A-Z Truck Life

A ALEX is married to Tom and my ipod buddy! Alex is wicked fun and always enjoys a bop on the bus to Madness, Lilly Allen and everything else we have on our ipods!

B BUSH CAMPS are when we drive all day and find a camping area off of the road. We tend to be away from everyone and have camped in some gorgeous places. Bush camps are good opportunities to either get an early night or to talk to people. We have also had to camp in some unusually places including the Iran/Pakistan border police check point, a trucker's service station and one night where we were moved on by the Iranian police!

C COOK DUTY is split into 8 groups, due to us staying in hotels more often now it tends to happen once every 2 weeks or so. We have to prepare, cook, serve and wash up the pots for dinner. then cook and serve breakfast the next day before cleaning out the truck at the end of the night. I have learnt that if you cut your thumb severely you can get out of cook duty!

D DIARY I'm doing my best to keep it up to date but tend to be a couple of days behind. Will make an interesting read when my memory starts to go!

DAVE is a tip top lad from Hereford. Dave always makes me smile and never seems to complain. Gives an excellent hug when needed too!

E EVENTS whilst I was happily sleeping I was nominated, voted for and elected as Truck Social Secretary! We've had a Random Truth Night where we learnt that everyone is slightly more weird than we thought! This week we're gonna play Truck Seat Lottery and hopefully will have a girlie outing to a Bollywood film in Delhi.

F FOOD is always changing. Even in the same country different regions seem to have different food. My taste buds are becoming used to hot food very quickly!

FARMER'S TAN everybody has one! Can't wait to get the beach to get rid of it! It's even worse at the moment because I've had to wear long sleeves and trousers for the last 4 weeks so I've ended up with tanned feet and hands!

G GRANT is from New Zealand and the funniest fella I've met in ages. Grant constantly has me in giggles whether he's just lost his chocolate thermometer out the truck window, trying on his over sized Shalwar Kameez trousers or accidentally kicking his flip flop into the sewage drain! Grant is travelling with Sos who he's known forever it seems, like me and Jamie.

H HEAT, it has been so hot lately! And it's only going to get hotter I'm preparing myself for 50 degrees plus in Lahore and Delhi. I'm drinking shed-loads of water to make sure I don't get dehydrated. Funny thing is from my hotel room I can currently see mountains covered in snow, very strange!

HEADSCARF strangely didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Just felt like I was wearing a hoodie!

I ICE wherever we can get it we buy it and put it in the 'eskies' (ice boxes) to stop water from being warm enough for a cup tea!

J JOCK has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to overlanding and is really good company to boot! Also does mean popcorn over the fire!

K KYRMABAD where I am at the minute. We are staying here for three nights after travelling up the Karakorma Highway (KKH) for three days. It's a small village just up from the valley bed and is absolutely bloody gorgeous! Our hotel has amazing views of the valley, it was mind blowing to wake up this morning and the first thing I saw was a massive snow covered mountain with a pure blue sky as background. Not a cloud in sight! Seven of us were due to do a trek this morning up to a meadow and glacier but as I walked to the truck all prepared with my bag packed (we were planning to camp over night) five people had already pulled out leaving just me and Martin. We headed up the track and I was completely out of breath by the time I reached the fort (a five minute steep walk). At this point we realised that my bag was a lot heavier than Martin's so we transferred over some bits and bobs to balance it out. We carried on and it got easier it was fairly even and the views were stunning. About an hour in Martin's tummy took a turn and he started being sick so we stopped and rested for a couple of hours. It got no better so we piled all the heavy stuff into my bag and made our way back down. Even though we didn't get to the top it was a good work out especially as my bag was so heavy going back down. When we got back down I headed to the Cafe De Hunza. The first place we have come across in ages to serve proper coffee rather than Nescafe! I had a Cadbury's Hot Chocolate and a slice of Hunza Walnut cake which was so tasty I had two! (hey I'm on holiday!) Someone has found a restaurant that serves really tasty burgers so I may give in to Western food tonight and go for that. It feels like I've had enough curries to last anyone a life time. (Hunza is the region we're in)

KHYBER PASS is the road that goes from Pakistan to Afghanistan. It was an exciting little journey where we had two of the 'Dad's Army' troop as armed guards. They would not have done anything should we have been jumped by a tribe or the Taliban but hey oh it's all part of the fun. Considering this is one of the most dangerous roads and areas in the world currently the people in the towns and villages were incredibly friendly all waving as we passed. Even when we looked over the boarder into Afghanistan there was no feeling of danger. Good fun though!

L LOO on the truck is a life saver. If we didn't have it we would be stopping every five minutes!!!

LOCALS are one of the main reasons to travel. So far the majority of people that I have met have been been incredibly lovely and extremely welcoming! The other night whilst staying in a small town on the KKH I went into a small shop to buy some water the shop keeper was really interested in who our favourite cricket players were and who we thought was the best Pakistani player. All three of us had complete blank looks on our faces and said we like football to which he replied "football I don't like', don't beat about the bush mate! Anyway.... I noticed that he had a very small collection of foreign money under the counter and nipped back to the truck to dig out the £1 coin I knew I still had. We walked back over and he was completely made up when we showed him the coin. He couldn't believe it had come from England and wanted to buy it from us when we said it was a gift he was even more chuffed. Consequently Will got his fags as a gift from him in return!

M MUSH is the nick name I seem to have adopted. I know that at home I say mate far too much so used Moosh instead. It's now associated with me and what folk use to get my attention.

MARTIN is my wee Scottish friend and beats me to being baby of the truck by one month. Martin is good fun to be around, always up for exploring (apart from when he's ill) and determined to make me speak 'proper English'!

MOUNTAIN DEW some how is available in the bucket load in Pakistan so I'm getting as much as I can. Even in the smallest villages you can find Mountain Dew and Pepsi very strange!

N NICK, Dr Nick is married to Jen. Nick has the capability of acting like a 9 year old mucking about one minute and then to become all serious and divulge his medical knowledge the next. (Nick's a pharmacist). Nick and Jen are so good to have on the truck and members of the truck lolly pop sucking competitions (who can suck a lolly the fastest! Jen is the current winner with a time just over 6 minutes!)

O OVERLANDING
You know your an overlander when; You don't care where you pee
You think it's a luxury if you have a shower every three days,let alone a hot one!
You occasionally have to ask what country you are in.
Flapping your plate to dry it is natural
Getting up at 6am is a lie in!
You believe a boarder crossing that takes less than four hours is a myth
Police armed guards with AK47s are a photo opportunity
Your thermarest is this best thing you ever brought (As is your life adventure travel towel!)
Twelve hour truck days are the norm
You fantasise about Marks and Spencer's sandwiches
You are constantly asking for the travel guide of the country you are in
High tea at the Hotel Serena or Pearl Continental is a real treat at £3.50!
When you call the truck and/or your tent home

P PESHAWAR was a wicked city I had so much fun in the two days that I was there. The first day I spent with Sos in the Bazaar being cultural and having Shalwar Kameezes made for us by a local taylor and the second was spent at the Kyber Pass and then relaxing. We went to the up-market hotel and enjoyed all you can eat brunch before a swim and a visit to the hotel salon. I had my hair cut and Sos got some much needed waxing done!

Q QUETTA was the first Pakistani city that we stopped in. It was mental, loud and very smelly. The bazaar was too crazy to get anything made up and there was people everywhere. Madness but wicked fun!

R ROADS. I see roads, here there and everywhere! The roads are so different from country to country it's bizarre. The roads in Iran were the best we had seen in ages and Pakistani in contrast you often have to swerve around potholes and slow where a previous rock slide has been on the KKH! The roads are fantastic for seeing the landscape and peering into towns!

S SOS is my best girlie mate on the truck. Both used to being with and getting on with lads we offer each other the girlie outlet when needed (like getting our nails done!) Sos is from New Zealand but currently lives in Oz. Sos has a wicked laugh which can be heard from 4 or 5 tents away!

STUEY is 30 and from Northampton, Stu is another truck friend who always makes me smile. Before this trip Stu had never spent a night in a tent and so spent the last week at home sleeping on the floor with his window open in preparation!

STEVE AND KIRSTY our drivers, guides, accommodation finders, mechanic and cook. Without Steve and Kirsty's knowledge we'd be well and truly stuffed!

T TOM is the bird spotting man, I swear he can tell me what any bird is when it flies by the truck. Tom is also full of knowledge, he seems to absorb the guide book and a really good laugh to boot. Tom and Alex are also members of the truck lolly pop sucking competition.

U UPSET TUMMY everyone has had one or is having one now. I think it's the constant change of food and water. I'm used to it now!

V VEHICLE Our trusty truck really feels like home now. I'm almost used to the baffled look that locals have on their faces when we pass. Other vehicles on the road range from little rickshaws, donkey drawn wagons, bikes and highly decorated trucks! I'm yet to see a unicyclist!

W WESTERN LUXURIES every now and then we come across a little shop that sells treats from home. The last few days we've gone potty over Mars bars, pringles and Bounty bars! It's amazing how quickly spirits can be lifted by a little bit of chocolate. We are also starting to treat ourselves to western food when we come across it. Apparently Islamabd has a Subway, Nandos, KFC and Pizza Hut! I'm only going to treat myself to one!

X XYLOPHONE Ok I admit that I'm stuck on this one! So lets make it news from home....it's wicked to hear from you lot. I know it's sad but the fact that BBC have sold Neighbours to Channel 5, Beckham being back in the England squad, the new bar in town where silks was, who's dating who etc etc is all mega exciting to hear! I'm gonna be away for a bloody long time and don't want to come back an alien! Please keep it up!

Y Y am I here? is a question that I have not asked myself once! (Yeah I couldn't think of a proper one for Y either!)

Z ZZZZZ, truck naps are the way forward. I can sleep anywhere now!

Love from Nicole xxx