Closure of Paki/Irani Border

Posted by Chop on Apr 23, 2014; 1:07am
URL: http://sundownersadventures.385.s1.nabble.com/Closure-of-Paki-Irani-Border-tp5706907.html

In my boxes over the weekend, I also come upon an email from Tom (Turbo) O'Shea with his version of events he sent to a punter request in Feb 2013.

Chop wanted to know the dates and whereabouts of TK 231 leading up to and after the flight out of Karachi.
24/04/1980 We are on track at this stage heading south from Multan to Sukkur in Pakistan towards the Paki/Irani border.
25/04.1980 Sukkur to Quetta. There are two lines in the day book that read " Pakistan TV News reports the failed attempt of US rescue mission in releasing American hostages in Iran" little did we know that the shit was about to hit ..........
( we stayed put in Quetta and telegrammed London for advise and what our next move should be) added by Chop
26/04/1980 9pm in Quetta @ Hotel Bloomstar Chop reports to the pax that the group ( minus Tom & OMJ ) will be flying over Iran. Not too many happy faces in the group as I remember.
26-30/04 spent in Quetta
30/04/80 Quetta - Sukkur
01/05/1980 Sukkur - Karachi
02-03/05/1980 Karachi for the flight out to Athens via Amman

I finally meet up with you guys in Kavalla I think on about the 14th. All the punters were happy to see me and wanted to get back onto OMJ and go! I was absolutely buggered, so everybody pitched in and cleaned the bus while I laid on the beach and got my strength back. (Chop's interpretation, had a few beers and some ouzo and a feed)
The trip from Karachi to Kavalla was the worst I had ever experienced. To this day I don't remember eating, sleeping or turning the bus off. I went through a dust storm that blackened the sun and the only way I could keep going through it was to have a guy leaning over my right shoulder with a torch shining on the centre line of the road and another guy shining his torch on the edge of the road and getting directions from these guys 'left' "right" There was no other traffic on the road, fortunately. I don't remember who these guys were, I think they were hitching. There was about a 10 day gap from the time you left Karachi till I limped into Kavalla.
Then we turn around and went back into Turkey (how did I ever agree to a silly thing like That?)
It was only after watching the movie ARGO that I realised how dangerous the whole Irani thing was>
Although I did have huge signs made up for the bus in pharsi? saying "I am Australian, I am you friend"
There you are, I hope that fills in a few gaps
Cheers Tom