Croatia - Zagreb

 1974

Friday, 29th March

It was very misty to begin with and a very pleasant drive to Zagreb. Very sunny and warm day. We went on the Autoput to Belgrade which is called a motorway but only single lanes and very bumpy and potholed in many places. A very boring road through flat scenery. It was difficult to find somewhere to stay. Parked by the Autoput about 100 kms. beyond Belgrade. We saw a lot of smashed up cars by the roadside during the day.

The road through Yugoslavia 

2025

Wednesday 28th May

Zagreb is a beautiful city.  We went on a walking tour in the morning led by a very enthusiastic Ivana, a post-war baby as she described herself.  There was an enormous amount of restoration work being done to many of the old buildings including the cathedral, in the wake of the earthquake of 2020.  Neil bought some new jeans as the old ones had torn.  In the evening we ate out and had ice cream on the way back to the hotel.  It was hot and humid and just started raining as we arrived back.  Tomorrow we start early for the bus depot, next stop Novi Sad.  I am super excited as we are staying we my cousin Caroline for 3 nights who I don’t believe I have seen for over 20 years.

No! This wasn’t all for me!  There was enough for both of us as well as leftovers for lunch on the bus tomorrow.

Austria - Salzburg

 1974

Thursday, 28th March

We awoke in a thunderstorm with two men peering in at us. Stopped for breakfast outside Munich. Weather improved and we had a very good, mistake free journey through the rest of Germany and Austria which looked very pretty. Went over the Wurzen Pass to Yugoslavia which was one in four in some places. Spent the night at a camping site at Jesenice, just over the border. Being early in the season we were the only tourists there and we watched their television and besides Tom and Jerry they had frequent commercials advertising Communism.

On the road through Austria

2025

Monday 26th May

We awoke to more rain (it rained all day yesterday) and I also have a cold.  Neither of these bode well for sightseeing today.  We decided to visit the Natural History Museum in the morning which although was not a patch on the one we visited in Miami last year was well worth the visit.  On our way part of the road was closed because there were two men cleaning the cliffs high above us which we were told they did once a year.  We rested in our extremely comfortable apartment in the afternoon.  In the evening we took the cable car up to the fortress high above the city where we had bought tickets for dinner and a concert.  Both were excellent.  We wished we were spending a little longer here but tomorrow we are moving on.

Cleaning the rock

It is hard to believe they are not alive

 The Cloak of Conscience

Tuesday 27th May

After a breakfast of Austrian cheese pie, we caught a train to Graz, a four hour journey.  We had a meal at a cafe as we had a 2 hour wait for our next train to Zagreb.  This was also a four hour journey but we had a compartment to ourselves which made it more comfortable.  The hotel in Zagreb was just across the road from the station which was a welcome sight at 10.30pm.

Graz Train Station

Sunset over Slovenia

Germany - Munich

 2025

Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd May

We spent the weekend with Richard and his family in Gauting near Munich.  Richard was a lodger with us at about the same time as Steffen whilst studying Neurosciences at the University of Sussex.  On Saturday, after a traditional Bavarian breakfast of white sausage and pretzel bread, we went south of Munich to Lake Tegensee and the beginning of the Alps.  We had a walk up to a waterfall, it was cool but sunny.  We popped into the monastery church at Tegensee where there was the beautiful sound of plainsong being sung somewhere out of sight.  We then had a Bavarian meal with beer (of course) at the Brewhouse next door.  It was incredibly noisy and a fit of sneezing broke out on the table next to ours.  A group of men were taking snuff!  Now that’s a sight I haven’t seen for years!

Sunday 24th May

After breakfast we went to a neighbouring town to watch Hanna perform gymnastics in a local schools competition.   Our time with Richard, Hellen, Luise and Hanna was over all too soon and in the afternoon took the train to Salzburg.  We have a very comfortable apartment near the centre.  There was an Afghan takeaway nearby so it seemed fitting to buy our meal from there as we won’t be able to return to the country on our journey.

 

Germany - Sirzenich, near Trier

2025

21st and 22nd May

We have diverted from our route to visit some old friends, Steffen and Isolde.  In 1992 we answered the door to a stranger who was looking for a lodger of ours.  We invited him in for a cup of tea and from that moment began a friendship that has lasted for over 30 years.  Steffen lodged with us in the Easter and summer holidays whilst studying Feldenkrais in Lewes.  We have common interests, we both built our own houses and he is also a rock climber like Neil.  I’m so pleased we were in that day!

Steffen and Isolde took us on a wonderful walk to a conservation area full of orchids, wild flowers and butterflies.  We then went for lunch to Villa Weisshaus with views overlooking Trier.

 

Luxembourg

1974

Wednesday, 27th March

Started at about 6.45 a.m. in very foggy weather. Got a bit lost during the morning. Luxembourg town was very pretty and the weather warm. When we reached Germany we were stopped by the police for speeding round a bend. We pretended not to understand and they let us go without paying a fine. We were caught in a thunder-storm outside Stuttgart. Travelled most of the way on the Autobahn. Stopped at 7.30 p.m. outside Ulm for the night where we camped just off the road by a grain store.

                    

                                           Luxembourg 

2025

Tuesday 20th May

The concierge of the flat where we were staying said he would order a taxi for us this morning but no taxis were available so he kindly took us in his own car to the bus stop, the 20 minute journey took nearly an hour.  We caught the Flixbus which was surprisingly comfortable.  We spent some time in the afternoon trying to locate the exact spot where the photo above was taken but of course after 50 years everything has changed.  Here are a couple of candidates.

 

Belgium - Brussels

1974

Tuesday, 26th March

The boat arrived at about 4.20 p.m. and we got away at 4.40 p.m. The journey lasted about 3¾ hours and we were very quick getting through customs. Drove to the motorway and stopped just before Brussels to have a meal. I found navigating a bit tricky. We stopped to sleep at Namur in a car park at 9 p.m.

Map of our route in 1974

2025

Monday 19th May

We had a largely uneventful day travelling by train to Brussels.  There is a train strike tomorrow and we asked at the station if we would be able to get to Luxembourg.  The advice was to travel on Wednesday instead.  Alternatively, we could turn up at 6am and wait!  Neither prospect was terribly appealing so we are going by bus instead which is twice the price (they don’t accept bus passes) but the travel time is similar.  We are now about to eat ice cream in our little apartment near the station. 

                                                        Lewes Station - Here we go!

Overview

1974

In 1973 we decided to go on a trip to Kashmir and started to save hard.  In the autumn of 1973 we were hit by the petrol crisis and decided to go as soon as possible after Christmas.  We set the date of 26th March 1974.

On 10th February 1974 we bought our Volkswagen Camper Van, left hand drive with split windscreen.  We then proceeded to get all the information we possibly could about all the countries we proposed to visit.  We also had to get visas for Afghanistan and a Carnet de Passages for the vehicle (this item proved to be very expensive).  We purchased a lot of spares for the van, provisions of food (about 40 days supply) and many other useful items.

We set off on Tuesday 26th March 1974 with just enough time to say goodbye to our families.  Neil dropped a huge cardboard box of books outside his parents house which delayed us and my Father signalled madly at us as we were leaving to say that one of our brake lights wasn't working - a good start!  We only just arrived at Calais in time for the boat ..........

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On our way home in the summer of 1974, we were tired, ill, short of money and the van kept breaking down so we made a decision to do the trip all over again when we were older, free of responsibilities and when we could afford to travel in a bit more comfort.

We didn't take many photos during our 1974 journey and those we did we had made into slides which have, over time, deteriorated.  I will include the pictures we do have but please excuse the quality.

Wendy and Neil on a peak in the Himalayas (the only photo we have of us both)

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2025

We always knew we would honour our younger selves and try to rerun our trip in 1974 but what we didn’t reckon on was that the world would change, and not all for the better.  Our two favourite countries were out of bounds, Iran and Afghanistan.  We decided instead not to exactly replicate the route but rather follow it roughly visiting friends and a cousin along the way.  We would take a slightly different route through Turkey taking in parts of our original route going east and coming back west.  The other dilemma we faced was that in 1974 we started off in March and the weather was cold for much of the earlier part of the journey.  Also India was too hot!  We decided to go in two stages, this year travelling as far as Georgia (a place I’d always wanted to visit) and hopefully next year going back to India, especially Kashmir.

What should we take with us?  Here are some essentials:

        1974                                                                    2025

        Traveller's Cheques                                            Credit Cards

        Airletter paper and envelopes                             Mobile phone

        Books to read                                                      Kindles

        Contraceptives                                                    Prescription Drugs

        Spare inner tubes                                                Spare glasses

        Playing cards (for bridge practice)                       Playing cards (for bridge practice)

        Tea bags                                                              Tea bags

It's good to know some things never change!!   

We will begin our journey on Monday 19th May 2025.  We hope you enjoy our blog!