Unfortunately Pedro didn't appreciate the heavy rain and miles of muddy road to get to Pristina. Their were major road works going on and Pedro chose the busiest, muddiest section to cut out. No amount of tinkering, which for me amounted to spraying lots of WD40 around the by now soaking engine, was working. Pedro attracts a lot of attention though and before long a polish doctor stopped and offered us a tow to a garage. He spoke excellent English so translated the problem to the garage before heading on his way.
So. stood at the side of the road, in the mud and rain and who should appear but Artur from MAT with his wife Nicky, children, Lisa and Jan and also his niece who is called Fiona! They had been shopping in Pristina and were on their way home when they recognised the old Beetle in the garage!
The fault was eventually traced to a small part of the carb which sends a sugnal to the throttle so that it doesn't cut out when you take your foot off the accelerator. I'm sure someone can tell me what it's called, we didn't know the translation from kosovan. Luckily, the garage owner, who was wearing a splendid pork pie hat, found one the same on an old russian carb in his workshop.
So, we said goodbye to Artur and his family again and were on our way again. It was still raining and very dark when we drove up Bill Clinton avenue in Pristina but Rica got her photo!
A lot of effort to have your photo taken with a former president but I understand the fascination. Most Americans would struggle to find kosovo on a map and yet here is a country who proudly fly the American flag, have named the main street of their capital city after an American president and display a 4 metre tall picture of him in the centre of town. All out of gratitude for the help offered by America during the war with Serbia. Most of the mines and cluster bombs being cleared by MAT are american but they don't feel any bitterness about that because it was neccessary to end the war with Serbia. Britain also helped during the conflict, so the British and American's are very warmly welcomed in Kosovo.
Of course this put us well behind schedule again so we had to high tail it through Macedonia and greece. On entering Macedonia Rica managed to convince customs that they were part of Europe so we didn't have to buy car insurance, well 50 euros for 3 hours in the country did seem a bit steep! It did cause a small problem when leaving the country but the officials eventually decided we weren't worth the paperwork and let us go.
Greece went by in a bit of a flash of mostly night driving but at the border we met a group of Polish 4x4 drivers. They were on a tour from Poland to turkey and back in a fleet of landrovers - Light weights! Of course they loved Pedro and we found ourselves posing for probably the millionth photo of this trip! There must be pictures of Pedro all over the internet by now!
We arrived in Istanbul later that night, where Rica had arranged to stay at a couch surfing flat. For those unfamiliar with couch surfing, it's a website where people advertise floor space, a spare bed or sofa in their house free to international visitors. well these guys had obviously been doing it for a while because they had a flat full. Apart from rica and I there were 2 Australians, a Slovenian girl and 2 chezch girls were just leaving. It turned into a bit of a couch surfing party with different flavour Shisha being smoked.
To get back on schedule I had to leave early the next morning for the drive to cappodocia. Rica's Iranian visa didn't arrive in time so she is flying to meet me in pakistan. I arrived in Cappodocia very late, Pedro was running very slowly, especially up hills. As the staff in the hotel here speak perfect English I asked them to direct me to a mechanic.
Mustafah didn't speak any English but unlike a lot of men that I've met since arriving in Turkey was very kind and respectful. He understood the problem and set about stripping down the carb. It seems I'd picked up a bit of dirty fuel. The air filter was also filter so that received a petrol bath and a blow out with the air line. He didn't like the way the carb moved around so made a little bracket to secure it. He was also concerned about a crack in one of Pedro's fibreglass wings. I didn't have any way to tell him it's been like that since I bought him so I let him rivet a plate underneath, I think the idea is that it will stop it getting worse and add a little strength.
The guys in the garage were all very sweet and even shared their luch with me. It really changed my attitude to Turkish men who I was starting to think were all just out to chat up western women and Pedro is now running great again.
Unfortunatley after the garage I stopped at some market stalls where I was instantly harrassed and some bloke stuck black eye-liner on me! I didn't want it but thought I'd end up with it stuck in my eye if I moved!
So, with rica still in Istanbul I set out to expore Cappodocia with our other passenger. If you've read my earlier post then you'll know that James beauchamp has sent his best friend `white teddy` travelling with us. Here he is enjoying the cave homes in Goreme national park.
I'm videoing this journey too but it's a little difficult while I'm on my to film and talk to camera at the same time. I set the camera up in one of the caves to record myself, the 2 new yorkers who walked in didn't see the camera and thought I was a crazy person talking to myself.
The camel doesn't look too convinced so I didn't bother!!
Got to run now, on the hotel computer and other guests are waiting to use it, hence the hurried post - apologies for any typos!
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