Eskapet

At Eskapet I am met by Ramazan Akar, who shows me round his brand-new factory. The new location has enabled Eskapet to increase its capacity by 300% up to a throughput of 50,000 tonnes of PET per year. He told me that for every child in Turkey the name Inegöl is synonymous with either meatballs or furniture. I did in fact discover the monument erected to the glory of meatballs, but there was no sign of a similar celebration of furniture. This is no doubt due to the fact that kids prefer eating meatballs to buying furniture.

As I am on my way to Istanbul to see HASplastik I notice from the highway a caravan manufacturer. “Well,” I think to myself “I wonder whether there are any water pump specialists around.
It’s got to be worth a shot” and indeed, although it is almost closing time, the proprietor of what is the only and therefore the largest caravan manufacturer in Turkey www.basoglucaravan.com.tr comes out to see what the problem is. Fortunately he also has an electrician in tow. The problem is quickly identified, something is broken in the control electronics. So we decide to cut the cable and connect the pump directly to the cigarette lighter. Miraculously it works. It does mean however, that it is no longer possible to enjoy a quiet cigarette whilst simultaneously taking a shower Happily, that doesn’t affect me as I am a non-smoker. I don’t think that Laika (the suppliers of the Editourmobil) are going to be best pleased at having to sort out the spaghetti junction of cables, but at least I have running water again. The cans will remain as a standby until further notice.

Finally, it will come as no surprise to readers that in Istanbul, the satnav again failed to deliver the goods, but it did give me the opportunity to make the acquaintance of some friendly locals who guided me efficiently to HASplastik.

Picture 1: All present and correct, the Eskapet team.

Picture 2: The famous meatball monument.