Boxing Day 2008

I managed a late check out which was good. It was so good to be somewhere clean. Got some washing done. Had a hotel breakfast 3 egg omlette WOW !
Sadly it was soon time to go. So I loaded up and the inevitable Police squad arrived. We were off through the Lahore traffic for the border.
The Border ritual was relatively painless. I have learnt to laugh and make jokes where I can. It usually works. If they dont laugh I ask the guy for identification which he produced and we shook hands and got along just fine after that. However Pakistan was OK. India was a little more precise but no problems.
I then had to park the bike and return to the "border" to watch the flag lowering ceremony.
What a sad joke. Patriotism at its worst. (Pic the very enthusiastic and noisy crowd !) No wonder there is distrust between the two countries if this is how they think. I saw it as a comic sketch , (Pic the comic guard being half the compliment of 6 !) but I am sure the mass of Indians that crushed into the place did not. Essentially there is a gate and 1oo metres of seating either side which is jamb packed, and this happens every day ! Then about six "guards" with highly coloured hats and spat march up and down in an exaggerated fashion. The MC exhorts the crowd to shout cand chant, the flags are lowered, and the guards retreat. The crowd is left to find its way home in the dust and dark. Bloody odd really.
So I was left to ride to Amritsar in the dust and dark. Sadly I now have a bike overheating issue. The same problem (different cause) that I had fixed by BMW in London so I am pretty sore about that.
However I managed to find the Golden Temple and the Hotel. That was actually a bit of a feat.
So I am laid up waiting for business to open to deal with the bike problem and in the meantime the swolen leg is reducing in size and almost able to walked upon without too much pain, so all is not bad.
I will go to the roof of the Hotel and see if I can see the Golden Temple through the fog, and tomorrow I will try to catch up on some photo's.
nzl04

Xmas Day Lahore

I moved to the very expensive Holiday Inn. Boy it was worth every penny.
Went to meet some people at a Lonely Plonkers (Planet) reccommended site, for a visit to some events. Lonely Planet is really the pits as a guide book.
The first event involved sitting on a cold floor in a mosque listening to some local music. A most strange event. The pics are two other people at the same venue. The guy in red a "Sufi" known for enlightenment through hashish and growing their hair. His was about 10 feet long. The other guy was a local "hotshot".
Then back to the cafe for a BBQ of spicy chicken, which was sort of OK. There were some people I had met at the border, from Holland, so a friendly face is allways welcome.
Then we went to a "Sufi" event.
It was actually a large number of young and old men sitting on a cold floor smoking dope. After 3 hours a man stood up and played a saxaphone and someone in the "garden" outside was playing drums, rather ordinarily......and that was the major cultural event in Lahore !
Well that was the oddest Xmas I have ever spent.
nzl04

Xmas eve to Lahore 375 k

Got the escourt up early and we were away at 8.45. They are a good team, nice guys.
Just out of town I had my biggest suprise of the day, a man walking down the road with a Black Bear on a lead. That was a first but sadly I could not stop for a picture. My escourts get a little short about pictures.
So after many changes and lots of time parked on the side of the road waiting I was waved on 45k out of Lahore. Find my own way !
But I did with some very sketchy directions, but what a noisy dirty dump and this was supposed to be a decent midrange Hotel.
Down the road (with my Policeman) for some food. Well food ?
Greasy curry mutton and not much of it and naan bread.
Hardly satisfying so tried a pastry and tea on the way back. No better !
nzl04

Tuesday 23rd to Multan

A short ride and despite the escourt we got there in good time so could get in some shrines and mausoleums. They are very grand edifices, and full of very sincere worshipers. It still confuses me why.
However, I was informed that this was the home town of the Prime Minister so I must travel in the Police ute for sightseeing. It did mean we got to many sites quickly and for me and my four bodyguards we saw what we wanted. The city pict. I chose to show the old and the new and the Mosque was actually very pretty, (yes goats and mosques its time to move on !).
The ride to Mutlan was actually rather pleasant.
Agricultural land. Lots of crops, trees, (avocado I thought) citrus, I was amazed at the level of production but then again the level of consumption is pretty impressive also. There are a lot of people here.
Every concievable for of transport. Women, bikes, trailers towed by donkeys ( the backbone of Pakistan) horses, Ox, tractors, the lot and all loaded up to the maximum.
The busses have people and goods on the roof, the Mini vans have goods and people wherever thay can find a grip to hang on. Even in the rain. They are a hardy lot.
The show stealers however are the goats. They have very elegant goats ( yes I know that sounds odd but they are shiny long legged things with huge drooping ears, they look great.
nzl04

Monday 22nd to Bahawalpur

This is just a leg on the way to Lahore really but it included a visit to Uch Sharif one of the "premier" historic sites. A mausoleum, yet again.
Did I mention that I was again escourted by the blue Toyota ute and the armed police. I suppose in the event of a problem I would be grateful, but it does make for pretty bad riding. Travel 35k, change escourt, shake hands 8 times (or more) can't complain about these geys, very nice friendly guys all of them but very inconvenient really.

While stopped on the roadside waiting I took the sunset picture.

However the 300k took 10 hours and we arrived late where I had a Hotel selected but they insisted I go to theirs and it was not pleasant. Overcharged, dirty, unhelpful, a nasty experience.
nzl04

Sunday 21st Day off

Well I didn't move much. Sorry about the quality of the picture but I just missed the cattle walking up the street ( past the bike) in my out the window picture, and the goats are a bit shaky sorry.

The Pakistan goats are the prettiest animals I have seen ( No its OK I have not been too long alone) but they are almost elegant. They are I understand milking goats but they have long neck and legs that make them stand out in the goat world and a coat that is really shiny and attractive. Its OK I am allright but they are good looking animals. In fact one of the few good looking anythings that I saw in that desperate country. Pakistan is just a sad place.
But I did get more of that good Dall (Dahl) for dinner.
nzl04

Sat 20th to Sukkur

The street scene is an "out the window" shot from the hotel I was not permitted to leave.

Without a sore foot this ride would have been a handful. Bad roads are an understatement. It was about 250k and took 8 hours !
I was "on my own which wasn't bad but it was one hell of a ride.
I was pleased to finally make the town of Sukker (which I felt like) and be in a half clean bed with a not bad meal. In fact the best Dall I have had, it was great.
I remember little of the ride. It was survival mostly. It was long. It was cold. It was pretty barren landscape with little to commend it as a ride. Lots of mud. Lots of villages. Lots of trucks.

Lots of road repairs and roadworks and some very poor surfaces to cling to.
nzl04

Fri 19th Hard day on the road

Got away from Quetta in the misty sunlight and into the Bolan Pass.
That was fantastic. bThe rock walls the train running through and the ruggedness of the environment.
Then it all came to a stop.
Road blocked.
Ride down the river bed I was instructed by the Police that had suddenly appeared. So I did. That was a challenge. However I made it. The problem came when I got back on the road by now totally covered in mud. My escourt started to wave frantically that I should speed up, I looked in the mirror into a grill (highly decorated) sitting on my topbox, so by instinct I accellerated....wrong thing to do as I lay face down in the road with the bike on my right foot.
That was nasty and I had a very sore foot.
I was escorted to the next town, second biggest in the province, where the local doctor applied some eniesthetic and a bandage and I was off to the Police station where they impounded the bike and took me to a "hotel" where I was told not to leave !
Fortunately there were a couple of agricultural consultants in the next room that ordered me some food so I eat and lay fully clothed in the dirtiest smelliest room I have ever occupied, with a "toilet" that I was not game to enter. The smell with the door closed was bad enough.
Not a good outcome but without the spill would have been a big adventure day.
nzl04

18th December

Lay day in Quetta due to tiredness and rain.
nzl04

Dalbandin to Quetta 17th Dec

The road started out fine, for the first 100k perhaps more and I was thinking so much for the "bad road". Well I was premature. It came allright. Not 40k of sand but 100k of almost road.
It was great bike riding but wow it was a ride allright. The sign said look out for sand ! An understatement for sure.

The other pic. is of the chimneys of which there are many. They make bricks out of the red brown earth and build houses out of the red brown bricks so it all becomes red brown.

It was rugged to say the least. It was great desert it was in fact stunning. Everywhere was reddish brown. The dust and of course me !
The last 50k into Quetta in the dusk through the ring of mountains that surround the city was fine, but Quetta was not.
What a first class dump.
nzl04

Iran to Dalbandin 300k across the desert 16 Dec.

At least I was at the gate when it opened, ( an hour late) but then I lost an hour trying to find a money changer, after the usual visit to Immigration for the passport stamp, and the Customs for the bike passport to be stamped, it was in fact about 11 am before I did get on the road.
The fuel along the road is dispensed from cans of smuggled Iranian petrol. No gas stations as such. However it works.
The ride through the desert was actually pretty, and pretty good. The towns were dirty but the odd wild Camel made up for that.

And the Trucks. The wild crazy decorated trucks. There is so much "stuff" on them. Huge fronts highly decorated, high sides, loads stacked so high it is a wonder how they get there and how they stay on. Trinkets, whistles bells stars, twinkly stuff lights, every thing imaginable. And they crawl along the road.
Dalbandin is a dump in the middle of the desert where I spent the night. 24 hour hot water was the claim......well it sounded appealing, so did the offer of a beer. Then I worked out the room cost 300 R and the beer 250R so no more beer !
However I did sleep in a sort of clean bed.
nzl04

Destination Iran 15th December

This was a straight forward 350k but I was away so smartly that I got to Zahedan easily, a simple ride through the rocky desert with plenty of wind and sand but I found fuel ...allways a fear...... and on the the border. Not so fast however.
35k from the border I was stopped (again) to be looked at. This time the army fella disappeared with my passport...."wait here". I was "inspected" a few more times and finally...."we go" !
I said I no go...no passport....so out of his pocket it came and into my pouch then on to the back of the bike he jumped, sitting on the spare tyre I was carrying.
It must ahve been hellish cold and even more uncomfortable up there, but on we went. After 30k the man on the back changed and we carried on to the border.
There was a great deal of go here go there that all took lots of time. Valuable time as it turned out becfause no sooner had I got passport clearance and bike clearance and got myself to the exit gate, it closed.
What I protested ...why....."Gates close at 4.30" I was told, but I said it is 4.16......"Too dangerous"......go to Tourist Motel, so I did ( No bloody option!)
The Tourist motel was actually pretty entertaining. Mostly truckdrivers and a Pakistani Pom that spoke Urdu...so I managed a sort of interchange of views about many things but these guys were truckdrivers distributing oranges from Pakistan to places like Russia and Iran.
One of them proudly showed me his Automatic Volvo truck and paid for my chicken and rice.
In all pretty good blokes but not the sort you would look at and immediately take a liking to !
So another bad sleep in yet another dirty bed.
nzl04

Kerman to Bam 14th Dec.

This was a sightseeing ride really as I visited the town of Mahan which has mausoleu8m for a Sufi, and some famous gardens. The gardens were out of season but very much lacking in maintenance. What a shame.
Down the road to Arg-E-Rayen. This is a mud brick fortress smaller than Bam. Some rich blokes mud house ! It is esentially a brick walled community with the head mans household in part of it. The common people lived within the walls and had their bazaar in there as well. A practical arrangement I guess as it allowed the head man control over all his subjects. Its is all very run down however. The talk about boosting tourism will be just talk unless they actually get organised.

And yes the Pic of the dome is yet another mausoleum in the middle of a roundabout ! They really like their past citizens.
Bam was the big drawcard in this region until it was destroyed and the town beside it, in a major earthquake, and which Unesco seems to have had it land on their plate. What a hell of an undertaki9ng ! For what ? A new mud brick fortress ?
Anyway the Town was mostly flattened as well and that rather poor book Lonely Planet reccemmends going to a guest house to help the good owner recover. Well if the good owner got to work and his lazy son moved once in a while they would not need the sympathy vote ! I think the rewards are greater this way but sleeping on the floor in a very dirty room with no hot water after 5 years of "rebuilding" does not deserve sympathy.

I can not really understand why anyone would want to rebuild anything here at all.
So on to the border with no breakfast again....
nzl04

Shiraz to Kerman 13 Dec.

I am on my way toward the border with Pakistan. The southern route to Bam is an unknown so having made good time I chose to do the xtra distance today and rode to Kerman.

It was a simple desert and mountains ride.

Nothing memorable at all but having said that there were huge areas of small silver barked tress like miniature wallnuts that I understand were in fact pistacio.

The Pic is a roadside stall of nuts.

The benefit was that the following day would be easier.

Found a Hotel, again expensive and despite Lonely Plonkers saying discounts are readily available......yeah !

Sorry to so cynical about Lonely Planet but their books are really inadequate. Poorly written poorly researched and often just misleading.

Again the food was ordinary. The Hotel like so many was party refurbished and had no internet and no interest in providing much in the way of service at all.

I did get some advice on the next days ride and that was appreciated.

It had been a pretty long ride however at 540k with only dormant trees and mountains for company.
nzl04

Friday 12th Dec Shiraz

They say New Zealand closes down on Sunday.......well welcome to Shiraz on Friday.
At least it is warm ! Hooray for the sun, I think I will become a follower of Ra !
Shiraz is of course the home as they claim of that wonderful grape. Interesting that it is not made here any more.
So tomorrow I start the run East to the home of the terrorists.
It is my great hope that they are busy with other things as I pass, but before I get ahead of myself I still have 3 days in Iran including Bam the home of the huge earthquake that flattened that mud brick city.
I hope to find a hotel still standing !
If you ever want to get over a fetish for eating Kebab, come to Iran, you will never want another !
nzl04

Thursday 11th Dec. Yazd to Shariz

I was a little concerned about this leg as it was back over a 2500metre mountain pass and it had been snowing. In fact I just heard that Erzurum (Turkey) is under snow now so I am pleased to have got away from there.
However it was only hard getting out of the city. There are few signposts and even fewer in english. Happily I found fuel with the usual game of where is your fuel card and then, are you a tourist ? which I thought may have been obvious ...... and then I found the road. It was a four lane highway and a good surface. Over the pass with only old snow visible then 80km down the other side.
Finally found the "highway" to Shiraz and shorly after one of the old cities, now a barren plain where Cyrus the Great has his tomb, stuck out in the desert ! (Pic) No matter how flash the tomb, he is still dead !
Then down the road to Persepolis. (Pic) What a heart break. Possible the most impressive place I have ever visited, a marble city that was built totally for the "worship" of the then King, a place they visited at new year to receive gifts, of course these guys were Zaroastrians. It lasted 150 years then along came that bastard Alexander the Great and he burnt it down.
Yes I know the buildings were beautifully decorated and highly polished marble but they were held together with steel and lead clamps, and as the roof was wood on huge beams, the fire he started melted those clamps and it all ( well most of it) fell down.

In the picture you will see in the background (I hope) the front of the tomb carved into the hillside. One of the Kings Xerces of similar.....but still dead !
One of my objects when undertaking these rides was to see mankind, and how inhumane we still are. And we still are. Still driven by fear and greed. Zaroastianism has been replaced by all sorts of religions, in this area, Christianity and Islam ( Coke and Pepsi) one followed the other, and both it seems needing a heavy advertising budget.....but then again that maybe just me !
However after the sadness of Persepolis it was off in the dark to Shiraz. It certainly does test ones resolve to ride into a new city in the dark with the driving that is so scary, it really is the man in front has the right of way but the ways they get "in front" are pretty risky, however with that blind faith...I am in front.....I will not get hit.....and I didn't. So with inadequate maps no GPS and a hint of the direction and the street from a guide book I found myself outside the Hotel I was seeking.

A note on Hotels. Expensive mainly dirty with little service. The better ones have two sheets, the rest a sheet and a blanket. Dining is still pretty scary. I have little idea of whats what and resort to a wander around and finding something someone else has if all else fails. As the food and entertainment capital........well there is little in Shiraz the once proud capital of the wine world...perhaps.
Not much of a city but with the reputation of being the food and entertainment centre of Iran......I am glad I am not here for that !
nzl04

Wednesady 10th Yazd

A day of walking through the old city. Lots of mud bricks.
Lots of Mosques.
Lots of old buildings.
A good day really.
More later.
nzl04

Tuesday 9th December

I am in an internet cafe ( at last) without my diary.
So I had made Yazd having ridden from Esfahan. It was over a very cold mountain pass of 2600m but I did manage to find my way and the snow was not too fresh.

Yazd is a desert city, famous for its water systems. The picture is the top of a water tank and the towers are for cooling.

The other picture is a builder mixing "muck" a mix of mud and straw ( didnt see the manure but guess it was in there) which is used to apply to the walls of the buildings. Pretty simple process really.
As indicated the ride was mountainous and of little note. Not a lot of attractions.
I stayed in the Silk road Hotel, a budget stye with dormitories a caravanserai I guess, and some rooms opening onto a covered courtyard. Made a pleasant effect.

Met a Canadian there riding a bike to Pakistan. All I could think was there are a lot of pretty staunch young guys out there because that is very hard work.
nzl04

Sheep

I am interested in sheep. Having been brought up in close contact with them, but hasten to add they drove me crazy, anyway....

In Turkey and Iran there are little flocks of sheep everywhere. They are big with fatty tails, and interesting shades of brown black white and all shades between.

As I was leaving Turkey a shepherd and his flock came through town.

He was in front leading and calling to them.....not baaaa, but abbbbbbb

These vast cultural differences are totally fascinating !

nzl04

Tabriz to Tanjin 4th December

One of the disciplines that I enjoy is obtaining the necessary "green card" insurance.

So away I went to the Information Office. It was at the Bazaar, a huge octopus of a thing with tentacles reaching out in caverns and alleyways. A great mass of traders selling everything imaginable.

However I digress. The man I needed arrived and off we went to the Insurance office. The insurance was arranged, full cover for two weeks, and then off to the Bank to pay the premium of $6 and then back to the Insurance office for the policy. Quite a bargain I thought.

So soon after I was on my way .

More coloured hillsides. The brown soil has many colour patterns which makes it look a little like a huge marble cake.

So it was down the motorway in the cold with the usual tooting and waving. They really do make me feel a bit like the Duke. No reason to be a celebrity at all, but they toot and wave all the same.

Tanjin. Not much to say about Tanjin.

nzl04

Wednesday 3rd Turkey to Iran ( as last)

I managed an early start with breakfast at the cafe of Lentil soup ( yes I like soup for breakfast) and scrambled eggs.

The ride out of town was a relief. It was not much of a town. The view from the Hotel window will demonstrate.

The ride out of Turkey was uneventful. Wide valley floors, high ranges snow capped and the browness of the villages and the countryside.

The border was fortunately simple. Turkey was a smile a stamp and "best wishes".

Iran was behind a large steel gate that opened only far enough to admit me. Thereafter however they were good. Stamp by the Police in the passport. Into Customs for the Carnet and a photocopy of the passport and the visa with two of my last three Turkish coins ( and then some currency changed by the same man) and I was on my way.......well nearly as there was another check down the road by some "Police" not in uniform but all they wanted was to look at me and take the last slip of paper.....then I was on my way to the Gas station.

Petrol is the one unknowns in Iran. There is a "permit" system for locals, which appears to be not implemented for tourists, fortunately. So line up ( you can tell there is a Gas station by the queue of cars on the road) and ask for an attendant who will produce a "card" and pump fuel, sometimes all over the bike, but beggers can't be choosers. The stations that have a dedicated bike pump are the best because they fill the bike for $4.... on average ! Now that is nice.

The ride to Tabriz was not even interesting enough for many pictures. May have got one of a lonely village, but before I could get aimed there were two locals beaming and waving !

The architecture is different. The roads are good. The cars are mostly Hillman Hunters (or Avengers) its really odd to be among old cars again. There must be an explanation, perhaps they purchased the Rootes Group car line but I am convinced they are Hillmans.

Anyway they like to get close, really close. amd if you are in their way even closer. Racing rules apply, in that the car in front has right of way no matter how he got there, U turns, crossing three lanes at once, reversing up in the face of oncoming traffic, its scary but you get to understand they do not have many accidents. They will do whatever it takes to avoid contact and with a great deal of tolerance. If road rage were known here there would be a civil war on the roads. They are VERY tolerant yet still drive like it is a race track.

So I found Tabriz on the day the Prime Minister visited. He commands a large crowd. I sort of dead reckoned my way to the Hotel but about three blocks short called for help from two guys on a bike and they "delivered" me. The Hotel was full, first time that has happened, so I was in the Hotel next door with the bike in the foyer again. Pampered bike !

Dinner. Found the local recommended by the Hotel, and then with the help of the guy at the table, a bread baker, and the staff and the owner I discovered how to eat a Dizi which is a claypot of slow cooked meat and vegetables. First tear up some flat bread in the empty bowl. Then tip the fluid off the Dizi. Soak it up and eat it. Then tip pot contents into the same bowl and mash ( with a masher supplied) and eat the brew. Its delicious ! Accompanied by a pot of Aryan a sort of drinking yoghurt. Also delicious.

So I survived day one. I was sort of relieved.

nzl04

Erzurum to Dogbiscuit 2 December

Well I was finally away thanks to Tabatabie at the Consulate. He will never know how grateful I am.

I thought I did well. Got away early. Then 10k down the road the world turned white. I managed a few more k's before the helmet lens froze so I opened it to see and my glasses froze.

Fortunately a garage appeared and I went in, got fuel and retreted to the office where there was already a crowd. Two locals and three traffic Police. It was the Policeman that offered me a Chai, which I gratefully accepted, and then he took to my helmet with some demister/anti fog that he found. I was very grateful.

They said 40k then sunshine, in their best pantomime acting. I was pleased and left but not so pleased when it lasted 100k. Finally I came over a 2200m pass and sunshine.

It stayed that way as I rode through the brown villages in the brown countryside with the brown sheep. Wide valley floors and steep sided hills and snow caps.

Finally over the brow of a large hill and there in the distance was Mount Ararat. I then spent the rest of the day approaching it.

Finally making its base as the sun sank and I rode into Dogbiscuit in deepening gloom.

It was a dark dank dirty place and I searched for a Hotel. I stopped on a corner to have a look around and was enveloped in a mass of dark faces very close, arms waving and the babble of Otel...Otel...Otel..... so I followed a man claiming to be the owner back up the street. That was the last I saw of him as I rdoe the bike in through the front doors to park in the Lobby.

Very convenient. The man who now appeared in control laughed as I took a picture, "everyone take picture" he said.

He said there were two restaurants, I found one and the lentil soup and ghoulash never tasted so good.

nzl04

Zoroastrians

From the very little I know about religion of any sort it appears there were a people in this area Iran, Turkey, that called themselves Zoroastrians. They may have been the original "greens" as they believed that the earth should not be contaminated ie by burying bodies in it.

They did not have a being that they worshipped apparently.

How they came to be "aware" of Jesus is interesting but the story has it that the three wise men were Zoroastrians.

Now what is the reason you may ask for all of this, well, on and in the Monastery were a number of pictures/depictions, and on an outer wall were Mary and Jesus (missing) Joseph, and the three wise men. So I took a picture.

nzl04

More 964 AD Monastery

Pictures

Images

I have some pictures of the Monastery and the ride there. Some good images that I wanted to share.
nzl04

On the road - briefly 27 November

After several days of sitting waiting Chris and Kadri on the DLR650 and I went for a ride. It took us a while to find fuel and the right road but the ride that followed was great. Over the snow capped range and up a long gorge with patches of four lane and patches of road works. The lanscape was dramatic and a little warmer as after the range we reduced altitude.
Old villages on hillside, hay bales stacked on roofs, sheep and cattle in small herds on the hillsides, it was a step back in time other than the roadworking machinery. Thats the same everywhere.
The colours in the hillsides were great. Not much grows here apart from poplars down the river beds.
We turned off eventually about 100km and would our way up the valley until the monastery appeared nestled in a small village.
The usual turnout ensued, where are you from but we were saved from prolonged inquirey by the call from the tower beside the monastery.
It is falling into dispair sadly but this country has so many monuments to the past whats another monastary built in 964 with some stone carving and paintings inside. For me it is a great feeling. 1000 years ago this was a community centre. It was built up a blind valley for protection no doubt ( no army is going over the tops) and apparently there was a large christian community here.
Unfortunately we only had the option of riding back the route we came in order to be back before dark.
So another night of soup and Kebab and early to bed to watch the drama in Mumbai unfold on the BBC. In a month I had planned to be there.
I fear the US created financial crisis will see more downturn and and harship and more of this madness and I am left with the thought that the same silly games of greed envy fear and distrust were present in 964 when the monastery was built.
We have not progressed very far have we !
nzl04