سفر آفرود به 30 کشور در 12 ماه

سفر آفرود به 30 کشور در 12 ماه

این گروه در مدت 12 ماه از 30 کشور مختلف از جمله ایران بازدید کردند.

 

       اسامی کشورهایی که در طول یکسال از آن عبور کردند:

                                                  - France/ Germany/ E. Europe/ Turkey

                                             - Iran/ Pakistan/ Thailand

                                              - Thailand/ Laos/ Malaysia

                                                                 - Malaysia/ Thailand

                                                     - Thailand/ Laos

                                                                 - Laos/ Thailand/ Cambodia

                                               - Cambodia/ Thailand

                                              - Thailand/ USA/ Mexico

                                                  - Mexico/ Belize/ Guatemala

                                                     - Guatemala/ Honduras/ Nicaragua/ Costa Rica

                                                      - Costa Rica/ Spain

                                                       - Spain/ France/ UK

سفرنامه ایران:      

Thursday 1st February - Yazd, Iran

(Daniel) This morning, I woke up at around 10am, and found that two baby camels were walking around outside the tents. The Belugis were still hanging around, and one of them took me for a ride on his motorbike to the mountains 6km away. It was amazing, as they looked more like 600 meters away, but just never seemed to get any closer! After we returned the guide had prepared a simple breakfast, and we ate this before packing away the camp, and clearing the site. The Tehranis went off with the guide to go Camel trekking, and Bobek, myself, Rowan and Gabby then returned to Yazd, when we arrived, Bobek went off to work, while the three of us checked into the Silk Road Hotel.

The Hotel that we are staying in is really beautiful, it has a central courtyard, with rooms all around it. The courtyard is covered at the moment but soon they will remove the cover for the hot weather that is already starting to show. The Hotel itself is situated in the old city, the part that is the second oldest inhabited city in the world. And without a guide it is too difficult to find your way around here. Everywhere you look, small alleys criss cross the squares and bazaars, and people fly around these lanes on motorbikes.

After saying goodbye to Zara, Daniel and all the guys from Tehran, we headed back to Yazd and checked in to the Silk Road Hotel, a really nice place, and at $10 per night for my single room, who could complain!  We spent the rest of the day chilling out after the crazy night before, and only got up again to go out for Gabbies birthday dinner at another hotel, converted from a 250 year old traditional house, with beautiful courtyard, and amazing décor.  The food was great, and the waiter hilarious.  Sated, we walked home to the Silk Road, and had a Hooka Waterpipe in the main courtyard washed down with tea, then went to bed.

 

Friday 2nd February - Yazd, Iran

(Daniel) Today was spent relaxing, typing up some emails, and catching up on some much needed rest. Bobek joined us for lunch and we made a plan to return to the desert in a couple of days. After lunch we went for a walk around the alleys of the old city in Yazd, these are like something from a fantasy movie. Anyone who doesn't live here would get lost immediately! After our walk we returned to the Hotel, and spent some time relaxing in the courtyard. We ate at around 9pm and then went to bed. Ready for an early start tomorrow Saturday 3rd February - Yazd, Iran (Daniel) Today we woke up and decided to have another lazy day.  I walked down to the email shop with Gabby and Rowan, and managed to get hold of Nicky and Amy on Messenger.  It was nice to speak in real time, and tell some of the stories with the photos from my laptop.  Afterwards we walked to the bank to change money, but were told that the exchange wouldn't be available until tomorrow.  After this we went back to the Hotel for lunch (the only place we could eat on account!)  And the headed back down to the email shop to send some more email etc. After this we rested before having dinner at the restaurant with Bobek and then going up onto the roof to smoke a waterpipe and take some photos of the city at night. Sunday 4th February - Central Iran (Daniel) Wow, another crazy desert trip!  This morning we woke up early, and Gabby ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel.  Gabby and I cleaned the truck while Rowan went to the Bank to change our money, and then to buy supplies for the trip.  Bobek arrived not long afterwards, and once Rowan returned we headed out into the desert again.  We stopped at a fuel station, and tanked up with fuel $2, we also filled up the trailers 70l water tank, just in case. After about 50km we arrived at a small village with a police station at it's entrance. To the rear of the village was an abandoned town, made completely of mud huts, it was still very intact and we wandered around it's streets until we came to the other side, where you could see down to a beautiful valley, unusually lush and green, as it was farmland.  (Infact I think that they were growing rice there.)  After looking around and taking some photos.  We discussed the merits of opening a paintball operation here, and then maybe holding the world finals of hide and seek!  Bobek thought that we should stay here and camp inside the town, but we wanted some real desert and so opted to press on returning to the main road. At first we took a wrong turn and drove down a lane that ended at an electricity pylon high on a hill, but then we drove another 30km, and I spotted a very interesting building about 3 km into the desert.  We drove out to it, and discovered a really strange ruin, very similar to the Ice house we had seen a few days before, it was some kind of storage building, or Ranagh ( a water hole)  the mud had been eroded away over the years of abandonment, and it now had the look of a Star Wars set.  With the desert surroundings, and mountains in the background, the place could easily have been Tatouin, or Moss Eisley!  We took a good look round, and discussed the idea of camping here, but decided to head for the mountains. It was at just this time that disaster struck (as it sometimes does!)  I moved the truck forward, and the right hand trailer wheel just locked up with a horrible crunching sound. It had been extremely tough going across open desert with no track to follow, and we had crossed a few dried out gullies and streams.  I took a look underneath and could see that the hub was sitting off line, indicating that something inside probably the bearing was no longer there, and the grinding probably meant that the brakes were locked, or worse that the stub axle was broken.  Bobek and I took the wheels off and then the hub.  A pin was missing from the brake setup, and this had caused the brakes to seize, the remains of the larger bearing were still in the bottom of the hub, and were splintered.  I assume that the pin went first, probably just got dislodged and fell out from its securing spring.  This caused the brakes to fall out of line, and then the jarring shattered the bearing, although to look at how disintegrated it was, I wonder if we had been driving on one bearing and the brake seating for some time before now. Whatever happened it was going to be slow going if any going at all, and the light was fading fast.  We disconnected the trailer and elected to stay here for the night.  Bobek and I mad e temporary repair by removing the brake shoes and workings, and then screwed the wheel back on tight, it wobbled aoround in a very worrying fashion but turned.  Then the two of us went to get firewood from a farm that we could see in the distance, meanwhile Gabby and Rowan stayed to set up a camp inside the ruin.  When we had arrived at the site, the wind had been fairly brisk, but it was now picking up, and getting very uncomfortable. Bobek and I arrived at the farm and realised that it was abandoned also, best of all it was covered in dead palm trees and other types. We had no problem collecting enough firewood for the night, and loaded this onto the Wolf, then we headed back across the desert to the camp. Rowan and Gabby had set everything up for a cosy night in the ruin, but worryingly the wind was getting fiercer.  With our last few minutes of daylight we tried to block some of the holes in the ruin so as to protect ourselves from the sand filled gusts. As night fell the sandstorm hit full pace, and blew the air in the ruin all around.  The smoke from the fire mixed with the sand from the gusting wind, and made it very difficult to breathe.  Rowan cooked the supplies of Camel meat and chicken with rice which he fried on the fire in his wok.  The food was looking amazing, but the environment was getting worse and worse.  The cumulative effect of the smoke was very annoying, and all of us were feeling a little desperate. Sunday 4th February - Central Iran (Daniel) Wow, another crazy desert trip!  This morning we woke up early, and Gabby ate a hearty breakfast at the hotel.  Gabby and I cleaned the truck while Rowan went to the Bank to change our money, and then to buy supplies for the trip.  Bobek arrived not long afterwards, and once Rowan returned we headed out into the desert again.  We stopped at a fuel station, and tanked up with fuel $2, we also filled up the trailers 70l water tank, just in case.  After about 50km we arrived at a small village with a police station at it's entrance. To the rear of the village was an abandoned town, made completely of mud huts, it was still very intact and we wandered around it's streets until we came to the other side, where you could see down to a beautiful valley, unusually lush and green, as it was farmland.  (Infact I think that they were growing rice there.)  After looking around and taking some photos.  We discussed the merits of opening a paintball operation here, and then maybe holding the world finals of hide and seek!  Bobek thought that we should stay here and camp inside the town, but we wanted some real desert and so opted to press on returning to the main road.  At first we took a wrong turn and drove down a lane that ended at an electricity pylon high on a hill, but then we drove another 30km, and I spotted a very interesting building about 3 km into the desert.  We drove out to it, and discovered a really strange ruin, very similar to the Ice house we had seen a few days before, it was some kind of storage building, or Ranagh ( a water hole)  the mud had been eroded away over the years of abandonment, and it now had the look of a Star Wars set.  With the desert surroundings, and mountains in the background, the place could easily have been Tatouin, or Moss Eisley!  We took a good look round, and discussed the idea of camping here, but decided to head for the mountains. It was at just this time that disaster struck (as it sometimes does!)  I moved the truck forward, and the right hand trailer wheel just locked up with a horrible crunching sound.  It had been extremely tough going across open desert with no track to follow, and we had crossed a few dried out gullies and streams.  I took a look underneath and could see that the hub was sitting off line, indicating that something inside probably the bearing was no longer there, and the grinding probably meant that the brakes were locked, or worse that the stub axle was broken.  Bobek and I took the wheels off and then the hub.  A pin was missing from the brake setup, and this had caused the brakes to seize, the remains of the larger bearing were still in the bottom of the hub, and were splintered.  I assume that the pin went first, probably just got dislodged and fell out from its securing spring.  This caused the brakes to fall out of line, and then the jarring shattered the bearing, although to look at how disintegrated it was, I wonder if we had been driving on one bearing and the brake seating for some time before now. Whatever happened it was going to be slow going if any going at all, and the light was fading fast.  We disconnected the trailer and elected to stay here for the night.  Bobek and I mad e temporary repair by removing the brake shoes and workings, and then screwed the wheel back on tight, it wobbled aoround in a very worrying fashion but turned.  Then the two of us went to get firewood from a farm that we could see in the distance, meanwhile Gabby and Rowan stayed to set up a camp inside the ruin.  When we had arrived at the site, the wind had been fairly brisk, but it was now picking up, and getting very uncomfortable. Bobek and I arrived at the farm and realised that it was abandoned also, best of all it was covered in dead palm trees and other types. We had no problem collecting enough firewood for the night, and loaded this onto the Wolf, then we headed back across the desert to the camp. Rowan and Gabby had set everything up for a cosy night in the ruin, but worryingly the wind was getting fiercer.  With our last few minutes of daylight we tried to block some of the holes in the ruin so as to protect ourselves from the sand filled gusts.  As night fell the sandstorm hit full pace, and blew the air in the ruin all around.  The smoke from the fire mixed with the sand from the gusting wind, and made it very difficult to breathe.  Rowan cooked the supplies of Camel meat and chicken with rice which he fried on the fire in his wok.  The food was looking amazing, but the environment was getting worse and worse.  The cumulative effect of the smoke was very annoying, and all of us were feeling a little desperate. It was about now, that Bobek and I popped to the car to get some more water.  As soon as we closed the door we realised what we needed to do.  I returned to the camp, and we made a plan to move the food to the Wolf.  Once inside it was so calm, and we all got a chance to see what the sand storm had done to our appearances.  My hair wax had made the sand stick everywhere in my hair, and gave me the appearance of a dead person, or very old and unhealthy one!  Rowan had the same trouble, and the others were very windblown also, with chapped lips, and low spirits. All this changed when rowan served up his Camel and Chicken Kebabs, with Aubergine and Spring onion egg fried rice.  With the wind blowing in vain at the super tough laminated windows and the air being filtered through the Wolfs sand filters we ate the food with relish, Bibek even had four servings!  When we finished we looked outside to find that the wind had died down a little, so refreshed, we braved the elements for a stroll to admire the moon which had risen.  The sandstorm created a haze all around the ruin, which gave the impression of being on an oasis in the void, really quite special. After sitting back by the fire for a while, we all climbed into the rooftent for a cramped but cosy nights sleep, woken only every now and again by Bobeks snoring!   What got us through this night was the same thing that fuels us everyday, a good attitude, teamwork and plenty of over-engineered equipment! We then took the bearing back the 60 km across the desert to the police station, where we faced heavy questioning before being allowed to work on the trailer again!  It took about 30 minutes to fit the new part, and once this was secure we took the trailer back to the mechanic and left it with him to check my work, and reseat the brake shoes. Wednesday 7th February - Shiraz, Iran (Daniel) Today we had an early breakfast and then headed out onto the road to Shiraz, It was an easy drive on fast roads, and we arrived before sunset at Shiraz, a busy modern town with many attractions. Our first stop was a nomad restaurant that is open in the winter months while the nomads make their home here.  The Lonely Planet simply stated that the restaurant was located 8kms outside the town to the south east, so we headed exactly 8kms along a south east course but found no restaurant.  In the end we stopped outside another restaurant and asked for directions.  To our surprise the restaurant owner jumped in his car and asked us to follow him.  Just as well as the route to the restaurant was very complicated, along back alleys, and eventually through a park and some very narrow alleys eventually ending at the Yurt restaurant. The restaurant was amazing, a huge tent with Persian carpets decorating every inch, we ordered our food, and sat down on a huge recliner a waiter brought over a bucket full of ht coals which kept us warm, and when the food came the portions were really huge.  We were watched throughout the meal by beautiful cats who obviously thrived in the nomads company.  After dinner we smoked a waterpipe and discussed our options for accommodation.  After discounting the idea of a hotel we decided to ask the nomads if we could camp at the restaurant.  They were nomads after all and could surely understand people camping!  Of course they were happy to let us stay, and we set up outside much to the amusement of the nomads! After the long drive to get to Shiraz I slept like a log Thursday 8th February - Persopolis, Iran (Daniel) We woke up this morning and headed to a hotel which had been recommended to us by the owners of the Silk Road, but on inspection the place was horrible.  Instead we decided to head out to the days activities and see what happened. First on the list was Persepolis, with a quick stop for breakfast at a fast food joint on the way out of town. The road to Persopolis was a bit confusing, but eventually we found the avenue which was purpose built for the tourist season.  Although this place, or at least the name was familiar from history lessons, I didn’t really know what to expect, but as we drove up to the main car park, I could see that this is one attraction that draws a serious crowd in high season.  With a huge car park and visitor complex this must be one of Irans main international tourist spots.  There is even a campsite on the boulevard leading to the complex. After buying parking and buying our tickets to enter the site, we walked up to the main steps, two grand stairways leading up to huge statues of horses that mark the entrance to Persopolis.  On the statues people have carved their names, not recently, but as far back as 1840, most of these names are of infantry and horse men from the British army, and I am sure that these ruins must have been an impressive sight during those times, especially when the car park and tourist complex wasn’t here! Sunday 11th February - Taftan, Pakistan - Dalbandin, Pakistan در ادامه ورود به کشور پاکستان و ... جهت کسب اطلاعات بیشتر اینجا کلیک کنید.