Richard Trollope

Trolley

Richard Trollope

Travelled overland to Australia in 1972 taking 4 months and after 20 months in Australia travelled back through Indonesia taking 3 months. I have read and admired lots of blogs on this website and have decided to add my diary from my first travels. I will endeavour to update my pages in line with the 1972 dates. Unfortunately my films from London to Kabul were lost in the post and therefore I cannot add my own photographs until later in the journey! The first ten days were spent travelling through Germany and some days were staying with student friends hence they are less challenging (and maybe less interesting to the reader).
I have retained the bug and have travelled to many other countries such as Nepal, Costa Rica and Cuba. The most recent journey was in late 2012 spending 3 weeks wandering around North Vietnam/Laos - thanks to all those of all ages who make travelling so pleasurable.
Now retired.

Overland 1972 - Day 52

Asia » India » Jammu & Kashmir » Srinagar April 3rd 1972

Nagin houseboat

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Day 52 - Monday 3rd April The important task today was to find a decent houseboat for our stay in Srinagar - last night's houseboat was poor and the river was not that appealing. Jean-Pierre and Barbara stayed behind to look after our luggage whilst the remaining six of us set off in different directions to meet at the Tourist Information Office - too many of us together seemed to cause too much excitement amongst the owners. On my route, I was stopped several times with offers of the "very best" houseboat - made a note as may be interesting to look at later. Carolyn and Janet went to see a houseboat by the river called Suffering Moses - I am against though as I had not been impressed last night. We arrived at the Tourist ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 51

Asia » India » Jammu & Kashmir » Jammu City April 2nd 1972

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Day 51 - Sunday 2nd April Another early rise at 5.50am in readiness to catch the bus - sometimes it feels like a waste to pay for a bed and try to sleep in these circumstances. The bus seats were incredibly narrow and I shared my bench with Carolyn and slim Peter. Fortunately the bus made frequent stops on our day long journey. The scenery was truly spectacular along high winding roads passing several landslides and numerous warning signs - "beware weak bridge" and ""beware avalanches for 2 miles" - kind of scary. Added to these concerns, one could see the wrecks of numerous vehicles (buses and lorries) which had fallen off the edge into the ravine below. Kashmir was certainly delightful after the cold, damp and bleak landscapes of the earlier part of the journey. ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 50

Asia » India » Punjab » Pathankot April 1st 1972

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Day 50 - Saturday 1st April What a noisy town - there was noise and shouting all night ! After a lot of haggling, the fare was agreed for the short trip to the bus station - it was amazing how high the initial rate was quoted at. The journey to Jammu was without incident. The journey took three hours through the green countryside and there was pleasant warming sunshine to enjoy. However I was quickly surrounded by people and had difficulty in protecting my rucksack from the porters. Eventually I escaped and made the long walk up the walkway to the Kashmiri Tourist Office. The effort was well worthwhile as the Office was full of brochures and the staff were extremely helpful. I stayed for over an hour and sorted out train times and acquired ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 49

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 31st 1972

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Day 49 - Friday 31st March I was very worried about the NZ girl and how she would survive without any money. So I negotiated with the manager of the hotel - a pair of my albeit old western shoes to pay for a few nights rent and some food. I left for the Ariana airline office for 8am. Most of my fellow passengers were Americans and Canadians. The proceedure through the airport was fairly slow. I noticed that two travellers were arrested (believed to be for drugs offences) but most people were not searched at all. We all sat in the lounge waiting for the plane - alas I did not have any Afghanis left and therefore could not buy a drink. As a near virgin air traveller, I found the flight quite unnerving. However ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 48

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 30th 1972

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Day 48 - Thursday 30th March Today would be the last one in Kabul. I had to return to the clothes shop as some of the seams on my jacket needed strengthening. It was nearly 11am and so I had about an hour to get to the site of the Noon Gun. I walked out of town along the river and although I could see the fortications in the distance, I had trouble finding the route to get there. Too late the gun fired ! I stopped in a small village and had a drink - everywhere was very decrepit and dirty. I returned to the main road and met a few fellow travellers - two Japanese and a Singaporean. The latter was very talkative but he gave a depressing view of India (my next port ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 47

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 29th 1972

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Day 47 - Wednesday 29th March I was still feeling off colour and was worrying at the prospect of being left in a sickly state in Kabul whilst my friends moved miles away on towards Pakistan. Fortunately by midday, my health started to improve and I began to feel hungry - clearly a good sign. By 2pm, I felt well enough to walk to the Post Office and to my relief, my post included a package containing the replacement student cards, which would be vital in reducing fares throughout Asia - and of course everyone knows that so many cards are counterfeit and risk not being accepted. I could now go to the Ariana offices (Afghan airlines) and arrange for an ongoing flight into India. I was informed that fares would be going up in April. ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 46

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 28th 1972

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Day 46 - Tuesday 28th March It was one of those quiet days which a traveller needs every now and again. I sat on the verandah of my hotel and read some of the travel brochures, which I had acquired from the Indian Embassy in London. It would appear that heading south would be impractical due to time limitations and the potential heat. After lunch I headed towards the bazaar. En route I met the Canadian traveller who had returned from Bamian - he enjoyed the spectacle of the region and the statues but was totally unnerved by the flight. We were invited into a bakery which had about seven staff working on all of the processes from kneading the dough to preparation for delivery - there did not seem to be any direct selling though. ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 45

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 27th 1972

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Day 45 - Monday 27th March It was time to do some planning for the next part of the journey and assess whether it was possible to cross borders into India. First stop was the bus company for times and fares for journeys to Peshawar. Second stop was the Indian Embassy but unfortunately they were no help and only confirmed that the border was closed. I decided to go to the British Embassy which was on the outskirts of the city. I managed to get lost and fortunately two rich looking Afghan guys stopped and kindly drove me to the Embassy. The Embassy was an elegant white building set in its own grounds - very picturesque. As I arrived I noticed what appeared to be the Ambassador and his wife standing by a shimmering new looking ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 44

Asia » Afghanistan » East » Kabul March 26th 1972

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Day 44 - Saturday 26th March A great start to the day with the first hot shower since Teheran. My first port of call was the Post Office but alas the replacement International Student cards had not arrived - however there were four letters including some sports pages from the local Bournemouth newspaper. Outside the Post Office I was hassled into having a shoeshine by two young urchins but it only cost 2 Afghanis and so no harm to the finances ! I returned to the hotel and sat on the balcony drinking some tea, reading my letters and watching the world. Outside there was a student demonstration protesting against government interference with the University. I was concerned to see a number of riot police but I did not see any trouble. Time for some exercise ... read more

Overland 1972 - Day 43

Asia » Afghanistan » South » Kandahar March 25th 1972

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Day 43 - Saturday 25th March It was difficult to sleep on the coach. At 4am Heather and I went for a walk around the centre of Kandahar. The roads were still lit and the drains smelt pretty offensive. There were a few people around and surprisingly some shops were already open. At 5am the Imam called the people to prayer and gradually the scene changed until by 7am the square was filled with people and also vendors selling nuts, raisons, rice and bread from their hand pulled stores. There were beggars to be seen and some tried to get on the coach. It was interesting to see the wide variation in dress. Apparently we had to change coaches for Kabul and some guys had already moved our rucksacks - no problem until they demanded money ... read more

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