Whats the scariest / most exciting journey you have done?

[Fazerloz]

The very first time we went out of this country many years ago and everything was a unknown. We got the ferry to Hamburg and drove to Berlin before the wall came down, going through Checkpoint Alpha and Bravo, and later Charlie. Having to deal with Russian Guards, East German Police and all the rest.
What it did do was remove the fear of going anywhere else. Everywhere else has been a piece of cake in comparison.
Its surprising how many don't know how far Berlin was over the boarder of East Germany and how isolated it was from West Germany.

 

[mr brown]

trouble is , going down can be a lot harder than going up. when you're pointing down steep and the wheel's right on the gravelly skiddy edge of the massive drop, it's sometimes wiser to let the wife and kids walk round behind you !

 

[mark61]

trouble is , going down can be a lot harder than going up. when you're pointing down steep and the wheel's right on the gravelly skiddy edge of the massive drop, it's sometimes wiser to let the wife and kids walk round behind you !

Thats when you let her drive, and you walk down with the kids, making sure you got the beer from the fridge.

 

[CardMaker]

Our was no mountainus passes but getting lost in Paris and on the Paris ring road, driving around for hours not having a clue because our map was 6 years out of date and Ron's sat nav stopped working. Then we ended up going down the side of the Seine going under bridges where our roof was mm short of scraping the bridge roof. Every time we went under a bridge I ducked and Ron says that does not help. Never again.:See_No_Evil_Monkey_

 

[Blu]

Some fearless (ish) contributions. :biggrin:

That road in Albania sounds pretty scary Ray but I reckon you have to do these things. Who the hell wants to go and sit on a beach in the Costas for two weeks. I reckon a motorhome adventure is not a proper adventure until you have had at least one or two near death experiences and some emergency underwear changes.

thats the joys of motorhoming i had a few near misses this year, still have nightmares over one o them

 

[2cv]

The very first time we went out of this country many years ago and everything was a unknown. We got the ferry to Hamburg and drove to Berlin before the wall came down, going through Checkpoint Alpha and Bravo, and later Charlie. Having to deal with Russian Guards, East German Police and all the rest.
What it did do was remove the fear of going anywhere else. Everywhere else has been a piece of cake in comparison.
Its surprising how many don't know how far Berlin was over the boarder of East Germany and how isolated it was from West Germany.

I spent much time in Berlin before the wall came down, I was there when it happened. Crossing whether at Checkpoint Charlie or Friedrichstrasse always felt quite tense. West Berlin at that time had a unique atmosphere, it was certainly a relief to be back after a visit to the East. Especially at night after the airports closed it was strange to be cut off from the rest of West Germany in a small bubble surrounded by the East.

 

[edina]

Rounding Cabo Creus in a blow

 

[Clunegapyears]

Getting wedged in a one way Sicilian town
https://clunegapyears.com/2015/11/28/220-221-mosaics-and-mountain-mishaps/

 

[Fazerloz]

I spent much time in Berlin before the wall came down, I was there when it happened. Crossing whether at Checkpoint Charlie or Friedrichstrasse always felt quite tense. West Berlin at that time had a unique atmosphere, it was certainly a relief to be back after a visit to the East. Especially at night after the airports closed it was strange to be cut off from the rest of West Germany in a small bubble surrounded by the East.

Did you ever go into East Berlin ? I just could not believe how cheap everything was, and thought it would be impossible for the wall to come down and reunification to take place.
The East German Guards had the biggest Alsatian dogs I have ever seen. As you say a unique place and time. A eye opener.

A certain member might have liked it .At that time a bottle of Vodka was so cheap in E Berlin the British stationed in W Berlin would go to the east to buy Vodka to use as BBQ lighter fluid.

 

[Milly]

Slowly working through dangerous roads list.
Few roads French?Italian border near Tende.

I can´t watch anymore, its too scarey and I´m looking at it on a computer.

 

[Delicagirl]

Yes
The Gap of Mamore and Portmagee to St Finians Bay were as we say "interesting"..Brilliant scenery and we survived.

This was my first ever experience of a REALLY steep road (there are several of a similar nature on the north west coast of Eire). Between 1812-1815 the gap at the top of the mountain was barricaded by the local "putcheen" brewers to stop the Customs men coming in to demand tax on this illegal alcohol and declared The Independent State of Uris.

 

[LesleyKH]

We wild camped on a car park at the Shipka Pass in Bulgaria on the windiest night of our trip round Europe. At about 3 a.m. we decided to move the van as close to a building's shelter as we could.

Also, another wild camp, but in the Dolomites. One of those time where we pushed on and on to find that 'perfect' spot and ended up on a very narrow, winding road in the rain and fog, feeling too unsafe to do a u-turn. It all turned out ok in the end as you can see on our blog: http://charliedogcametoo.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/dawdling-in-dolomites_24.html

Lesley

 

[Delicagirl]

An interesting road in Wales leads up to the Roman Steps and a lake called Cwm Bychan just south of Harlech - it is a 7 mile single track road with about 4 passing places and the stone walls on either side lean in towards the tarmac leaving me with only mms to spare at several points !!! I met one vehicle coming down and then decided to leave at 6.00am the morning i left as it was a saturday and many walkers would be driving up there - and i didnt meet anyone. The silence, beauty, sunsets, walks, beauteous scenery are well worth it...

 

[St3v3]

Some bits of this one are pretty dodgy, when passing. It's a f'kin long way down!

Bur way in Shropshire.

 

[1807truckman]

Comingout of the Alps in Italy with my wife driving the motorhome like her Peugeut 305, accelerating out of bends and braking hard into them, had to remind her she was driving a 3800kg motorhome not her car

 

[2cv]

Did you ever go into East Berlin ? I just could not believe how cheap everything was, and thought it would be impossible for the wall to come down and reunification to take place.
The East German Guards had the biggest Alsatian dogs I have ever seen. As you say a unique place and time. A eye opener.

A certain member might have liked it .At that time a bottle of Vodka was so cheap in E Berlin the British stationed in W Berlin would go to the east to buy Vodka to use as BBQ lighter fluid.

I went several times to East Berlin. Not only the huge Alsatians were there but very heavily armed guards with few people skills. I remember that it was compulsory to purchase about 25dm of Eastern currency, which then proved to be difficult to spend due to very little in the shops and very poor restaurants. Fun dodging the hundreds of Trabants though.
Even fairly shortly before the wall came down it was impossible to imagine that it would happen. Strange scenes in the weeks that followed with East Germans shopping in the West and returning home with piles of previously unobtainable delicacies such as bananas.

 

[Clunegapyears]

This is turning into a head case’s list of Have to Do ...

 

[RichardHelen262]

About 2 am driving down through Switzerland to Italy, when I got to the Gothard tunnel it was closed overnight, so I decided to go over the Gothard pass, at 2 in the morning and it was snowing really hard, so pitch black snowing unlit narrow twisty roads, I have never in my life regretted driving so much as I did that night, I think I held my breath most of the way.
it is a journey I must do again on a nice summers day as I should imagine the views are spectacular.

 

[Deleted member 132]

Probably when the vacuum exhauster failed on a hill in Spain and the pedal went rock hard. Joan saw me reach for the handbrake and work it on and off as I went down the gear box.as we descended. Near the bottom she asked why and I told her we had no footbrake. I had been trained to do this as part of my PSV training on a crash gear box double decker and we were expected to do it on our test bringing the bus to a controlled stop at a bus stop with no footbrake. 50 years later I had to use it in earnest. Another time was on Ice on a French back road where there was a steep drop and it was bendy so you were heading for the drop on every other bend.

 

[barryd]

About 2 am driving down through Switzerland to Italy, when I got to the Gothard tunnel it was closed overnight, so I decided to go over the Gothard pass, at 2 in the morning and it was snowing really hard, so pitch black snowing unlit narrow twisty roads, I have never in my life regretted driving so much as I did that night, I think I held my breath most of the way.
it is a journey I must do again on a nice summers day as I should imagine the views are spectacular.

Blimey! That was brave (or stupid :tongue: ). Its quite a haul from memory. I did a similar thing here years ago coming back from Scotland. The A66 was closed beyond Penrith heading east because of three accidents and the only choice was to either go all the way down to Manchester and across the M62 or up to Alston over the 2000ft Hartside pass and down to Teesdale from there. It was Winter and already snowing. I got over the pass ok but on the way down the snow was already a foot deep and no traffic at all. I reckon if I had got stuck I would have been up there for days.