Capt. Sam White travels to Afghanistan

2007 < 2008 > 2009
January
1	UK	Fils de Vitesse Barbeque at Hayling Island
February
8-17	FR	Retromobile Paris 2008
16	UK	Swindon Assn of Snails Sparkford Motor Museum
16 - 17	UK	The Footman James 29th Bristol Classic Car Show
17	UK	Valentine's convoy
March
16	UK	Swansea Old Ducks - Visit to the Big Pit National Coal Museum
29	FR	ETRETAT - défilé, thème : l'Appel du Printemps
April
12	UK	Swindon Association of Snails Wiltshire Treasure Hunt
May
8 - 11	FR	Mehari 40th aniversary mehariclubdefrance.com
28	UK	Capt. Sam White reports on his '76 2CV Van trip to Afghanistan
24 - 25	UK	La vie en Bleu - Report by Julian & Janet John
29 - June 1	NL	Waggel at Beekse Bergen Safari Park
June
28 - 29	FR	2CV Auffay Club Cassis camp
July
1st	UK	Bonapart Retirement!
August
30-31	FR	Dieppe Retro Auto & Alpine Celebrations
September
27	UK	Swansea Old Ducks La Mer (Barry Lighthouse)
October
10, 11, 12	BE	24hr 2CV race at Spa ( now 24H24' ).Also the 2CV meeting which attracts campers from all over Europe
November
to 30 Nov	FR	Exposition 2CV 60 ans; Espace Claude Bernard, Cite des Sciences, La Villette, Paris 75019 (from 15th April - 30th November)
December
-	-	-

Report of trip to Afghanistan in '76, reported May 2008

Capt. Sam White, Fugro Explorer,Trinidad/Tobago

Attached is a photo of me in 76 taken in Afghanistan when I drove to Nepal in a 2cv van--similar to the one I am driving these days.

2cv vans

Photo courtesy: Capt. Sam White

Intention was to drive to Australia--but it ended up too expensive to ship from Madras to Singapore to Freemantle.

Besides I was in a couple of minor accidents on route--a bit too much "tokin" listening to Jimi and the like, and decided to return to the UK sell the van and fly out to Aust.

22,000 klm in 6 months--not bad for 2 cylinders and 29 horses eh!

The return trip was the worst as it was in winter time and sub zero temps in places. Snowed in for a week over Xmas period in Kabul--snow chains necessary to get thru Iran and always a blanket over the front grill to stop freezing to death on the road!!. Only hope of starting the van in the morning was to park on a good slope--enough to bump it into life--the only way possible. Guy next to me was a Spaniard who I kept meeting up with on route--think he made it to India. (Captain your the man !)

I did a final service on the van in a New Delhi camp site--changing the oil and plugs etc
before heading back into Pakistan, up the Khyber pass into Afghanistan. As I mentioned earlier I was snowed in Kabul for a week over Xmas until the road was cleared (huddled over a log stove in lodging room teeth chattering--usually with a huge splif of best Nepalese "Gold Seal" for company!!
Long 12 hr drives across a lonely deserted wilderness to Iran, there more snow and chains thru to Turkey, up thru Bulgaria , Yugoslavia------until in the dead of night in northern Yugoslavia right near the border(s) of Austria--Italy----phut phut phut--the engine coughed and died on me? opening the bonnet I became aware that one of the plugs had blown completely out of the cylinder head--reason? I had inadvertently cross threaded it all those miles back in New Delhi!! Probably not here to tell the story if it had of happened in one of the numerous remoter spots me and the van had come thru!

However here I am still driving a 2cv van?? definitely eccentric as most of my colleagues seem to think (but they don't get it do they!) finally before your attention span fades--lucky old me to of done it back then! Shortly afterwards (1978) the Ayatollah closed the border to Iran and then the Russians invaded Afghanistan--now it's the Taliban and impossible to do that kind of thing anymore without loosing your head trying.

Everything has become f! up. (Captain you were the dude then and still are now, i take my hat off to you. people say its 'its just a car', no its a lifestyle ! )

2cv van