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
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
