved it and have been such a pleasure to deal with.

We’ve decamped to a lakeside basic campsite to do laundry and sort ourselves out. Back to Ankara on Thursday as one of our rear airbags is deflating.

Flying Visit to Dublin

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Clunegapyears

29-31/08/2025

To Dublin

Another early start. And a day full of food.
Breakfast at the hotel.
Cakes and coffee at Istanbul airport lounge.
Brunch on the plane
Coffee and cake at the shopping centre whilst we waited for Delia to finish work.
Dinner out at an Italian.
No wonder all my clothes are tight.

*And the caravan repair sent a video to show all the body work has been done. Yay.*

A Day in Dublin

We had a hire car so we left the still working Delia and Liam in bed. We went to Avoca handicrafts looking for gifts, but pretty useless. Then to the James Joyce Martello Tower in Dun Laoghaire. Fabulous little gem with informed delightful staff.

The whole purpose of this trip was to celebrate J’s sister Amelia’s 80th birthday. Two brothers had flown in from Chicago. Sadly Amelia is in a nursing home and didn’t feel she could cope with a meal out. All the sibling’s visited her at the home.

From Dublin

Hire car dropped. Dublin business lounge was not up to much … no tonic water to go with my gin!!! Understandably closing today for refurbishment. We perched on a radiator at the gate for an hour and a half as the plane was delayed. Seems to be a thing that there are insufficient seats at gates.

*Biz class starter, pud and cheese. Lunch was chicken and I imbibed champagne* 😃

Flight didn’t land until 2130. Istanbul international airport is huge. We walked for miles to passport control and then even further to the metro. We had 2 long train rides to our hotel, arriving gone 11 pm. Hoped the wine night cap would help us sleep but …

*… but the duvet was too short, so a choice … cold feet or cold shoulders!*

Back to Ankara

01/09/2025

Goodness first day of a new month! Hotel breakfast not up to much. Near the hotel we managed to buy new Turkcel sims as the Vodafone do not have a good signal away from towns. And get some cash out … PTT and Halkbank do not charge a withdrawal fee. We have paid £16 before we sussed which banks to use. 😮

All the work has been done on the motorhome, bar the motor for lifting the bed and the replacement step. The latter is in cargo. So we’ve booked a night in another cheap hotel and booked Corrie in for another night at the kennels.

We then had best part of an hour train to the train station for our high speed train to Ankara, arriving at 1520. A taxi to our 4th hotel. J napped and I washed out our smalls.

A lot of effort for such a short time with the family. And I was very sad not to see Amelia.

Ankara and Istanbul in 2 days!

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Clunegapyears

Ankara

27/08/25

Up early to drop Corrie at the Perfendy Otel. The mechanic where Jez is going for work had arranged it for us. No cages or kennels. A yard for daytime and a bedroom at night. Corrie trembled when we arrived. She thought she was at the vet. Regular updates from the kennel. It took her a few days to settle. Her first time in kennels.

*But on the last video she had made friends with a calm 3 legged dog!*

Then a drive across Ankara to the motorhome repair shop. A straight wide and free flowing road. Rush hour didn’t seem to exist.

We spent a couple of hours going through the work using google translate. The head honcho was checking on the phone what could be out sourced. One of the mechanics kindly dropped us to our Ankara hotel. Dropping bags, we checked out the train station for tomorrow. A cheap taxi to near the Anatolian Museum of Ancient Civilisations for lunch. And then into the museum. Both feeling tired, we pretty much scooted through. Focussed on the Hittites treasures that had been found at the sites we have visited.

Istanbul

28/08/25

0840 for the high speed train to Istanbul. Airport style passport checks. Allocated seats. Left and arrived on time to the minute. Only annoyance was no usb charging points, but we had a battery pack. Trolley and buffet car.

Istanbul was busy and a sensory overload. We were assisted by 2 locals to buy transport cards and then load money onto them. Metro to the old part of Europe Istanbul.
Straight to a restaurant where we eventually managed to check in for our flights tomorrow. And to book a luggage storage in a nearby hotel.

Tbh we were not loving Istanbul. Too crowded. Too touristy. Reminded us of Marrakesh.
We did a gps.mycity introduction walk which took us through the spice bazaar. Seething mass of humanity. J had to hold onto me so we didn’t get separated. Hated it.

The main architectural sites were more open and calmer. We didn’t go into any as a) we were shattered and b) we knew it is a long way out to our near airport hotel.

*A chap who offered to help us, said he was boss of* *city transport, said its much less crowded November and February /* *March, should we decide to return*

In fact, we hadn’t realised just how difficult to get to our hotel. The super helpful chap in the hotel, where we had left our luggage, checked several routes and recommended 2 buses. He warned us that they would be busy and slow as 6 pm by now. They surely were. The whole journey from arriving at the bus station (on foot through the bloody spice market again) to the hotel was 3 hours. But at 40 lira each per trip, the total cost was about £3 for both of us. Driving direct 37km, but of course the bus wasn’t direct.

We’d gone past hungry so demolished a bottle of red in our room and flaked out.

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

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