It is time to head north, we must
keep on track as we only have 12 days left on our visas. Again, there is great
mountain scenery but as we skirt around Bandar Abbas & head north we are on
a main truck route. In fact, most of the traffic is trucks. It is still proving
hard to get diesel. Sometimes none, sometimes 50 litres, in the end John
resorts to “encouraging” the attendant with $1US to help! Fortunately, as we
head north the situation improves and we can easily fill up.
It is a big day with 580kms as we
head towards the huge desert of Dasht-e-Lut & the city of Kerman. We stop
for coffee at a huge Caravansari just on the side of the motorway. They are
dotted along each of the numerous Silk Routes about 30 kms apart. On the flat
plains before Kerman we turn and head east towards Mahan to have a look at
Aramgah-e-Shah Ne’matollah Vali with its gorgeous blue dome & peek inside
at the gardens & mausoleum. Then we head over the mountains on our way to
the desert. We had hoped to camp in the desert, but the long delays at petrol stations
have changed our plans. So, at dusk we find a spot in the mountains, & in
the morning carry on to the desert. At first it is sandy with tussocky grass,
but then it starts to change. Mainly little hillocks of sand, but strangely
covered in trees. Then there is miles of flat sand, finally we are at the
Kaluts themselves. Wow! We park amongst these huge sandstone pillars,
reminiscent of Monument Valley in the States, and just absorb it all. John gets
out his drone for a little flyover. Before we retrace our steps, we carry on to
the Rud Shur River, and yes, the water is flowing & the sides are white
with salt. But disaster strikes… my camera ceases up – all I can see is the
black screen of death!!! We retrieve our
old camera that is stored in a cupboard, but the batteries are flat, so I have
to resort to my phone (shock & horror) A lot of signing and moaning today.
Anyway, get over it Lynda. Time
to move on. Once over the mountains & past Kerman there is lots & lots
of desert and lots of driving, apart from stopping to try to get diesel. By
evening we stop at Zeyn-al-Din: a highly renovated caravansari that is just off
the highway. It is now a hotel, but we park outside for the night and enjoy a
buffet dinner with other overseas visitors. Great to meet some Aussies &
Kiwis here. Most of tourists here are French.
We head off bright & early to
get to the city of Yazd before the traffic is crazy. I have become a bit
neurotic about city driving after talking to a tour guide yesterday & John
is humouring me. So, we stick to the main ring road & find a nice spot
beside a park, then taxi to town. Crazy as there was heaps of parking on the
streets in town!! Anyway, we have a good explore & try to hunt down a
camera shop. No go with the camera shop, but we do visit the Water museum that shows
how qanats/aqua ducts were tunnelled under the city to supply water to town.
Fascinating how they did this so many years ago. And of course, there are heaps
of badgirs/wind towers here to keep the homes cool during their long hot
summers. And of course, the odd mosque
& medressa. Yazd done we continue the long drive to Esfahan.
We are planning to meet good
friends of Konrad & Ingrid here. They have suggested we camp/park at the
Hotel Arbassi carpark. So, we set our GPS and head in. Naturally we have
arrived in the city at crazy traffic time (Most of the day is crazy but late
afternoon & evening are the worst!) And this hotel is right in the centre
of the maze of the old city. Phew, I get pretty stressed, and John stays pretty
cool. We are nearly there, but in another crazy snarl. We park and I go to hunt
for our hotel. A friendly policeman gives us directions – we only need to do a
very tight U-turn and we will be there. Its’s not cheap (in fact $27 US), but a
great position & actually pretty quiet.
First destination a camera shop
and he can fix it. By 9pm we have it back ready for us explore of the city
tomorrow. We head off bright & early so nothing is open & the place is
pretty deserted. So, we can get absorb the gorgeous Imam Square. We head in to
the palace to explore – it has gorgeous tilework & a lovely upstairs
ceiling stuccoed with pictures to improve the acoustics. Then on to the Bazaar
– mile after mile of shopping & for us people watching. Finally, we pop out
in the Iman Ali Square, which is even bigger than the last. A coffee stop
before heading to the oldest & perhaps the loveliest mosque
–Masjed-e-Jameh. It is closed for lunch, but John asks if we can peep in, &
we find it still full of people so we wander around for free! Bonus. Back to
Imam Square for a final few mosques before heading back to GR2. Sadly, my
camera is still not OK. Way too much light is coming in so it is back to the
camera shop. Eventually it is fixed, but many of my photos of Estefan are not
so good.
The next day is earmarked for
Wifi in the Hotel foyer and then catching up with our new friends. We have a
lovely lunch & visit at their home. They suggest we stay overnight, but we
decide we really should move on. After negotiating the crazy ring road of Esfahan,
we take the motorway towards Tehran. At dusk we pull over at a rest area. More
motorway driving before we decide to stop at a few scenic spots. First is the
old mosque at Natanz – lovely on the outside, but bare inside- So, a bit
disappointing. The second is the old red mud brick village of Abyaneh up in the
hills. Despite the rain it is lovely. We explore the narrow alleyways with lots
of local tourists. Many of the locals are in their ethnic costumes. Finally,
our third stop is at the town of Kushan which is famous for its lovely old
homes. We park & explore a few – they are truly lovely. Finally, the last
of our drive to Tehran. We plan to park near the city so we can drive right in
to the centre early the next morning. We end up in the cemetery which appears
to have a major road through the middle – surprisingly quiet after the Mullan
has finished his calls to prayer.
So, at 7am we drive in to Tehran
& park slap bang in the old centre and set off to explore. But as it is
Friday the bazaar & quite a few sights are closed. Fortunately, the
Golestan Palace is open and today it is free. So, we can gawp at every museum
& palace room to our hearts content. The mirrored rooms are particularly
jaw-dropping. They are blinged to the max! Time to tackle the roads that are
now busy with the usual crazy traffic. Then we keep finding ourselves on
motorways with no truck signs & no pickups! When they police stop us, they
say to carry on.
Our plan is to take the scenic
mountain road over to the Caspian Sea. As it is Friday everyone else has the
same idea so we are immersed in traffic, but despite the craziness it is a
lovely twisty rocky drive. Hours and hours later we reach a beach where we stop
for the night. Here John meets Dariush who lives in an apartment overlooking
the beach. He invites us to breakfast and we spend a few hours in his lovely
home. He was a famous body builder & actor here in Iran, so he has heaps of
interesting stories. Continuing our drive along the waterfront – of which we
see very little – we stop for John to have a swim (not for me sadly) and decide
to continue inland. There are lots of big towns and miles of rice fields. But
John has noticed that we have broken a spring – so we stop at Amol to get it
fixed. By the end of the day it is all done & the workshop owner insists we
come with him. We think we are camping outside his house, but he takes us to
town, picks up his family, head out for dinner, then off to the city (which is
a visit to the new glitzy shopping centre) & then go back to his home. They
want us to stay for the night but after much protesting we head back to GR2 to
sleep (so much better than mats on the floor) We felt totally out of control,
especially when they only have a few words of English.
Head off bright & early. Town
after town until we head up in to the mountains following a river valley full
of rice paddies – it looks amazing. We
are heading to Badab-e-Surt to explore the travertine terraces. They are off a
little bumpy track. We stop & walk in.
At first, they look a bit disappointing, but as we circle around they
certainly improve. Definitely worth a visit. Then some more magic mountain
driving before we reach the main road through the desert – we are now heading
to Mashhad. This is when GR2 gets her very first tyre blowout ever. It only
takes John an hour to change it, but it is getting late so when we see a lovely
caravansari we stop behind it for the night.
We want to get to Mashhad today
to book an appointment at the Isuzu workshop, so lots of driving. But we do
squeeze in a stop at the very lovely caravansari at Za’faraniyeh. The door
isn’t locked so we can explore, but even more fun is exploring the remains of
an old mud brick town behind the village. Finally, we reach Mashhad & the
Isuzu place by early afternoon. We wait. Yes, they can start today. Awesome –
John has a list of jobs to get done. But because Ramazan has started work
finishes early. We will have to come back tomorrow. Rezi, the owner of the workshop, gets us to
follow him to a place we can camp closer to the city. He says he will come
back, so we relax and wait. In the end he takes us to visit his friends and we
eventually have shish kebabs at nearly midnight. What a fun night meeting some
lovely people and discussing life in Iran. In the morning we are back at the
workshop and finished by 2pm. When Rezi discover that we plan to go to see the
Holy Shrine (he thinks we are crazy) he takes us in for a drive past. Actually,
probably more than adequate as the whole city is busy with Ramzan. Finally, out
of the city we find a quiet riverbed for the night.
This morning we have enough time
for chores, then head towards the border. We aren’t due to cross until tomorrow
morning so we have time to detour to Radkan to see an old tower, then head to
Quchan to fill up with food & diesel. Here we meet some lovely guys who are at the
University here. They show us where the supermarket is & invite us to their
place. Again, we have to drag ourselves away so that we can head up in to the
mountains for our last night in Iran. In the morning we drive through glorious
fields of red poppies. A magical sight as we leave Iran.
I will be glad to throw off my
scarf, but sadly those ladies we left behind have to continually wear them.
They also cannot ride a motorbike or pushbike. They are so hampered by rules.
We have met so many friendly people and are sad to leave, but we will not miss
the white-knuckle driving. Maybe they will drive better in the Stans – we are
about to find out.
Wow, I envy your great adventures. So much history there, your photos are great. Greetings from West Texas, I remember you from your trip through Palo Duro Canyon.
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