Sun, sand & steppes

Its been a while and we have been up to a lot - Now in Tashkent, Uzbekistan after a long hot drive across the steppe deserts of Turkmenistan and Uzbek itself. Iran was a real culture shock at first, having to wear the hejab, the heat, everyone so damn friendly and naturally the conspicuous lack of booze. However we settled in nicely and had two great weeks touring central and southern Iran. Our path blocked to the desert by the authorities (sadly - although perhaps not as it was scorching 50+) the area we had chosen being a resticted zone), this gave us plenty of opportunity to explore Iran's undoubtedly fantastic sites in Kashan, Esfahan and Shiraz, getting quite used to comfy hotels out of the searing heat. In Esfahan we were taken out to dinner by Mohammed Reza and friends to the roof of Esafhan to look out over the city and gorge on kebab (what a surprise) and pepsi. The highlight of those two weeks a great two days through the Zagros mountains, on a rocky mountain track in the B'akhtiari nomad tribal region. An edgy bush camp first night tho, distbured at 3am by 3 men and a gun. Unfortunately the pretend your asleep tactic didnt work, and after we spotted a rifle concealed behind our questioners back through the roof tents window, realised we would have to go out and confront them - queue a confused conversation, me in English, them in Farsi, until my repeated 'tourist, tourist' and 'is it ok to camp here' in my best Farsi (with help from the phrasebook) seemed to placate them and they left us alone. Perhaps it was our proximity to the Iraq border (under 100k's away) or just the fact that they see little tourists in the region the reason for their suspicions. Anyway no harm done and next day we continued our way through impressive dry mountain scenery and friendly nomad villages, with most of the locals we met trying to tell us to turn around protesting that the road ahead was too bad (one pair even following us several km's up a pass on their motor bike to tell us so). After we convinced them that the cruiser was strong enough for the job, we were provided with a useful hand drawn map and even more useful farsi names to show to locals further on, and enjoyed a very long day until springing our first puncture just a few miles from the black top. After that little interlude we headed to Shiraz, luckily a tour guide found us wandering aimlessly and showed us a lot of the city not in the guide book, also sampling the famous dizzi (stew) that we were starting to think was yet another Lonely Planet myth. The Ancient ruins of Persepolis next day very impressive, glad we got there at the crack of dawn as it was flag cracking hot!!!! Then on to the lovely town of Yazd, home to the 400 BC fire, on the edge of the desert. With the temperature at around 40C in Yazd didnt do too much but laze around our very comfortable hotel and chat with some backpackers and bikers. Two days later were back in Tehran to pick up Turkmen visas. Spent a night camping in the woods in the cool and quite tropical looking Caspian coast region, then at the border with Turkmenistan having failed to make it through before the ridiculous border closing time of 3.30pm. Next day an easy in to Turkmenistan, and onto to very hot Ashgabat - 45C - our first act, predictably, getting the beers in. Ashgabat a weird anondyne town, one half of which seems to be built entirely in the honour of the country's despot ruler Turkmenbashi, full of naff gold statues (one that rotates with the sun) and pictures of the great man on each street corner. After a night enjoying the beer and watching the footie (and the flesh as after Iran it was mad to see half naked ladies parading around), made it out into the desert on our transit route across the country. A good bash through the dunes (low vegetated dunes - Azuri is the Saharan term) before a very hot bush camp first night - temp maybe as high as 50C that day - at night we resorted to pouring (hot) water on us in a vain attempt to keep cool, even the breeze, like a hair dyer, not helping much. You can buy a bottle of water wait three hours put a tea bag in it and call it a cuppa! Still the sunset over the flat steppe truly stunning, much like being at sea. Next day crossed the bulk of the Karakam desert taking the odd detour off the road (a thin tarmac strip with dunes encroaching) for some fun in the dunes. Mercifully a fair bit of cloud cover that day which kept the heat down, and a great bush camp in Northern Turkmen where we discovered our roof tent provides an excellent game viewing platform after camping with a family of ground squirrels.

An easy in to Uzbek after seeing the ruins at Konyeurgench, and after much debate decided not to take the 500km cul de sac to the Aral sea, camping instead in a strip of Tugai forest in the delta of the Amu Dayra. A night in the once much feared town of Khiva, the rulers of not that long ago liking especailly cruel forms of capital punishment, like impalement. Met some nice Germans on motor bikes and we planned on camping with them in the desert...then they fell mysteriously ill after a long night on the beers...Khiva was okay - a bit manicured and touristy for us so onto Bukhara, after a night camping by the banks of the Amu Dayra (better known in the west as the Oxus). Bukhara much the same as Khiva (boring), met a brit which we think we poisoned with the bacon sarnie we served up...hmm a recurring them so far in Uzbek - we poison the tourists, bunch of lightweights. Moving on to another Silk Road city - Samarkand next day. Actually were thinking of camping and missing Samarkand but with the serious lack of diesel on the way we were concerend if we didn't stop in Samarkand to fuel up we might run out on the way. The Registan is nice, although the numerous souvenier shops dull the experience. The bazzar was where the action was, eating snack foods (similar to the famous cornish pasty)and supping cool piva's watching the wheels and deals. Then there was the game.....eek.

Next up speeding off to Tashkent, actually made it crawling as we had to stop at every gas station in the HOPE they had that rare nectar disel. When we arrived in Tashkent we had a dribble left and our very friendly host (nice groping hands) Ali reassured us over many shots of vodka we would have no problem getting some in the morning, he was clearly VERY pissed as we had no luck the next day finding even a drop. Next day more promises of diesel (unfound), so we were sceptical especially when our driver headed off for a walk in the park to look at the flowers..mate that is not where diesel comes from...however we were too quick to judge as it is in Tashkent, back he trotted with a garden lorry in tow - fuel siphoned out of the tank and we were back in business...very black market and a mouthfull of diesel to boot, him not us.

Moved Hotels as the endless shots of vodka and beer, yes even for us old soaks, became too much. Holed up in a lovely spot with a pool chilling to the max, not, as we are having to rush around getting photos taken, visas, dhl packages etc in the searing heat. Ha not that bad though all part of the fun..aye maties... Uzbek not a country we would reccomend, bit russified, bit crap really...we are glad we got into Iran but wish we had picked up a magic carpet there to fly us over this section. Next up the mountains, at last, and what promises to be the highlight of this first section of the trip, the Pamir highway in Tajikistan and the Wakhan corridor on the Tajik / Afghan border - a truely remote mountain region full of bad tracks, beatiful scenery, hopefully not too many bad people and hopefully some real adventure - the main reason we have come this way. Then onto China briefly - our time limited by permit constraints - more mountain passes, then into Pakistan by middle of August. We will update again from high in the mountains, internet connections permitting.

Photos are of the bazaar at Samarkand, a hot Tom in the desert, us in brighton beach pose in Samarkand, nomads in the Zagros mountains and the ruins at Persepolis.

Hope all well at home - Tom & Cadie.

Out of the mountains, into the desert.

After leaving Tblisi we spent three excellent days in the greater caucuses. A night in a homestay in Kazbegi and our first meet up with another traveller, a 'lifer', 11 years on the road, cycling to Beijing. Hiked up to the beautiful church above the town of Kazbegi, then on to the base of a glacier - well almost the the base of the glacier - we ran out of puff - below the 5000m mount Kazbek. Beautiful weather and stunning views all around. Next day decided to let the car do the work driving into the Truso Gorge on a mountain track. As I mentioned in the last update Georgians like to drink, so much so that even a stop to ask for directions leads to shots (plural) of vodka before we we were allowed to wend our (by then very merry) way further up the gorge. Camped in a stunning mountain valley that night after the road petered out (yet to be fixed up after the winter) before returning to Tblisi the next day and onto the Armenian border. Our tactics for the border now set, Cadie stays in the car and ferries it around while I deal with room after room of sweaty men, 5 hours to be processed marginally better than our 'in' to Georgia, but it still took a few utterings of the more universal words of the English language before we were 'seen' at all. After a stay in Northern Armenia - nice hills but grim old industrial towns - product of some failed 5 year plan no doubt- spent 3 days in pretty Yerevan below Mount Ararat waiting for our Iran visas, staying in another homestay with a half mad Yerevani lady as our host. A day excursion to the beautiful Geghard monastery, unassuming from the outside, inside huge rooms carved carved out of the cliff, water running through and intricate ancient carvings. Exhaust pipe sheared off from the rear silncer on the way there, fixed up back in Yerevan at no cost, the helpful mechanics even giving us some bread for our trouble! Yerevan itself having a very southern European feel, lots of posers and cafes etc, though without the good food or the style. Iran visas in hand (at a whopping cost of Euro 200 with all the necessary 'permissions' thrown in) headed off through highland southern Armenia. A relaxing night by a lone olive tree drinking the local wine, disturbed by a few farmers the following morning whose summer camp was just around the corner. An invite for coffee taken up, Cadie forced to dance around (a recurring theme) before we had to sit down for a very horrible breakfast of oily noodles, way too much salt and stale bread.. Every mouthful an ordeal, neither of us were able to quite finish our plates, though that didnt stop them trying to give us more of everything they had, incredible generousity yes, but we wished we stayed in bed! Following day lots of switch back roads in, up and over the Voratan Canyon, roads either ruined tamrac (worse of all surfaces) or dirt. A beautiful campsite high above a village and the canyon below, an opportunity to eat good old camp cooked food after the horrors that morning. Next day check out the stunning Tatev monstery, this time gatecrashing a service with what seemed like half the Amrenian army top brass and the ubiqitous film crew. The landscape getting drier, birds more colourful, bugs getting bigger and people getting smellier all the way down. - Birdlife a particular highlight, from golden eagles in the Greater Caucuses to huge Storks in the Ararat valley and large white eagles on the mountain plain, now blue birds and eagles in Iran - . That night's camp below a 3000m pass just before the Iranian border, drinking vodka and eating pork products before being disturbed by an attack of horseflies. Into Iran the following day, a very bad 'out' of Armenia, made to take all the stuff out the back, my contact lenses a source of great interest to the customs officers before, 5 hours or so later, we were allowed in to Iran. The difference noticable instantly (and not just the Hejabs and no booze), a very relaxed, friendly welcome from the Iranian officials and through in under two hours. Iran is undoubtedly the most welcoming country either of us have been to, we find it hard to pay at restuarants and shops (at least out of Tehran), people chatting to you in the manic traffic, even passing us nuts through the window and offering any help we need. A night near the border and a night in Tabriz, took in the 3rd centry BC ruins of Soleiman before arriving in Tehran two days ago. Managed to time our entry into Tehran with the returning bank holiday traffic, cars reversing / overtaking at speed up the hard shoulder, no one obeying lanes as such. The road tolls a particular point of chaos, which seem to many of the locals to be a nice spot for a picnic, in the middle of the road. When the traffic slows, both in and outside Tehran, the best tactic seems to be to stick right on the bumper of the car in front, otherwise the traffic just merges in front of you, much like a river flowing round a rock. Not suprisingly Cadie has taken a liking to it and she toot toots away and weaves in and out of the chaos. Fuel in Iran so cheap as to be virtually free, 60 litres of diesel, US$1, which by todays exchange rate works out at around 1 p a litre. 1 pence a litre!! - at a stroke what had been our biggest expanse in Europe cut to nothing. Iranian food not the best, kebab after boring kebab washed down with 'parsi' cola or 'fana' orange. We had an Indian last night, same slow service as at home but no trying to sneak another round of beers here!

Having applied for our Turkmenistan transit visas, which take 10 days to come through, we are now off to Southern Iran. We have spotted what looks to be a promising piste that tracks round the edge of a salt lake in the Dasht-E-Kavir desert, and hope to have a couple of nights in the desert before arriving in Eshfahan on Sat for an all important date with the telly for the England world cup game. We will then head back to the edge of the desert to Yazd where there the Zoastrians have kept a fire burning since 400 BC (which shall have to resist the temptation to 'piss it out' - to quote Samuel Pepys) before a bit more desert action and our return to Tehran. We may or may not go as far as Shiraz and the ancient ruins of Pesepolis, we will see how hot it is as we move south before deciding. Its already very steamy, particularly if you are in a Hejab! Will update again probably on our return to Tehran. Go on England!

Pictures are of Cadie in Hejab in front of the ruins of Soleiman, flowers on the highland plain of Armenia, Mount Kazbek from its base, the church above Kazbegi and alpine flowers on the walk up.