Monday September 1, 2014Three days 144 miles After a great two night stay in Sayid Abad we were ready for our final Iran ride towards Mashhad. Once again we changed our route to enjoy one more mountain ride and enter Mashhad from the south. After backtracking about 20 miles we once again started climbing. It was a fun climb in a very desolate area. The road was broken up and patchy so we let air out of our tires for a smoother ride. We continued until we found an isolated place to camp. The following day was the same until we dropped out of our final mountain into a busier valley. We then explored a few tourist sites before finding another camping spot. The last two camping sites were very windy with dirt flying. Our goal for Iran was 1,000 miles and we only needed 37 more for that to happen. After that we had a quick celebration then loaded the bikes and drove to Mashhad, Iran’s 2nd largest city. This worked out well since I do not like cycling into large cities. After a two night stay in a hotel we will be guests in our tour guide’s Ehsan’s home.
We cleaned out all our camping gear this afternoon and are enjoying the air conditioning, and one English channel although it is news that we don’t like. This coming week we will be busy getting ready to fly to Tajikistan, extending our Iranian visa a few days, and exploring the city.
Our 2nd night in the village of Sayid Abad. Dinner at 11 pm. The main course was barley soup which was so delicious that we had it for breakfast the next day. Our host (left 2nd up) is a school teacher so we asked him lots of questions since my wife is also a teacher. School kids are pretty much the same everywhere. This was followed by melon fruit desert after midnight.Jocelyn with our host and her daughter. Three other women present declined the picture. They were all very curious about Jocelyn since she was unveiled which is fine inside a house as a guest. Then they all got excited about her tattoos. Jocelyn really enjoyed the “girl talk” with them.My fifth puncture and first since Serbia.It doesn’t matter how good the tire is. This sharp piece of tire steel will easily penetrate between tire tread.Nomads.A nice mural being painted on this factory wall.Iran’s supreme leader on the left and the religious leader on the right.Beginning our climb.The sheep comb the hills for something green to eat. They must be hungry there is not much here.We didn’t know we were in Hawaii!
Beautiful isolated hills.A camping site. Jocelyn talking with her mom.Thanks to Ehsan for another nice fire.
A cool looking mountain village.
We never did find what the danger was. Maybe Jocelyn!The road wasn’t exactly fun. We let air out of the tires and it was fine.The best apples and peaches of all time! Nice family too.Weighing our peaches. Nine peaches and four large green apples for about $1.20. So juicy.We could use a bar about now.A hit and run patch job.Our 3rd Caravanasi along the Silk Road.This has room remains.A typical city street gutter. A trash receptacle too.The beginning and end of towns have many auto repair shops.A 3rd century city that was destroyed in a 1308 AD earthquake.This town was discovered 100 years ago and is the site of an archaeological dig.Old pottery.An aerial view.A final resting place for this person.A cool city mural.Our final Iranian camp. Jocelyn cooking.
Another nice banner.
One thought on “Iran is our first 1,000 mile country on this part of our world journey!”
Hello and congratulations! This month has been filled with many awesome pictures and some very interesting stories. I know you are somewhat ready to begin traveling on your own again, and I hope that you have the same kind of success at finding camping spots that are safe and hospitable. Thank you for sharing this journey and I know that the visitors to this site probably think you are rich! You are, in many ways, and I appreciate how you include Cary and I in your reports. Let us know how we can assist in the next week before you fly out of Mashhad! Love always, Andee
Hello and congratulations! This month has been filled with many awesome pictures and some very interesting stories. I know you are somewhat ready to begin traveling on your own again, and I hope that you have the same kind of success at finding camping spots that are safe and hospitable. Thank you for sharing this journey and I know that the visitors to this site probably think you are rich! You are, in many ways, and I appreciate how you include Cary and I in your reports. Let us know how we can assist in the next week before you fly out of Mashhad! Love always, Andee