Iran, Shiraz-Yazd-Kharanaq

Luka. /Pentax

Oliver and the 17th century shaking minaret. /Pentax

Tuvalie and friend. /Pentax

Tanja and Pia in Kharanaq. /Pentax

After the decision to change our route to Africa instead, we all feel quite relieved, excited and very happy. Although it means some back tracking, we can now concentrate on enjoying ourselves with not too many worries. We all thought we would have a smooth and fast departure out of Iran, towards our new destination, but once again Iran seems to hold a grip of us…

We passed Yazd on our way back towards Tehran and turkey and decided to go for a slight detour to a village called Chak Chak, the most important Zoroastrian pilgrimage site in Iran. We were hoping to see the annual festival for which thousands of pilgrims gather, but we just missed it by a couple of days. Chak Chak houses a fire temple and one of the few remaining Zoroastrian eternal flame (the fire is said to have been burning for 4000 years). Since we were not allowed to stay the night (only Zoroastrians are) we headed on towards Kharanaq.

Chak Chak in the middle of the desert. /Pentax

The fire temple in Chak Chak. /Pentax

Kharanaq is a beautiful village where parts are believed to be more than 1000 years old and it´s been occupied in some form for more than 4000 years. Some restoration has been done but many buildings are unfortunately deserted and falling down. The views are spectacular though and we enjoyed just wandering around along the ancient irrigation system and getting lost in the old parts of town.

Beatiful Kharanaq. /Pentax

We planned to stay for one night but once again our stay was prolonged by an accident. Our travel companion Chi got hit by a motorcycle and injured her knee, so we had to visit the hospital and stay a couple of days in order for her to rest. Since both Chi and Linas and Richard´s Land Rover where in desperate need of some further maintenance (x-rays and new universal joint) we all headed back to the city Yazd.

We are now in Yazd since almost a week, and Milan has damaged his eye once again (!) and not allowed to leave until the doctor gives us permission. This time it is slightly more serious and Milan has to go for daily checkups in order to make sure the infection does not get worse. So, until Milan gets better we try to enjoy our days in the old winding mud alleys and colorful bazaars. Lina and Richard have taken the opportunity to improve their car slightly, by adding an AC and an extra fuel tank for example.

We just hope we will all be in good enough condition soon (both cars and passengers) in order to continue our travels, now towards Africa!

Slight change of plans…

Back on the mainland, we were all quite exhausted by all the turns at the immigrations office and the news from Pakistan. We had to reconsider our route now, since none of us were that excited about going into Pakistan after the last couple of incidents in Islamabad. Also, after our three month stay in Iran the weather conditions in both Pakistan and India are not exactly ideal… 50 something degrees and aver 70 percent humidity. And then the monsoon... Unless we limit our visit to the mountain areas only, our stay would most likely be somewhat unbearable. And we didn´t really want to rush to south east Asia, since this area would also be too hot and humid to enjoy.

So, one alternative would be to go north through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Kirgizstan but that route would either take us through China, which we know involve a daunting amount of paper work and money, or through Afghanistan which we did not know if it were possible at all. Our initial option of shipping from Bander Abbas to India did no longer feel like an alternative. Too hot, too much paper work and money and to be frank, we all had enough of bureaucracy for the time being…

A third alternative, and one that had kept popping up a number of times during our journey so far, was to go to Africa instead. We know, it´s not quite what we had planned initially. J But after meeting a number of overlanders coming from this direction, and others coming from the Indian/Pakistan direction, we all thought that Africa would be more pleasurable, less hassle with paper work and Visas, no shipping (!) better climate and a more laid back atmosphere. (For Richard and Lina it is also somewhat like going home… ) So there we are, Africa it is! Our somewhat altered route now goes something like this: Turkey (again), Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. So, for all of you who plan to visit us somewhere on the way, we really hope to see you in Africa instead!

Iran, Kish no 2

So, here we are, one month later and we are still in Iran! We ended up staying a lot longer than planned on Kish Island due to a number of incidents…

1. Oliver stood on a scorpion and had to be rushed off to the hospital. No damaged done though. Luckily for him, the scorpions on Kish are not so poisonous. After an injection he seemed to have more energy than ever! He is now nick named Scorpion Boy.

2. We bumped into Mohammed, who works as a diving instructor on Kish. Pia and Richard were offered to go for a test dive and after that we all decided to get a PADI open water diving certificate. Kostas and Chi kindly offered to look after the kids whilst we did our intensive four day course. A good reason to stay for a couple of extra days we thought…

3. On day three of our diving course Tanja managed to poke Milans eye so badly so he had to postpone his last dive. After a couple of turns to the hospital (again) his eye finally healed enough for him to finish his course as well.

4. It was now time for the turtle eggs to hatch. Originally we thought we would miss out on this but by this time we had extended our stay for so long, we might as well wait for a couple more days for the chance to see the little turtles dig themselves out of the sand.

5. Our visas were expiring and in need of extension. This proved to be harder than we thought, but after quite a number of turns back and forth to the immigrations office we managed to get a few more days in order for us to get back to the mainland where we could extend our visas further.

All in all, five or so days ended up in a three weeks stay. Towards the end, we were all quite desperate to get of this Island. We felt as if we would never leave… But looking back, we had some incredible time and unique experiences on this strange Island. For some of us it was first time breathing under water! Diving is just amazing and we cannot wait for the next bit of coast on our journey where we can test our skills.

Tuvalie and Richard having some fun on the beach. /Pentax

Richard and Pia getting ready for their first dive. /Pentax

Tanja is testing out Oliver´s swim aid. /Pentax

Luka´s found yet another interesting crab! /Pentax

Mourning procession on the death day of Fatime, Prophet Mohammed´s daughter. /Pentax

Inside the great mosque on Kish Island. /Pentax

By the green tree, where people come to tie ribbons around the branches for good luck. /Pentax

And we did manage to see those tiny little turtles with a lot of effort digging themselves out of the sand and scurrying down towards the water. Such cool little characters…! One night turtles had hatched outside one of the fenced off areas so we were all searching the whole beach with torches helping the lost turtles into the water. The waken nights and lost sleep was definitely worth it. And we made some friends for life! The guys at the center for monitoring and protecting sea turtles are like family to us now. Almost for three weeks they let us stay with them, they cooked for us, played with the children and shared their work and lives with us. Hamed, Ali, Camran, Arash, Hossein - we do hope to see you sometime, somewhere again!

Newly born! /Pentax

Getting some help into the water. /Pentax

Just crawled out of the sand. /Pentax

Another close encounter with a turtle. /Pentax

Hamed, Camran and Ali. /Pentax

Preparing the catch of the day for barbecue. /Pentax