Iran and back in a month on a 650.

[kurienp]

.... Sometimes memories are the photos you don't get to take. Then in these sublime surroundings with the last of the sun illuminating the bridge I come across swan pedalos,....

So very poetic and true.



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[Drumacoon Lad.]

More pictures from Esfahan, the dagger graffiti, the other bridge, a tile detail from the mosque, a wonderful plaque to Shams and a spice display which mirrored some of the local rock colours

 

[Bam]

Can you not get a Visa to ride into the UAE, and then sort out the visa for Iran in Dubai. Then the ferry from Sharjah over to Iran.......

That's what I thought and was already half way there in my head.
Traveled in UAE, it's easy as are most GCC countries. Getting a visa once off the ferry is a massive ball ache for a Brit, even if one has Wasta (influence).Impossible if like me you have none.

DL- You're visiting the places I've always wanted to visit and the detailed write ups and pics are so redolent and evocative. Nice work.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Quick update, more later. Bam, well as it happens Iran came up for me as a route to Samarkand and then I did a bit of research and realised the richness here and settled on it as a destination. I'm in Yazd now and melting, but found a good hotel.

As for the bike and the heat, well apart from the last 100km of the ride to Shiraz and about 70km before arriving at Yazd have not had excessive heat. A lot of where I have been is quite high, over 1,500 meters, and this seems to keep the temperature from getting excessive. I don't want to say too much about the bike as I'm a long way from home, but the deal the bike and I have is, I put petrol in, top up the oil occasionally, oil and adjust the chain and it keeps going. I may take the air filter apart here and clean the throttle body but it is running well so may just leave it. It deals with the heat quite well and it had some experience on my trip 18 months ago to Dakar and the Gambia(search for "Basingstoke to Dakar". On that trip I rode in 40C plus a few times and for long periods in the mid 30s. It has a little fan which cuts in when required.
Anyway, more later on todays ride.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

I knew the departure from a Shiraz would not be smooth and I have to say I am not the best at packing up and getting away anyway. The fact the bike was stored in a private house away from the hotel was an extra completion and I wanted to top up the oil before leaving. Getting away early was more important today to get Yazd before the intense heat, 39C had been forecast. With the bike oiled and positioned in front of the hotel I started to bring my gear down. At one point the hotel owner asked where my helmet was and I said inside the hotel door. He said that was not a good idea as this was a "bad street". He did not mention that when I arrived! I also wanted to have a fair bit of water with me and topped up my Camelback drinking bag which I keep in the tank bag. *Four more litres went on top of the panniers. I found that it is great to have a Camelback so I can drink while riding but not to have it on my back like a rucksac, as that becomes heavy on the sholders as the day wears on and it also pushes your clothes to your skin, reducing air cooling. Keeping it in the tank bag works for me. When I got all on the bike I could not find my GPS and had to unload the main luggage bag in the street and found it, hastely tucked away when I arrived.*


Finally got away and out of the city much easier this time, following a route a taxi had taken me the evening before. Of course I missed the first petrol station as I was distracted and it was partially hidden by a lorry. As it happened there was one 20km further on and I filled up. I'd worked out that I only needed to fill up once more before arriving at Yazd, but also wanted to be sure before heading into the desert that I have enough fuel. The early part of the ride was quite cool, low 20s, and we also did a bit of climbing and on the route went over 2 passes over 2,500 meters. They were not steep climbs and the road surface was good, so the bike coped admerably. As we came down from the second pass the terrain changed from a mountainous environment to what looked like desert. The road was going through a flat plain with sand on either side and nothing else in sight. Very reminiscent of the Sahara views I had on that trip. Now the bike was used to this desert and I was OK but I'll admit to listening a bit more closely to the beat of the engine. *Also when stopping for photos or to check the map I did not feel it necesary to switch off the engine. Why risk the possibility of it not starting, not that would happen of course. This desert did feel differet though to the Sahara. Today I was on a dual carriageway with lots of traffic, not the single strip of tarmac which winds its way down the west African coast, where one stretch of 100 miles of that road it was so quiet I did not overtake a vehicle nor be overtaken. The bike of course never missed a beat and I arrived in Yazd and went to a good hotel which was in the guide and also in the GPS. Sadly the price was a bit steep and would not be discounted, even for a hot old biker, but they recommended an alternative, which was cheaper and gave a discount, and has a shaded car park for the bike. Happy days! I'll explore the old town in the morning before it gets too hot and stay 2 nights.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Some more Esfahan photos, first on the road from Esfahan to Shiraz, the young artists with their male colleague on the right, my young self, the view of the mosque in Imam Square, detail from inside the Masjed-e Imam mosque.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Now some of Shiraz, this sculpture caught my eye, the cross was on the bottom of a column from the photo below, an impressive set of carved stone columns, your fresh flat bread arrives on a conveyer belt from the oven, the leaning tower.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

From Shiraz to Yazd, views if the road in the mountains and in the desert and the hotel. An ice house in a town on the way which could keep ice frozen all summer.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

In writing about finding the hotel yesterday I skirted over the fact that the 2nd hotel proved difficult to find. While I pondered over the map a guy on a small motorbike stopped. I asked him where the hotel was and he pointed at a side road and not content with that, he rode in front of me till I reached the hotel, showed me where to park and when he felt I was OK, gave me a wave and rode off. I realise I'm in danger of taking this helpfulness for granted as it is so widespread in my experience of the Iranian people.


Last night was so civilised as I had a 3 course meal in the hotel with the "Tourists". I know I'm a tourist too but these are different. They travel around in packs with a local guide. They all arrive at the same time, eat at the same time and leave at the same time. I have never taken a holiday as part of a group and believe I would struggle with it. Of course there is an argument for going in a group if it allows you to see interesting places where a guide is required, but I'm not a convert yet. The group here are French and I'm finding I'm saying bonjour and merci a lot, even to the staff. There was an incident this morning where one of the French tourists was getting directions from one of the hotel guys, I heard him asking a couple of times where was north. As a well prepared adventurer, I happened to have a compass in my pocket(useful in cities), and produced it saying a few French words. The French guy was delighted and asked if I was French, my accent must be improving.


This morning as the tourists went to board their air conditioned bus, I strode off looking like a shorter and plumper Laurence of Arabia, to face the heat of Yazd on foot. The hotel staff at The Laleh, had recommended I started off through the lanes leading to the main road. In fact the heat was not too bad then, but I walked in any shadow available. I was planning to follow a walk recommended by the guide book, which seemed to cover most importsnt things. The old centre of Yazd is quite small and practical to cover on foot, even in 30+ temperatures. It is a maze of lanes lined by quite high walls, of course made of dried mud and straw. There is usually some shadow to help ease the intensity of the sun. I found the way to the start of the walk easy enough and it started with a mosque. It is a beautiful building. and in this case mostly open air. One interesting feature is that the decoration includes a swastika design, which is an ancient symbol for infinity, timelesness, birth and death and used for thousands of years. Of course our views on this symbol are now so negative because of its use in the 20th century. The other useful device in this mosque was a cold water dispenser, where you chose a straw, place it is a recepticle attached to a hose, press a button and cold water is pumped into your mouth. You need to keep swallowing. When finished you dispose of the straw ready for someone else to use. I tried it twice.


I kept broadly following the walking tour coming to a water museum which explained the system of Qanats which deliver water to the city and around the villages. Qanats are tunnels, skillfully dug so the water runs by gravity along their length. Some are 90k long, but only 60cm wide. There is great skill in getting the levels right and it is hard dangerous work. There was an ancient qanat at the mosque and it is believed to predate Islam.


As I left the hotel I was thinking that if I hurried I could get to see everything and maybe leave this afternoon. There is a big part of me that likes to move, on which I find hard to manage. I stopped in a coffee house in an old Yazd house which was very tranquil and a sense of calm came over me and I thought why are you rushing, enjoy the town and have a restful afternoon. So I approached the rest of the day in a better frame of mind.


Everywhere you look in Yazd you see big constructions that look like chimneys but are badgirs (wind catchers). They are designed to direct wind downward into the building and there is usually water below and this cooled breeze makes the houses tolerable in the summer heat, seems a clever idea.


One place I wanted to see was the Zoroastrian Fire Temple. The Temple has a flame which has burned since 500 BC. Well I've never had strong feelings about Zoroastrians before but they are not going to be on my Christmas card list this year. In the heat of the afternoon I walked down to the temple to find it was closed and the temple is far away from the other main sights. I was not pleased. So then I decided to walk to the centre again, to a particular shop I had seen earlier. This was about a 2km walk and it was in the hign 30s. And I was regretting not having water. When I did get some water I downed the first bottle immediatly. I plodded on but noticed many of the shops were shut, as was the bazaar and wondeded if my shop would be closed too. It was. I was not a happy bunny but at least I had checked, so started back to the hotel but noticed a man crossing the street walking towards the shop and then he opened it. Do you think the Zoroastrians may have caused this to happen to make up for the temple being closed? Maybe I've been a bit hard on them. Anyway I entered and got come nice souveniers. This update would have been posted earlier and with photos, had I not been accosted by a local guy who bought me an ice cream drink and we chatted for over an hour. This wouldn't happen in an English hotel, you'd be left alone to get on with your writing. Onward north tomorrow.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Some pictures of Yazd. The digging of the qanat, the Water Museum had been a house with a qanat running through and food was suspended above to keep cool, the lanes of Yazd with a happy local, the actual qanat in the basement of the museum dry at the moment, lastly the texture of the mud and straw walls of Yazd.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Last photos from Yazd. First the swastika motif on the mosque, the wind catchers, Yazd is famous for sweets and here is a proud shopkeeper who was happy to serve me, the main mosque and lastly a tile design on the mosque unique to Yazd.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

It was hard to leave the pleasant hotel in Yazd and I messed about and did not get away as early as possible towards Kashan. I had also had a reorganisation of the packing and discarded anything I could, just to fit in a few souveniers. The bike has an aluminium rear subframe which helps to keep it light but I worry sometimes about loading it too much. Of course worrying about does not stop carrying a lot of gear but if you travel a long way and alone it is reassuring to have tools and spares. In addition this subframe and panniers have performed admerably for the last 20,000 miles, sometimes over difficult terrain, so I should be confident in them. I finally got away and noticed the temperature was already 32C. The temperature was to become a feature of today's ride. Once out of town, and filled up with petrol, I was immediatly back in the desert. The temperature rose, 33C, 34, 35, and 36 and then it stabilised and I checked the altitude on the GPS and noticed I was very gradually climbing. We'd started at just over 1,100 meters and were now at about 1,400 meters and continuing to climb. To my great relief the temperature began to ease in step with the rise in altitude. It got as low as a fresh 29C as we crested a ridge at over 2,000 meters. Of course what goes up must come down and we then began to descent and the inevitable happened, it got hotter again. I had been drinking regularly from my camel back as I must have been at risk of being dehydrated. The temperature got back again to 36C but did not stop and got to 38C. I'd started the day with all the vents on my riding jacket and trousers open but when we got over 36C I started to close them. The theory being that when the temperature is over 36C having the vents open warms you up and does not cool. I had not tried this before but it seemed to work and I was marginally more comfortable.


The ride itself was easy, all on dual carriageway and used mostly by trucks, some of which wanted to go faster than me. One feature of riding here is that people are interested and will toot their horn, wave, take photos as they drive past and most disturbingly, they will come up behind you but not overtake but the sit behind you on the outside lane having a long look, which makes overtaking extra hazardous. It's OK being a celebrity but it has it's drawbacks. No doubt I eventually readjust to normal life after I leave Iran.


The GPS position I had for the hotel in Kashan was not exact and it took me into a series of little lanes similar to those in Yazd. I stopped at the point where I might have gone passed the hotel and a young lad appeared, he said hello and asked about a hotel and he immediately pointed left about 50 meters, which was a great relief as the temperature was about 37C. Did I mention the temperature? I went in and they diid not have a single room but a small double at a reduction, so I took it. I asked the guy if there was somewhere for the bike and he said sure, the roof. Not the answer I expected. I had vision of a steep ramp but he opened a door on the roof to the street. This seemed too easy but it was not. He had a very high timber under the door and in attempting to cross it the bike ended up sitting on the engine protection plate (bash plate) with both wheels off the ground, like a beached whale. We tried a few times and it was the same result. I took my bag off and reorganised the few slabs he had to assist and eventually got it over. I was glad I had upgraded to a substantial bash plate as part of the bikes preparation for my Africa trip, and I believe I got it from a guy on this site(Mikey Boy.) I was impressed with the bike today, the only reason I noticed we were climbing was by looking at the GPS, it pulled like the proverbial train and on the lower grade fuel.


The hotel is part hotel and part hostel with dormatories and has a lot of foreign tourists travelling independently, not the large organised groups. It has a nice vibe and I'm considering staying an extra night but the town does not offer much, with a very disappointing bazaar. Tha mosque is interesting, if a little on the plane side, I think I've been spoiled. It seems a more traditional town than others I've been in, as all the women are dressed fully in black. I do have to report my first theft of the trip happened here. I'd *been out for a walk and spotted a shop making flat bread. It was a really fast process operated by 3 people, with the guy in the middle moving the quickest. His job was to take the rolled dough and streatch it with his hand over what looked like a cushion and place it on a circular plate which rotated into the oven. Finally the cooked thin bread was taken off the disk and stacked by a young lad. I asked the guy if I could take a phote and he was delighted and even stopped the process to pose. I took my photos and moved on. Returing past the bread team later they were still hard at it and I gave a wave. The guy gestured for me to take one of the breads and I nodded. Then he stopped me and on the one he was making drew a heart shape in the dough and put it on the disk. Of course it came out with a big heart shape and he presented it to me. What a nice gesture. I then went walking up the busy street nibbling the bread and with the locals enjoying a joke at my expense, great fun. So having got back to the hotel, I needed to pop up to the bike and left the bread on a little ledge. When I came down it was gone. So I suppose I can say that, when I was in Iran someone stole my heart.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Photos for today, (would be great if I could choose the order these are presented) the busy baker, not posing but doing, the bike on the roof and the bread heart.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

More shots from today, a pretty design on the mosque ceiling, the mosque, a caravanserai(overnight spot for camel caravans crossing the desert) still in reasonable repair.

 

[kurienp]

The pictures of the mosque are so beautiful. The artwork so magnificent. If they are such in pictures, how much more beautiful when seen in person. Thanks for sharing. Ride safe.

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[Drumacoon Lad.]

Getting the bike off the roof was a lot easier than it's undignified entrance. I found a couple of extra slabs which gave more ground clearance. The ride today proved to be one of the hardest of the trip due to the heat, a strong buffeting wind and some problems with the route navagation. Initially we went through a desert area and then began to climb very gradually and I was again sharing the road with trucks. I tend to ride faster than most of them but not as fast as some, which means a lot of overtaking, and being overtaken occasionally, so you need your wits about you. Trucks of course do not need to indicate when they are going to overtake, they are big, so you should see them move, particularly when they pull in front of you. To be fair some did hold back when they saw me coming but they were the exception. This all got more interesting when we got on to a single carriageway road. The stakes with overtaking were raised considerably as you had to calculate if there was time to overtake and get back in safely, as well as being aware that the truck in front may have planned a pass too. This was the normal cut and thrust of overtaking and where a bike has a destinct advantage even a heavily loaded one. However, the greater risk on this road were the trucks coming the other way, who would overtake en mass and the only bit of road left to me was the 1 meter wide hard shoulder. I even had to brake hard at one point.


Up to this point there was no need for music to relieve the boredom as the trucks kept my attention. It was about this time that the wind picked up, initially just a breeze and somewhat cooling, but it got stronger and gusty. Winds from the side and with gusts are a menace for bikers. I was getting blown around and it was an effort to keep the bike on line. In fact you can't keep going straight in a gusty side wind, you can just apply a correction when it hits you. Riding in this is physically demanding and tiring. The wind seemed to get stronger and the last 90 minutes were into a side headwind and when I got to the hotel my neck and sholders were stiff. Of course these are difficuly riding conditions but it was inevitable on a long trip like this there would be difficult days, but I want to be riding and enjoy it and after a shower and dinner I can reflect with satisfaction dealing with the challenge and in a way it made it a memorable day.


Today was the first day I started partially retracing my steps and I'm back in Zanjan again after about 10 days. I'm using the same comfortable hotel, the Park, and when I arrived and asked for a room they offered me the same room as last time. Leaving Iran feels a little strange, it seems to have gone a quickly but I've seen all the main sights, and I still have along way to ride to get home. I'll reflect more after I've properly departed but I am certainly in the winddown and heading towards the Turkish border. What route to take in Turkey has been occupying my thoughts in the few quiet moments on the ride. There is a road on the black sea coast I fancy, but I'll decide nearer the time. I'm also looking at the Patras - Venice ferry, but the schedule is restrictive and it is a long days ride off my route to get to Patras, so that option may not be as attractive as first seemed. Anyway, let's get into Turkey first.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Yesterday was not a day for photos but here's one of a nice old door in my hotel in Kashan, which used to be a merchants residence.

 

[Micky]

Really enjoying your report and photographs DL

Sue (Gracie on here) and myself really loved Iran and its people when we rode through back in 2009 ... such fond memories.

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Just a short update to say I'm back in Turkey, to some peoples relief. Started riding west and carried on to the border. Long day, so updates later.

 

[Sandtribe]

Just a short update to say I'm back in Turkey, to some peoples relief. Started riding west and carried on to the border. Long day, so updates later.

A great read! Keep it up and stay safe!


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