Ahmad, Abad near Rafsanjan
Trip Start
Apr 29, 2006
1
107
143
Trip End
Nov 15, 2007
Ahmad, Abad, Iran
Monday, September 4, 2006
Ahmad Abad, near Rafsanjan
All of us were up by 5:30am, just after the call to prayer. We had to catch up the 156 kilometers or so we didn't manage yesterday, plus 625 to get to the Pakistan border or the town closest to it.
We have travelled some of the Silk Road from Dogybyat, Turkey to Tehran, Iran, part of the original trade route between East and West. Traffic sharing these roads is quite variant and mostly quite old. We have seen many 90 and 125cc Honda Motor bikes with as many as 4 adults on them. We have also seen them come to grief on two occasions. Sometimes a car will greet us going the wrong way up the freeway or be reversing to a turn out point which was missed
Beautiful Pakistan truck
. Cars stop anywhere to let passengers in or out. Overtaking is another hazard Lou's car was nudged out of the way by a driver needing to cut in when he couldn't complete his overtaking maneuver. Pedestrians cross the roads at great peril. The boys fueled up with diesel again. This sometimes causes a problem with the station attendants because no cars in Iran run on Diesel, only on Benzene, so the attendants are always warning us not to put truck fuel into our cars.
Several young people came to my window for handouts which I'm happy to give. Iran is a land of contrasts. There is a lot of wealth from the oil, but with a population as large as Iran's there is bound to be some poverty.
We have had many days of driving through desert areas, here too, there are contrasts. Flat, uninteresting fawn coloured sand and pebbles seems goes on forever. There is no carrion, as there are no trees or shrub, just old tyres in the sand. Some of the sandy areas had saltbush growing and there were small capped bore holes as if there had been drilling in the area.
There is no hard shoulder on the side of the road in the desert and we have seen quite a few trucks rolled over
Donkey in oasis
. Some of the roads have been so bumpy the handles of my saucepans and my kitchen cupboards have rattled off with the vibration. The areas of mountains have very distinct strata on them and stand in long ridges over many kilometers so that the ones furthest away look like a shadow on the horizon. Some of these mountains are orange in colour mixed with lighter and darker shades and some black and hard looking, almost volcanic.There are mud and straw dwellings in little communities all through the baron areas of Iran. Many of them are now uninhabited and falling into ruin. We had a coffee break in the shade of one of these dwellings but were soon moved on by the police. We had been warned to be careful in the area near the border and the police made it quite clear that it was not safe for us to stay there. We took our coffee cups and biscuits and moved on (after taking a few pictures of course).
It was a dry 42 plus degrees during the last of the drive through the dessert of Kavir-E-Lut to the Pakistan border and we were all too aware of how vulnerable we were should something happen to our vehicles. We aimed to get to Zahedan to spend the night before crossing into Pakistan the next day. We prayed there would be telephone service so we could contact our family who must be very worried about us
Even kids sell petrol
.When we arrived into Zahedan, it was a shock to our senses and our immediate thought was '"We can't stay here". But the boys had been driving all day and we could not go further to get to the border as it was nearly dark. I stopped to ask someone when I read the word Tourist on a shop front, but this turned out to be your regular Tourist 'barber' taking advantage of an English word. Lou quickly came up to me and said "Come on Jen, let's go, there are kids running around with guns here". We saw 2 boys of about 10 with a rifle.
We did another lap of the town and asked an Police officer on point duty where there was a hotel. We headed in the general direction when I noticed a Toyota dealership in very good condition. The salesman was kind enough to come with us in Lou's car and show us to a Public Call Office and a tourist inn. We took advantage of both and were extremely grateful. We camped in our cars in the Inn complex which had security gates. We paid a little extra for the use of a guest bathroom (very rudimentary, but cold water never the less). We were also glad to have level concrete underfoot. It's surprising what you can be happy with when you're traveling.
4.9.06
Mir Javeh
Iran
Up and on the road by 6:45am
friendly Pakistanis.
. Des filled the water tank with 70 litres of water from the Inn so I felt a little easier. I don't like to leave it empty as you never know where you're going to be able to get clean water again.The Toyota salesman had already pointed out to us the road to Mir Javeh, the last point of Iran before 'no man's land' between Iran and Pakistan so we drove the kilometer up the highway to be stopped by the military police at a check point. They said wait here for an escort.
Two Commandos on a bike with and AK45 lead us up the road at speed to a car park at the side of the highway. They got off the bike and started chatting to Lou and Des through the windows of the cars.
It was a bit scary as we don't speak Iranian and weren't sure if they were looking for a kick-back before taking us further. One soldier took a cigar out of Des's car door pocket and smoked it. He was sitting in the car next to me while Des was checking on Lou and the other soldier. Eventually Des came back and told him he must get out of the car with the cigar.
At this point I was quite relieved when Lynn suggested we make them coffee
fueling up in Pakistan
. All went well from this point and we exchanged first names and ages. Another army vehicle approached and the Commando said. "You go". Des gave both soldiers and Australian hug and we laughed off our unwarranted tension. We followed this vehicle with 3 soldiers, one in the back of the ute standing with a rifle, to the army post where we were told to come around the outside of the building and sit on a blanket where we were served iced water, it was good.
Off we went again with another escort of 4 soldiers in a car to the border of Pakistan. There all the men shook hands (they don't like to touch the women, so we don't shake hands any more) and we were left to our own devices in Pakistan.
It was very moving to see the condition in which the people live, but they are very friendly and wave and stare a lot. Before we knew it we had driven through the centre of the town of Dalbandin and out the other side. We had to turn around because we couldn't sleep in an isolated spot here so close to the Afghanistan border. Lou asked a man on a push bike where the Police Station was and we followed him back through the town, at snails pace, dodging donkeys and cyclists and being run after by the little kids. There were no women outside.
At the Police Station there were already 2 mobile homes belonging to Dutch people. It was great to have English speaking company again. After playing musical campers at the Police officers discretion we all settled in to a cuppa. We were asked 3 times for our passports and the details duly noted each time. The local children had great fun with us and loved using our camera to take pictures of themselves. They really have so little I was at a loss what to do for them so I gave them all chewing gum.
There were three little donkeys close to the station and occasionally during the night we could hear them braying.
As night fell a Police Officer positioned himself next our campervan with his AK across his lap and stayed there all night.
