Leaving early (we’d seen enough on our 3 hour drive last night!) we headed out in convoy. As the traffic stopped at a set of lights, a flower vendor thrust a bunch of wrapped rosed into my lap. On the same stretch of road, a local pulled up next to us in a Dodge Challenger and drove with us for a few minutes.
Today is also a holiday and there are police everywhere. They wave these badminton shaped bats with “Stop” on one side & “Go” on the other. We never know whether they are motioning us to stop or waving us on! We usually smile & wave & figure that if they wanted us to stop they wouldn’t be smiling at us.
Not far out of town we came across the Bentley & moved over to pull up but David was trying to discreetly motion us on. Too late we were pulled in too. Paul had left his passport back in Tehran & was waiting for Conrad to catch up with it. Our passports checked we were allowed to proceed.
At Sari we wanted to see a tomb tower and pulled over behind a local in his pale blue Chev to get directions. Well, there was a bit of bonnet lifting going on whilst he checked out our car & Phil looked at his. Classic car owners it seems are the same the world over. Then the photos were taken of his grandchildren, including little twin girls & a baby boy.
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Proud owner and family |
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Much interest in Puce Goose |
The tomb tower was ancient & another revered place. A lovely blue domed drinking/washing facility in the forecourt & locals having picnics in the grounds.
Taking off our shoes, we proceeded in to find that I, already dressed in scarf & loose clothing, had to put on a chador. I must have been pretty hopeless at this as a black clad woman sprang forth & tidied me up. Women to the right & men to the left. The tomb was framed in silver which the women kissed. The floor was the tomb was covered in rial notes.
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Laurette being made ready for suitable entry to Mosque of Tomb Tower |
Next we thought we might dip our toes in the Caspian Sea. Some young fellows on a motorbike took us out to the right road. Whilst we could see the sea, it was fenced off due to oil terminals. We counted 75 tankers waiting to fill up. The roads also happened to be very good out there.
Driving back to the main highway we were once again pulled over by police. This time it was to check our document allowing us to drive in Iran. On we went & one of the interesting sights along all the main highways was locals having picnics beside such busy routes. Cars pull off the road, open the boot & out comes all manner of goodies & the whole family sit by the side of the road for a feast. Some even bring little tents to protect themselves from the sun.
Along this stretch we came across fisherman with very delicious looking fish strung out on long poles hoping to sell to passing motorists.
Another police check & this time it was a try-on. After looking at our passports he wrote on a piece of paper 120. Then underneath he wrote 30,000 (about $3). We took all this to mean that he was accusing us of driving at 120km per hr when the speed limit was 110. We weren’t speeding so there was a bit of a standoff until he got sick of us, handed back our passport & we drove on. I kept the engine running and looked out the windscreen ignoring him until he got tired of waiting
We arrived at the hotel which the guidebook refers to as a set from the movie “The Shining”
Not a cold beer in sight after a long dusty drive. They do brew a non-alcoholic beverage which isn’t too bad so we downed a couple of those.( and few more and another, almost convinced myself that it was “working” )
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A couple of hours non drinking |
The hotel leaves a lot to be desired. The dinner was simply awful. We were taken into a big industrial kitchen out the back & from the freezer were shown chicken & lamb kebabs which looked good. Well, they were so tough, chewy & overcooked that they were simply inedible. The rice with the kebabs was oversalted. Most of our dinners were left unfinished, I for one was not defeated, but simply refused to eat such poor food.
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