Hello folks and welcome to
the first blog from the 2014 Istanbul to Beijing expedition.
It's not long to go now until
we all head from our corners of the earth to meet up in bustling Istanbul, the
starting point for our epic adventure. Over the next 3 months or so we will wend our way in a big orange and blue truck across 8
countries exploring en route.
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| Our faithful steed, Penelope |
You're going to be stuck with
Hels and Rogs who have been on the road with Odyssey a couple of times before
and haven't had enough just yet!
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| Rogs & Hels |
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| Yep, you're stuck with us! |
We are very excited to be heading off in a
matter of days to sun ourselves on the Aegean coast in Greece, also
coincidentally where Penelope our truck patiently waits for a bit of pre-trip
loving. Aside from a quick clean we'll be stocking up with food and supplies to
keep us well fed on the road where in places like China, familiar treats may be
a little harder to locate. On that note if there is anything you fancy bringing
from home to put on your toast in the morning don't hesitate to stuff it into
the corner of your bag. With a few folk from Australia onboard we'll no doubt
be seeing a bit of squeezy vegemite... disgusting stuff (note from the editor - these are clearly the rantings of marmite lovers who can't handle the superiority of vegemite!).
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| Soon to be a familiar sight |
Penelope is kitted out with
pretty much everything we need to tackle whatever we encounter on the road. As Baz Luhrmann advised, pack
a bit of sunscreen, a trip East at this time of year should mean some gorgeous
sunny days in the 'Stans where looking out for a river for a midday dip is
never far from our minds.
If you're not lucky enough to be
coming along on this trip you can follow our progress as we bounce along the
silk road by clicking on the handy “Where Are We?” link on the top right of the
blog. We use a spot tracker which is a clever little GPS device that plots our
last few locations on an interactive map online, it's good fun/annoying to zoom
in and see where your friends are camping and riding horses in the wilds of
Kyrgyzstan whilst you're on the tube to work.
We've done this trip a few times
before but as with all grand adventures it guarantees never to be the same,
never a dull moment as we explore these amazing countries, meet interesting
people, try out new crazy foods and push ourselves to do things we never dreamed
of before. You've signed up now and will soon be taking the plunge as you hop over to
Istanbul to start an epic journey you'll never forget.
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| Backwards - but we will be going forwards! |
We are guaranteed to do a lot including: get lost, do a u-turn, get the truck
stuck in a field, get a flat tyre, be invited into someone's home for tea, pack
up a wet tent, see a shooting star, cook over an open fire, skip a few days of
showers, get the runs, smile a lot, take 1000's of photos, forget to email home
and finally wish you hadn't packed so much to start with! Remember you can buy
everything other than your own passport on the road!
That's enough cheesy chat for now
until we meet up in Istanbul. Happy
Easter, happy packing and see you soon.
