Blogs from Iran, Middle East

How low? Out of 1.9 litres of oil I got down to about half a litre… low enough to cause catastrophic engine failure! So pretty low :-( But before I go into the embarrassing explanation of how that happened, perhaps first some lighter news. The Iranian Highway Code Having now spent about five weeks in Iran I think I have grasped the road rules here. They are unusual, and not like those in Europe and Australia, but fortunately they are short. So, in rough order of importance: 1. Speed: the appropriate speed is determined by estimating the minimum safe stopping distance. You should always travel at greater than this speed to maintain priority (right of way) - see Rule 2. This is a minimum speed, not a maximum speed. 2. Turning: turning traffic, traffic crossing your ... read more

The Country So I had this vision that when we crossed the Anatolian Plateau in Eastern Turkey and entered Iran the cold would be over. After all, Iran is a hot desert kind of place, isn’t it? Well yes, Iran is a hot desert kind of place, but a bloody mountainous one. So far we have rarely been below 1,000 metres in altitude, and mostly have been at 1,500m plus. Often we hit 2,100 or 2,200 metres on our rides between places. Which means it’s not so hot in late Autumn! In fact it’s been bloody freezing. On numerous occasions we have ridden roads with snow at the sides. Hot it is not. Forgetting about the cold for a moment – not so easy to do when you’ve been wearing a t-shirt, light merino top, thin ... read more

So, these are the photos that went with the previous blog... assuming the internet is being more cooperative here!... read more

What a difference a week makes! At about this time a week ago we were snorkelling in Kas, and lying in the sun. Today it is 1 degree Celsius. In the previous two days we rode about 1,000km, some of it above the snow line, and all of it bloody freezing. We are now in Dogubeyazit, almost at the Iranian border. The altitude here is about 1,700m, and the town is a dump. Still, in terms of ‘famous inhabitants’ Dogubeyazit holds its own, as Noah was supposed to have parked his boat just over the hill on Mt Ararat. On the subject of weather… Kas camping (14/10/11 – 23/10/11) After a week in Olympus we were getting a bit bored of ‘chilling’ in the tree houses with the ageing hippies, backpackers and curious Russian strays, so ... read more

On Tuesday, 11.10., I was leaving Esfahan in direction of Shiraz. Saeids mother gave me lots of food that I had difficulties to pack all the stuff in my packages :) Thanks a lot to Saeid and his family! I hope I can give something back in the future! It was the season of Pomegranates. I was given so much Pomegranates. And they are heavy! It was a big challenge to eat them faster then getting new ones! But until Shiraz I made it:) I could also recognize that I get into the grape region. I was also given much grapes. But they are not so heavy... The first three days I was quite fast, I made over 400km. On the way to Shiraz I visited some historical sites. I thought a bit history in Persia ... read more

At Friday, 26.8., I started from the airport of Antalya. Rebeccas flight was already at 6 am so that I started riding already at 5.30. I had 5kg less of package because R ebecca took much of my stuff with her. To get my pepper spray back was no problem. I enjoyed the riding towards the rising sun, it was amazing! I followed the road next to the south coast. The first day I planned to come to Manavgat where a family I met near Antalya lives and invited me for having a break there. At 11am I was already there, I had already done 97km at this time. It was a pity that the family wasnt there at the moment, but a colleague of the husband offered me some food. After that nice lunchbreak it ... read more