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In July 1998 two Aussies, a baby and VW left London to return to Australia. Our journey home took just over seven months, and took us overland through Europe, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Kirghistan, China, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia. It was the journey of a lifetime and a wonderful way to return to Australia after being away for seven years. (Why fly when you can drive!) After two years of planning and working our way through the intricacies of all of the paperwork that was required for the trip, we set off from London. We had an extra little passenger on board, our son Samuel who was born in London in February 1998. He was a good traveller, a happy and sociable little boy who adapted well to all the changes of being on the road and revelling in the crowds and attention that he drew along the way. on the road Leaving London we spent three weeks in Europe, easing in gradually to life on the road and visiting some of our favourite spots in Europe en route - a little finale to our time in the UK. We travelled via France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, enjoying the beautiful scenery of Europe along the way and the wonderful variety of good food. Turkey We arrived in Turkey during a heat wave with temperatures up to 44?C in the shade! As we neared Istanbul we had our first taste of congested and crazy traffic, white lines and traffic lights ignored! It was good to visit Istanbul again, having been here around ten years ago on our first trip out from Australia. The bazaars, covered markets, mosques and people, the smells and the noises were all great to be back in again. The Turkish people loved Samuel and would cart him off at any chance. He found the women in chadors most amusing and would squeal with delight and try to grab their face veils when they held him. From the Gallipoli Peninsula we followed the coast around our favourite spots of Fethiye, Oludeniz and Kas along the Mediteranean, before heading inland to Goreme and Cappadocia. As we crossed into Eastern Turkey, the military presence was noticeably higher, more checkpoints, soldiers, tanks and heavy artillery around. The area to Lake Van and around the lake itself was very attractive, mountains and little villages, homes of mud bricks and children out tending the sheep and goats. Dogubayazit was our last stop before Iran, a dusty frontier town in PKK territory, with the snow peaked Mt Ararat looming up in the distance. It was here that Trevor disappeared for a few hours - when he returned he said that he had been a guest of honour at a Bar-B-Q with a group of local men - they had insisted that he join them, a group of men who talked with pride of being Kurds. Iran Once in past the border chaos of Iran, we found the people very friendly and welcoming, although their driving made the Turks look like Sunday drivers! Covered from head to toe (or neck to toe in Trevor\'s case), we made our way around Iran via Tabriz, Hamadan, Esfahan, Shiraz, Persepolis, Kerman, Bam, Yatz, Tabas and Mashhad. The colourful bazaars, mosaic covered mosques and shrines, carpet shops and tea houses were an experience and always there were helpful, friendly people who were very hospitable and loved Samuel. Even the USA dropping a few missiles on bordering Afghanistan didn\'t create too much of a stir. Bam was a favourite spot - an oasis town of hundreds of date palms with a very impressive mud brick old city with intact mud city walls that were spectacular to walk around at sunset. The "Stans" We exited Iran into Turkmenistan, one of those places that was hard to get information on beforehand. We gave two guys a ride across "no-mans land", something we don\'t normally do, but a worthwhile exercise as they turned out to be officials we then had to deal with at the border and we crossed hassle free. Ashghabat, the capital, was not too bad - less traffic than Iran, you could even cross the road in relative safety - a fairly relaxed city. We found a nice central hotel - in Russian style having a floor lady who would whisk Samuel away whenever she could. The Combi We then struck out across the desert north east to Konye-Urgench, the maps of Turkmenistan were vague and inaccurate - a bit of old Russia\'s \'disinformation\'. Couldn\'t find out information about the route and at times even wondered if we were on the right track! There was very little traffic, just a few local trucks plodding along, occasionally a small settlement or a group of camels. We camped in the van outside a caf?at Konye-Urgench at the end of a long day\'s drive and were kept up most of the night by the comings and goings of vodka swilling locals until the early hours. Then into Uzbekistan, a country of officials, checkpoints and fines (getting stopped up to 5 - 12 times a day) and it took a day or so to get the gist of shaking them off! We enjoyed Uzbekistan, visiting Khiva and its old walled, paved, city, Bukhara with its mud buildings in the old centre and its markets and fortress, Samarkand with its central square and three huge medressas, ornate in blue mosaics and Tashkent the capital. Samuel Chinese visa \'red tape\' kept us in Tashkent for a long seven days and it was good to finally leave and head to Kirghistan, transiting through Kazakstan. From Bishkek, the capital, we drove to Lake Issy-Kul, previously a Russian resort area with old crumbling sanitoriums. With its backrop of mountains tipped with snow, roads lined with huge, white poplars, small quiet villages, horses, carts and always buckets of apples for sale along the roadsides, it was a restful spot. We visited the market day at Karakol, a dusty affair with fruit and vegies for sale, chooks, rabbits, fresh meat etc, colourful with the traditional dress of the local people there. With a deadline to cross into China we made our way across to Balchky where we were joined by a local guide to esxort us to China via the Torougart Pass. The route was very scenic, although quite desolate at times, following a wide plain, surrounded by snow capped peaks. Herds of horses roamed the area, as well as yaks and goats. We camped at Tash Rabat, an old caravanesi on the Sild Route before crossing the Torougart Pass at 3574 metres - one of the world\'s highest and loneliest crossings, the next day. Oxana, our escort, soon paid her way, helping us escape the customs \'fees\' at the border and guiding us through the numerous checkpoints in a few hours. China It was great to arrive in China - our biggest challenge of the journey, entering with our own vehicle (a bureaucratic feat on its own) and getting all of the necessary documention. We had to have a guide with us whenever we drove, so Jack became our companion. Chinese number plates were fitted and we got our Chinese Drivers Licenses! Our first stop from the border was Kashgar, a busy place to us but quiet and small by Chinese standards. We visited the Sunday Market, a colourful event with people coming in from surrounding districts to trade - there were donkey carts, horses, wagons laden with people and
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