I don't think that petty adventurer is an appropriate turn of phrase for the particular person under consideration. However that is the phrase used in the Herat guide book.
Early morning police raid
Oct 1977
A suprise.
We had successfully entered Germany after lunch on the 24th October 1977. As far as I recall they did not require us to dip our fuel tanks. Quickly onto the autobahn network and we were making good progress towards Cologne. We turned off the A44 onto the A61 in a southbound direction. We were well and truly on our way. The first day in Europe was coming to an end and we took the opportunity to park up for the night at a service area. Raststätte Bedburger Land West or Service Area Bedburger Land West, on the A61 not far from the town of Bedburg. We had noticed that there were rest areas, which had little or no amenities as well as the full service areas. A good idea to have frequent stopping points, to my mind. This one was the full variety so we had somewhere to wash and go the loo, and somewhere to eat if we wanted to. I suspect we made our own meal. Time for bed.
The Desert of Death is not somewhere that I would wish to go to in the current circumstances. It is more associated with the News from Helmand Province in Afghanistan than it's raw beauty. That news is frequently of death and destruction due to war and conflict, not the extreme and harsh conditions.
However, there was a more peaceful time before the recent wars, and I was lucky enough to drive through the Desert of Death in 1975 and 1977, both in eastbound direction. Also in 1978 westbound, but that was more a race across the country so as not to still be in the country at the beginning of communist military coup on 27 April 1978, known as the Saur Revolution. Yes, we knew about the coup before it happened. In Pakistan, when applying for visas into Afghanistan, which could take a number of days, it was evident that visa durations were getting one day shorter, for each day of waiting for ours to be processed. I think we were out the other side with only 4 days to spare. However, both eastbound trips had time to spare for a night camped out in the wilderness of the Desert of Death.
The team of five congregate for the start of our Trans Asia 1977 trip
October 1977
Everything was ready, time to get going. Pete and I stayed at the house in Holt, Norfolk. Chris caught the 17:02 from her home to Norwich on Saturday 22nd October 1977. Celia joined us. We picked Annie up from Ipswich Station on Sunday 23rd October 1977. Getting ahead of myself. It had rained since we parked the vehicles in the meadow. The wheels of the Ford especially, left tracks as it manoeuvered to the field gate, much to the annoyance of Pete's Dad understandably. Not quite the auspicious start that we would have liked.
