Today is the 24th of August. I’ve been on the road for 22 days already, after I nearly missed the boat in Sharjah. I would have had time already to go to Belgium and back. However speed is not the goal. I’ve covered 4,000km (I rely now on my GPS only as the trip metre died 8 days ago) and I am still in Iran.
Yesterday I came back from the autonomous republic of Naxcivan. They don’t have many tourists down there so I was lucky enough to get a meeting with the minister of tourism. That is not the first time that I’ve been invited by a minister into his office, but it’s the first time I went in flip-flops 🙂 Back at the border, everybody knew me by now and it was “Mister Patrice” all over the place, after giving me a hard time on the way in.
My plan now is to spend a few days around the lake of Urumyeh before I head to Iraqi Kurdistan. Yesterday I saw a huge white plain bordering the lake. It was a crust of salt, hard like concrete. I drove on it for a few kilometres and decided to set up camp there. Nice sun, no wind, not a sound at all; great pictures and the perfect spot for the camp.
However at sunset strong winds started to blow from the North-West. For the third time in this zone (of a few hundred square kilometres), I had no choice other than to pack everything in the car and seek refuge in the tent. I reckon it was some of the strongest winds I’ve ever experienced, blowing probably at more than 80km/h. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much. I was impressed that the tent was still standing in the morning. The guys at Eezi Awn know their stuff when it comes to make something strong!
Today I stopped after only 20km yet was in a totally different landscape. Let me set the scene of the place I am writing from:
Imagine a beach of white sand, except that it looks like fresh snow and it is salt. The water is pink like grapefruit juice. In front of me there are a few rocky islands. Behind me a cliff and further away a small village. Not a sound except for a few birds. I am sitting in my easy chair under the awning and the temperature is a nice 30 degrees.
After an hour “swim” in water as salty as the Dead Sea, I ate half a chilled watermelon for lunch and was ready to write this article and few posts for my blog.
Every day seems to bring something new or better. In 22 days, and covering 4,000km, I have been from zero to 2,787m high, I’ve experienced temperatures ranging from 8 to 54 degrees, I’ve driven through rock deserts, canyons, high and fertile plains, hills, mountains, … I’ve been invited to share lunch with the nomads under their tent, I’ve shared an Iftar meal with a whole village in the mosque, I’ve slept in a dried mud house, I’ve woken up with Kalachnikovs looking me straight in the eyes. God only knows what’s in store for me next. But one thing is sure, I wouldn’t have seen a quarter of the things I’ve seen if I hadn’t had such a good 4×4!
The car is doing pretty well. I lost the pulley of the power steering in a mountain pass, luckily without any further damage. I had it repaired in Shiraz really cheaply.
Also following an unexpectedly big jump, I bent the rear axle when landing. One ton of payload does not forgive you this kind of mistake. I stopped in Esfahan to have it repaired, at 600AED, you can call that a bargain. Although cities are not on my itinerary, they are the only places where you can get these kind of issues fixed properly. The biggest annoyance is the water tank that has leaked from day 2. A welding at the bottom was not strong enough and broke.
I tried to repair it with epoxy but it was not strong enough. I don’t plan to have it repaired again before I reached Belgium as I have to empty the whole trunk to remove it.
I can find food, petrol and phone cards on the road or in villages, so there is no need to enter cities. A downside for you is that I have yet to find an internet café to send pictures. I can send and receive emails with my phone but I am not authorized to attach pictures…
I will have to go to a city soon as I need my brakes checked. They are a bit weak and slow to respond.
So keep on checking my blog for the latest pictures and stories: http://www.slowlanetonowhere.blogspot.com
At this pace, I don’t know when I will reach Europe. However, that’s not important; I am enjoying every moment and every view.
I’ll keep you posted!
