Snow is Falling All Around Us...... there's no one having fun!

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Woolly says – there I was up and ready to go I even offered to cook breakfast while I waited for Jo and Ian to sort themselves out. We made it into Ollie and while I got comfy on my seat and Ollie roared into life they got back out again and went to look for the map! I mean isn’t that the first thing you pack! Have you checked you’ve got PASSPORTS?? At last my patience paid off and we left the sunny shores of Alanya on our next adventure.



I know it’s pretty stupid to forget one of the most vital things on the list but it was early and we are out of practice for our nomadic life. We swept through Antalya and waved at the airport before we started travelling North West.



Woolly says – Having travelled these roads in August I have to say they looked completely different, no leaves on the trees and huge piles of wood piled up outside the houses, the fields are barren and the roadside sellers must be tucked up inside their tiny dwellings. Ollie hammered through the mountains, he has missed the constant exercise and seemed delighted to be stretching his new rubber wheels. As we climbed higher the temperature started to plummet from a nice warming 16 and we were soon adding layers to keep warm against the 4 degrees outside.



I added several layers when we stopped to fuel up it was bitter, with only another two hours to go we couldn’t foresee any problems and the weather forecast had said it would be colder than the med coast but sunny.



Woolly says – Well they got that wrong! Ten minutes later I spotted some cute little snowflakes jumping onto Ollie’s bonnet, five minutes later we were driving through heavy snowfall and it was sticking. I demanded that Ian stop the car and retrieve my hat, scarf and hoodie but as usual he ignored me, so I sat huddled against the heater glaring at the icy wilderness around us.



It was grim, we were crawling down the roads with little or no visibility, Ian and Ollie worked together to keep us from skidding into the mountain sides or the abyss’s below. Reaching Denlizi we started looking for a bed for the night and of course there was none to be found. The snow turned to sleet and the sky started to brighten, let’s carry on. Why do we do these things?



Woolly says – ten kilometres sped past and it all looked so much better turning onto the road to Cannukale we thought we would push on for another hour or so but within minutes fog had descended and the light was going, we started to look out for a hotel again, I began to realise how Mary and Joseph must have felt when hunting for a stable. Driving past a garage Ian quickly reversed and Jo was elected to leave the snug interior to go and ask for directions, well they couldn’t expect me to go could they, I mean I wasn’t exactly dressed for the North Pole. Jo climbed back in and through chattering teeth told us that we had passed our stable for the night two hundred metres back. Having sorted out warm food and a soft bed, I plan to keep my paws crossed for better climates tomorrow. Ian sat watching the football from Istanbul and kept commenting how bad the weather was. What do we care, its football! It’s not even England is it? Hang on…..no it’s a Turkish team. When the match was abandoned because of snow it came to me, this was in Turkey! North Turkey!! Where we’re going tomorrow!!! Oh crumbs!!!!



None of us had the best night’s sleep between the cold and the constant pacing of Ian and Woolly checking out of the window to see the ongoing weather conditions. After Woolly had hovered up his boiled eggs, salad and olives breakfast and gulped down a couple of large cups of cay we were ready.



Woolly says – On the road by 8.30am and with the sun shining and the roads clear it boded well. Two hours passed as we sped past field upon field of eucalyptus trees, cattle lowing in their fields and shepherds watching their flocks, this was easy.



Woolly spoke too soon, as we crested a hill and were cruising down the other side we spied police stopping traffic at the bottom. I rolled down my window and was greeted with lots of Turkish and arm waving, trying my favourite word – anlamadim (I don’t understand) – the officer continued to gesture and talk away so I went down the ‘I’m English’ and he waved us on.



Woolly says – I just stared blankly at him and hoped I hadn’t done anything wrong……again! We drove on and all seemed well in Woolly land, a few of those pesky flakes started to hit Ollie before being joined by several million more. White stuff was flying everywhere and the road was disappearing along with the vehicle in front of us, on we went and conditions became worse, I had thought yesterday was bad, oh boy had I been wrong. I couldn’t see my trunk in front of my tusks and Jo and Ian started murmuring about turning round IF they could find somewhere. On and on we crept I could feel Ollie sliding beneath us but with nowhere to turn we had no choice but to battle on. Moments later we stopped, along with another fifty cars, trucks and coaches. We all sat there for a while and watched the people around us start to fix snow chains to their tyres, helping each other out and chatting away, all very friendly. I asked when Ian was going to put our chains on Ollie’s new rubber paws……



A little bit of a problem there as we don’t have any



Woolly says … WHAT, I knew I should have been in charge of packing. With nothing else to do I sat and tried counting flakes of snow, growing bored of that I started sorting out the driving sweeties on the back seat into matching colours, I begged and pleaded to be allowed out of the car to go and build a Snow Mammoth but was told to sit down and be quiet.



After nearly an hour I decided to brave the outside world and see if I could find out what was happening, walking down the lines of vehicles I asked if anyone spoke English until I found a helpful young man who told me the road was blocked, it happens a lot and no he had no idea how long we might be stranded. With these words ringing in my ears I returned to report back my findings.



Woolly says – I started checking food supplies, sorting out everyone’s clothes and checking to see if we had flares, blankets and other vital supplies, I am sorry to say we were sadly lacking as not one of the Christmas presents in the boot would help at all unless we could start a fire for warmth, now there’s an idea!



An hour and a half later the convoy started a very slow move, sliding up and down the roads with artics being stranded everywhere and cars making their own way into the crash barrier the incredible skills of Ian’s driving and Ollie’s abilities came into play and we ploughed our way through.



Woolly says – ten kilometres and the road was looking better, a quick comfort break for Jo proved fatal, before we could even pull onto the road again we were back at a standstill. There we sat twiddling our fingers, picking our noses and shivering, another hour passed and we could hear engines revving up and we made our way back onto the road and into the fleet of vehicles for a mind numbingly slow drive. We passed wrecked lorries, a coach on its side as we gradually covered the next twenty kilometres. Turning onto the D555 we seemed to leave the traffic behind and Ollie picked up speed as the conditions improved, we were going so well until we found ourselves behind a truck that was stuck. I puffed and sighed with the best of them but still it didn’t move.



More concerning for us was that Ollie was close to running out of juice, there had been no benzine at the comfort stop and the next garage was at least 15 KM away, if it was open and IF it was there. The truck finally started to move and we crept past him and down the mountainside, not far to go.





Woolly says – as so often happens the first fuel station was closed and although keeping everything crossed hurt we could only hope that we made it to the next and that they had the drink of Ollie’s choice. Pulling in with him gasping for refreshment we were in luck and in minutes he was guzzling away. All feeling very relieved we were off again, only another two hundred or so kilometres to go and as the roads cleared and we looked around you would never know that snow was in Turkey at all. As we roared down the roads Edermit appeared on the horizon and a beautiful sunset over the med met our tired eyes, two more hours of green and lush forests and we found ourselves at Cannukale our destination for the night. How Ian did it I will never know but we were safe and sound, at Hotel Gunder for the night which was a snip at 70 TL (approximately £27.00 GBP). I thought it only fair to treat Ian to tea. Although it meant braving the freezing temperatures outside we shuffled along the road and found a tiny little café, warm and cosy inside. The owner spoke no English but we managed to order. Best Kofte’s and rice for me and Ian and bean stew and rice for Jo, yummy and with drinks included I thought I had misheard the lady ask for ten lira (approximately £3.70 GBP), an absolute steal. Time for bed says Woolly.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Aren’t mammoths supposed to be keen on snow and ice?
That's a slightly scary way to start a trip! Hope the rest of your drive is drama-free.

[traveltalesofawoollymammoth]

But this isn't any ordinary Mammoth!
Very scary and glad to be out of it. Woolly is such a p****y he hates anything wet and cold and boy does he moan!