Most people go to Gaziantep for the famous cuisine.

15. 9.21

Ömer turned up at 5.45am,we were almost ready. The drive took 2 and a half hours to Gaziantep Sanayı which is absolutely huge.

Ömer had a gear box which he dropped at one place, something else hr dropped at another place then our engine was taken to a huge workshop with loads of staff who were working really hard.

They began looking at it straight away to see what parts may be needed. We waited in a very nice waiting area, with the boss man and of course çay came within minutes.

Not long after they found these..

Ömer said it was because of Johns driving, we have no idea any more about when he’s joking as he always has a serious face.

Our next stop was an accessory shop. More çay.

They had everything except the clutch part but said it could be repaired. They had the same Chinese make but Ömer said no point buying another.

Naz already had an account there, as the radiator and water pump etc had come from there the other day, with all the other things on the list today, repaired clutch, oil, oil and air filters, head gasket etc etc it totalled 6775 tl, but we got a discount and paid 6500tl -£550

Next stop was Bosch. 3 of the 4 injectors were worn and thin. 1 needed replacing completely, as it wouldn’t come out of the head and ultimately broke.

We went back to the busy engine recon shop waiting room and chatted for a while with the boss man. He had spent a long time in London and spoke perfect English, we were soon chatting politics and John left us to it and went to watch the workshop guys.

Ömer went off to do something, not sure what, so shortly after we told the boss man we were going for a walk.

Our first stop was for cheese toasties. Later we went looking for a Mercedes Sprinter breaker in case they had a second hand heater, a bonnet hinge and a new front grill. They did, but wanted crazy money so we left it.

We were shocked to see these in the the centre of town!

After a long wander we returned to the engine rebuild place. They advised it would be ready in around 2 hours, so Ömer suggested we go with him. We returned to Bosch, they had finished the injectors. More çay.

Next was another parts place, we stayed in the car as this shopping was for another customer.

Back to rebuild place. In no time at all it was skimmed, bits replaced and and ready.

They showed us all our broken parts, which are all replaced now. 😊

We were really scared about the bill for this place.. 1800tl. £ 154 Amazing.

Time to head back to Khata, we were all exhausted.

The dogs were very happy to see us. The puppy must have missed us too as he soon appeared.

I felt so bad for the dogs while we were out, on their comfy bed with their pillows, windows open, awning shade, garage lads next to them. On the sanay we saw a few dogs, 2 on short chains, one had just had babies, little shade and an empty water container. John filled it from a nearby business’s tap. The other was so scared initially but soon was loving having someone paying her attention. Breaks our hearts all the time, you never get used to it.

Poor Ömer was looking forward to getting home. By the time I’d heated our chilli and cooked some rice he was back again and another poor soul was on the breakdown truck. Such an amazingly hard working guy. Probably the best driver in Turkey too. He has such an air of calm about him. He stopped to pray at a large mosque in Adıyaman on the way back. I hope he said one for Naz too.

Murat sent us some photos he took of us at Nemrut yesterday. 😍

Now that we know which peak it is, we’ve realised we can actually see it from our van bedroom window at the sanay!

By 9 pm we were ready to sleep, mentally exhausted I think, panicking that they wouldn’t have all the bits we need. Ömer is convinced he will have it all finished tomorrow and is suggesting places to visit along the way as we head home.

The guys brought our bumper from the body shop, like new, 150tl. £13 Perfect.

John took the dogs for their last walk and we were asleep very soon after.

It was a weirdlyfascinating and enjoyable day, luckily we’re both interested in how everything works and like çay!

Won’t be long now til we’re back on the road… Hopefully 🤞🤞🤞