77-year-old Australian couple Langley and Beverly Kidby started a world tour from London. After traveling 11.239 kilometers, they stopped in the Turkish province of Trabzon to repair the car. The travelers were inspired by the round-the-world journey of adventurer Francis Birtles, who made his way from England to Australia 97 years ago. A couple living in Brisbane (Australia) decided to repeat the 26,000-kilometer round-the-world trip that Francis Birtles, an Australian like themselves, made from London to Melbourne in 1927. To fulfill their dream, about a month ago they flew to England and bought a Bean car from the museum, the same model in which Bertles traveled.
Here's what Kidby told about his unusual journey:
"Our car is very unusual - it's a British 1924 Bean. The company that produced "Bean" existed for only 10 years, so there are not many of them. It was on such a car that the first record was set, and we were lucky to find it in the museum.
This is a very fast car for its age, however, it is not very convenient to drive in it because it is very narrow and cramped. In addition, there are always breakdowns in old cars. We can drive at a speed of about 70 km/h. That's why we follow the trucks on the side of the road.
We traveled all over Europe, France, Germany, Austria, then Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and came to Turkey. After Edirne, Istanbul, Samsun and several other cities in Turkey, we ended up in Trabzon. We meet wonderful people here. We were very well received in Turkey. The roads are very good here."
According to Kidby, they will travel from Trabzon to Erzurum: "We will cross the border with Iran, and then through Iran we will go to Pakistan, India, Singapore and Australia. We may have to travel for another two months, because there are always little things in old cars that need to be repaired, which increases the travel time."