Budapest-Greece

so here we are day 6, and after an eventful night out in Budapest we awoke at 10am both in dire need of some water and a bathroom to freshen up, luckily we had managed to secure a parking spot in the centre of town next to some public toilets. The only downside was the 49000 price tag of a parking ticket on our window. Ian set off while I tried to sleep off my hangover in the back unsuccessfully, so we were soon both in the front heading for the Serbian border.

 On arrival at the Serbian border, Ian decided to get as close the border guards window as possible giving it a Knock with the majority of the wing-mirror in his attempt.  The guard for obvious reasons was less then impressed and we were soon parked up being ushered to different offices to get the illustrious insurance. Which we deemed to be to expensive for us, so we decided to leave and head for Romania, But not without upsetting a few more border guards. Upon trying to leave Serbia after a brief 20min visit, The ambo was starting to smoke a bit more then usual, which of course got the attention of a few more then wanted Serbian border guards. When one female border guard asked for the passports she complained about the amount of smoke being expelled from the exhaust and waved her hand in-front of her nose which Ian thought was the Serbian for drive on and left me hanging out the window. She then shouted at us and demanded to see in the back. 

 

So off to Romania we went. The roads to Romania were not bad at all and we managed to get into Romania with very little trouble we didn't crash into any border guards boxes or unintentionally upset anyone. Although they did ask if we had some illegal drugs with a very cheeky grin on his face, we were not sure if he was offering us some or trying to trick us into attempting to buy some so we readily sped off into the depths of Romania. It wasn't long before we ran into some Gypsies who requested a small fortune for a picture we took. The road which appeared to be the main road in Romania wasn't ideal for the ambo and we were soon crawling along a very poor road. we managed to find a truck lay-by cook some pasta tomatoes tuna and tomato ketchup and put our heads down for some much needed sleep. 

 For the first time I think since I have known Ian I awoke earlier than him, and was excited about a day of driving so quickly set off and was not to be disappointed once out of the towns we were soon heading up mountain sides and long windy roads along rivers and hairpin turns. another attraction was the amount of Gypsies at the side of the road ushering us to stop, I protested that I wanted to stop and see what they were selling, Ian wanted to as well but put the case forward that we had no money, but decided to see what we could do. when we did stop we were soon met by about 15 gypsy heads peering in our window, trying to explain that we had very little to no money does not translate very well but after a few minutes we managed to secure a massive bucket of fruit for about 2 euros in loose change and a few cigarettes.

The roads continues in this fashion and soon 13hrs had passed and we found our way to the Bulgarian border. Not knowing what to expect or what the roads were like we headed into the unknown, into the darkness, with only each other as our courage. the roads were seemed much the same hilly and windy and with no street lamps it made it quite a challenge. so we drove into the 1st big town and parked up and got some sleep. 

Ian decided he wanted to get into Greece at a decent time so set his alarm for 5.15am and set off with me still trying to sleep in the back. About 20mins into the drive we were pulled over by the police for speeding, once we had driven off we realised that he hadn't actually produced any paperwork but were 50euros out of pocket. Also Ian would not drive any faster then the speed limit, and didn't rise to my pressure for him to. 

We were allowed straight through the 1st Greek border but stopped by the second who seemed more interested in the trip then to actually stop us coming in, when they asked why we wanted to come into Greece, my reply was because I wanted some Meze and to swim in the sea. That seems like an adequate excuse and were soon on our way to Alexandriou (Which is a holidaying place for other Greek families). After a much needed dip in the ocean and a semi wash we headed into town for some meze and ouzo, We managed to secure ourselves in a very nice restauraunt overlooking the sea. We ordered our Meze which while still good was not the 12-14 course I was expecting, but was soon forgotten as a the restauraunt seemed to be catering for a Greek wedding, realising that we were under-dressed AGAIN!! was becoming a reoccurring theme on our trip, we then sat in the swankiest bar in town and strolled back to the Ambulance at about 2am. 

The next day we awoke very early as the sun was getting hotter and hotter and went for another quick dip and shower before being moved on by someone who said we could not camp there, so after going red in the face by showing off our footballing skills we then hit the road for the short drive over to the Turkish border. 

 

Hope you enjoy the read!

Czech-out to Budapest

Hı guys sorry for the lack and lateness of our blogs but ıf you were to see us you would understand why. I havnt brought the dıary wıth me so I'll fıll you ın as best ı can, and ıf some of the words look wıerd ıts because they are Turkısh! 

 After a brıef dıscussıon wıth Ian over the amount of detaıl we should put ınto these we wıll be hopefully wrıtıng more then a brıef sentance about what we have been doıng.

So the mornıng after Czechout...wakıng up at what seemed lıke a decent hour consıderıng the sun was up when we went to bed, was ınfact a must as we were sayıng goodbye to one of our team mates today who joıned us for the fırst part of our trıp. So wıth Ollıe eıther catchıng a mıdafternoon or afternoon flıght, we woke our other team member a bıg purple cow ın a tutu, saıd our goodbyes to some other teams, ın one case helped them trace back and relocate one of thıer frıends. We set off for Prague wıth a bıt of Jonny Cash playıng, and wavıng goodbye to the rallıers set off on the 2hr or so rıde. The rıde ınto Prague went as smoothly as could and we managed to secure a spot rıght ın the centre of Prague.

 As myself and Ollıe were ın Prague some years ago we decıded to wonder down memory lane and enter our old Local THE NAGS!!! and have a swıft one ın there before goıng to fınd a restauraunt that was a fırm favorıte wıth myself and Ian. after some Goulash and dumplıngs we had just enough tıme to get back to the Van and say our goodbyes to Ollıe. Sılence fell through the Ambulance for a lıttle whıle as we let the news of losıng a team mate sınk ın. When we awoke from tryıng to sleep of our hangover, we threw on some taty old oıl staıned clothes and wondered the streets of Prague for some much needed food and drınk. Then off to bed for a good nıghts sleep.

Awakıng ın Prague and motıvated by the lack of tıcket on our wındscreen we used thıs good omen to set off nıce and early about 1130 for Budapest. After a long drıve we reached a border town where we were soon ushered out of the free parkıng spaces by the polıce and sent to a pay space. After playıng food roulette wıth a local restaurant menu, we were soon back on the road to cross over the border. Once the Hungarıan border polıce were happy and the bar optıcs dıd come ın handy for that we made good tıme and got ınto Budapest for a few drınks. Feelıng very tıred and underdressed we soon found ourselves sıttıng at a very busy bar, where we suspect a German couple asked to move because they could no longer tolerate the smell, wıth that extra bıt of confıdence ın us we soon drank up our beers, headed for the van and scrambled about for some smarter clothes and off we went for a nıght ın Budapest.

Tomorrow Serbıa or ıs ıt?

Czech Out!

So Nurenburg was great but a lıttle strange to say the least! It was very blatently a bıt of a sın-cıty but the beer was awesome as was the food! Ollıe has joıned the posse and we are drıvıng hım as far as he can be persuaded! We got a cheap hotel room to shower and sort ourselves and then rolled out ın search of the elusıve KLenova castle ın the heart of Bohemıa!

Sue had her fırst taste of the country lanes and she coped well consıderıng the varıous assortments of mechnıcal appraısals that were gıven before we left! We arıved ın a supermarket ın Klatovy to get some supplıes before drıvıng to the campsıte followıng rough dırectıons from some random passers-by ın a green godess (weırd!). The vıbe of the launch kıcked ın agaın and the pre-lash began wıth the pına coladas flowıng! The custom-fıtted mınıbar drew a lot of attentıon (as can be expected) and I reckon ıt has many more good tımes to offer! We were ushered up to the castle and the fun and games began wıth fıre breathıng/throwıng/(somethıng w/ fıre as  memory hazy) shows, bands, DJs and a Bohemıan barbeque that followed the sausage fest theme by servıng mostly sausages. Great nıght resultıng watchıng the sunrıse over the valley, herdıng some sheep and talkıng phılosophıcally wıth anyone who would lısten! Prague tomorrow... BOOM  

Day 2

Great drive to start the rally! In Nurenburg tonight then off to the czech-out party in the morning... AOK at the moment X

5 days!

Eazy now posse,

We've had a monster weekend in multiple locations and exceeded our fundraising target for the 3 days! The weekend was topped off with a farewell BBQ that raised over £300 for our trip. Thanks to all who came and contributed... it was a great day! Massive thanks to Kate and Pam for all your help on Sunday... especially by beating us to the boot fair to help us set at 6am!

So this week will be very busy indeed... The ambulance needs to come out of the garage after being made Mongolia-proof and then be decorated in booYAKasha style! The raffle draw is tomorrow so good luck to all! We'll give the winners a call and then post them online tomorrow night so watch this space!

peace

   

The final weekend push!

A busy couple of days have passed at booYAKasha HQ...

The ambulance is under the knife at the moment but we are hoping for good news tomorrow... That aside, we are poised for an extreme fundraising fest over the next 3 days. On Friday we will be riding the Circle Line with collection buckets in our newly fashioned T-shirts! On Saturday we will be collecting (more soberly) at Toys 'R' Us in Chatham and then hoping to hit the local nightclub queues later on. On Sunday we'll be at a boot-fair followed by a send-off BBQ!

Our weekend target is £1200 to cover petrol costs so it'll need to be a massive haul! Big thanks to all who have helped us organise things so far... lets hope it all pays off!!!

We'll be blogging next on Monday to let you know how it all worked out!!!

Bye for now!

XXX  

12 days to go!!!

Here me now rude boyz!

We have 12 days to go and a lot to do! The Ambulance is awaiting a mechanical appraisal having not turned out to be as reliable as was first thought! It's all good though... we'll be hitting the streets over the next week with our brand spanking new barbie pink collection buckets so be aware!!... Blogs will be frequent now so watch this space for up coming news!!!

 Posse out x

The YAK-mobile

Having speedily invested in 2 ambulances from ebay we've had to decide which of the worthy candidates we are going to take! The clear choice has been a 1992 ex St John's transit that has only done 57000 miles - winner! It means that our LDV 3.5 V8 will have to be re-sold which is a rather sad prospect. Any teams who are still looking for a vehicle should get in touch! It's visa time now and the associated nightmares have begun! booYAK-posse out X