Swagman Times

Cindy and I are off to Thailand on Thursday for 5 weeks so will be off the air for some of that time. Sorry the newsletter has been a bit slow lately just too many things going on at present. I have found a few gems on the net that I thought I would share, the pictures below in black and white are really good. I wish I had some like this but spent too much time lying under the bus trying to keep it going.

Derek

Images by Monica - not sure where I found them now but they are as a slide show on the site

Also these images by Heather which are in a slide show

Why not sign up for their Newsletter	Received an email from this place in Rajastan - sounds OK, rooms from US$21, lunch or dinner for just US$3.15

If you missed this one check it out	This book is due out soon see below
Thought you may be interested in the following website. www.onlytwoseatsleft.com After my presentation The Epsom Rotary Club of Auckland sent out an E mail outlining my story of this route which was good free advertising.I hear the Iranians have completed 95% of their rail line to Link London/Europe to Delhi by train. I had client in Iran last year with Intrepid Tours. John Anderson the founder of Contiki first went out on this route in the late 60’s but Contiki did not start sending tours until 1976.My Contiki driver mate on a couple of tours Ken Haslem, did it in a VW in the early 70’s just after he got out of the English Navy. He now works for Insight Coach Tours based in Paris. I am hopeful John Anderson will give this route a plug in his book on the history of Contiki soon to be released, see the web site below Thought you may be interested in the following website. www.onlytwoseatsleft.com Kind regards John Anderson
Hi Derek, I came across your site today , great effort and I have just purchased the India Overland DVD from the site. Last year I sailed on a schooner from Bali to Kupang in Timor making up one of the last legs down from Nepal that I have been travelling in my holidays to finish off the links and roads back from Nepal India Sri Lanka Thailand Malaysian Indonesia to Australia. http://www.traveladventures.co.nz/adventure-stories/london-kathmandu.htm I was Contiki Courier from 1975 to 1980 and did three India overland tours, see the itinerary of the last one above. As you know we were lucky to have Mercedes Benz coaches specially set up by our Dutch mechanics. I am making up a DVD from old slides I took for a seminar I am doing to a local Rotary Club and if you would like a copy FOC just E mail me your Postal address. I have built a few web sites, one with Greg Osborne ex Sundowners 1977-1978 www.travel-essentials.co.nz www.traveladventures.co.nz is my travel office’s soft adventure site. www.cossar.co.nz is my hobby site I have copies of old Contiki India Overland brochures and maps tours etc I could get scanned If you have any copies of those overland maps you could E mail me I would be most grateful especially one like the Sundowners map with all the various routes. Today I am a partner in a travel office and still promote the parts of the Overland route in modules. My experience on this route is invaluable in my job. Kind Regards Brian Cossar Director

Mail Bag

I am quite fascinated by your website.

I travelled to India in 1971 with PBK [Paul Beasley (Kingston)], starting off from Wood Street, Kingston upon Thames. The bus driver's name was Bert, a cockney ex-bin man, and the courier was 'Shan' Shanaghan. I left the bus on various occasions and caught it up from time to time, changing clothes, or grabbing a lift thru' some of the less hospitable areas.

I ended up settling in Kabul for several months and then returned to the UK by Christmas of that year. Having had my 18th Birthday in Kabul in October, I was certainly one of the younger 'travellers', and in 1972 I had my hair cut, bought a suit and started a career!!

We left Kingston in April or May, i can't remember which, there were at least 20 passengers, the fare was £80 one way. The other passengers were either Kiwis heading home, Australians doing the same or younger Brits heading out on the trail. There were one or two retired folk as well, although I don't think they really appreciated the whole experience as much as the rest of us did!!

Do you have any contact with anyone who might have been on the same trip as I was??

Jack Cowdy

Email: jcowdy@ritzrec.com

Derek:
I have not contributed much lately so here is the start of the 1975 Penn (UK) brochure, at least the first 11 pages of it in .pdf format. Sorry it is a bit large, 3MB. I have to figure out how to reduce it while keeping it readable.

John Meyer

Hi Derek,

Here are some photos of my Intertrek october 1974 London _Kathmandu trip.
Perhaps you can put them in a slideshow, or in the Intertrek section. I’m afraid I can’t manage it myself.
Still enjoying the site, reconnected with some people through facebook as well.

All the best. Diny Heegers

Hi Derek,

My name is Patrick Farrell. I was a paying customer with a June to September 1973 Encounter Overland trip. we were in Afghanistan just in time for the overthrow of the King. Lots of funny stories there. I'm interested in any photos and would like to reconnect with my fellow travellers. The group leader was Peter Web. His girlfriends name Nicky Grant. I have a friend here in Nanaimo B.C. Canada, Dennis Cornell, who was a leader/driver in the 80's. ring a bell? thanks in advance

Derek,

I e-mailed you once before and mentioned that my sister, Carrie Cuneo, was a driver for Magic Bus in 1976 and 1977. Here is a little photo journal of her trips to India and Nepal that you could post under the Magic Bus tour operator. Let me know if you need this in a different format.

Susan Cuneo Starr (file is a Word Document 3mb )

Hi Derek,
Thought you may enjoy these snaps scanned from slides I took on a Capricorn bus trip. I joined the bus in Srinagar on 15 th Sep 1976 and was supposed to leave it in Istanbul but gave the driver a bottle of Johnnie Walker to carry me to London. I can remember the driver's name Peter Swarbrick. It was a great trip, 34 passengers, only 5 guys and one of them was a bit twee. A great boost for the confidence having a captive audience of 29 young healthy girls for 70 days on a bus. Would love to make contact with anyone who was on this trip.

Rgds, Will Roberts

This is what I remember of a capricorn passenger list from Katmandu to London I joined the trip in Kashmir on 15 Sep 76

Peter Swarbrick Driver (unsure about correct surname spelling)
Ray ............. Courier
Will Roberts
Rob Stamp
Linda Colam
Erica Whillas
Christine Morees
Anne Kimmorley
Marcelle Rhodes
Olga Bjedov
Jenny Jackson
Jenny Cartwright
Margret (something long and Greek)
Diane Walters

I can remember 10 more faces but the names escape me. I suppose 33 years dims the memory somewhat. There were 34 passengers in all.

Capricorn bus at Persepolis

Crossing the Bosphrous

Street scene in Srinagar

Hello Derek

I've been given you email address by John O'Brien as he was unable to assist me in my search.

Way back in February 1971 I went on the Penn Overland tour from Kathmandu to London. I am by nature a hoarder, however, I don't seem to have "hoarded" my lovely itinerary from Penn which listed all the cities/countries we visited on the tour. I've tried unsuccessfully searching the internet. All I can find is 1974 and 1976. Vernon was our coach driver and I was very sad to read of his death. All I can recall is that he was a very nice person and wonderful to all of us.

Kind regards Leni Raica (Ms)

Hi Derek,

Most of my working life I was employed on offshore or land oilfields however, between contracts, I did do some overlanding for Hughes Overland.

All of 1970 I spent as a minibus driver/guide for Hughes Overland on two week tours through Belgium, the Netherlands (Amsterdam, ZiderZee), Germany (Hamburg), Denmark (Copenhagen), Sweden (Stockholm), ferry to Turku in Finland (Helsinki), to Russian border, Leningrad, Novgorod, Moscow, Smolensk, Minsk, into Poland (Warsaw, Poznan), into Germany (East then West Berlin, across to Cologne) back to pick up another load from the Channel ferries and start again, or would be sent on two week trips to the Greek Islands and Istanbul.

Occasionally there was a three week trip which, once we had visited Moscow we would go south to Kiev and Odessa (Black Sea port) into Rumania (Bucharest), Hungary (Budapest), Czechoslovakia (Prague), Germany (Berlin, Cologne) etc.

At the end of the European season we take an overland trip to Kathmadu (Nepal) leaving in October and arriving back a couple of days before Christmas. The route out was Europe, Istanbul, Ankara, Urgup, Malatya, Tatvan, Agri, Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz (Persepolis), Kerman, Bam, Zahadan, Dalbandin, Quetta, Kandahar, Kabul, Peshawar, Lahore, Ambala, Delhi, Agra, Allahabad (or Khajuraho), Benares, Muzzaffapur, Kathmandu. However on the return journey we would travel from Kandahar to Tehran via Herat and Meshed.

In 1972 I again did the minibus tours on contract with the same company as before but this time with my own bus and equipment. Same trips as previously except for the Kathmadu trip. On this occasion on arriving at Kathmadu the company asked me if I would like to explore the possibly of extending future trips. All of the passengers came along just sharing food and fuel cost. As it was not possible to drive through Burma we drove to Calcutta then to Madras where the company had arranged the bus to go as deck cargo on the ship that took us to Penang. After a few days in Penang we drove up the panhandle to Bangkok, back to Penang then on to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

In Singapore I sold the bus to the company and spent a month touring Indonesia before coming to, and settling in, Australia.

Regards, Peter Blades South Australia

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If you have any stories or pictures related to the Overland I would love to get a copy. Lists of passengers or just the ones you can remember would be a great addition to this project. To view back issues of this newsletter use this LINK. You can post anything to the Forum if you prefer, all info would be greatly received.

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This new letter is produced by Derek Amey - Gold Coast Australia.