26th August 2014      39℃       338km Kashan – Qazvin The excellent guesthouse I stayed in last night was a historic house, made of mud bricks, with a lovely central courtyard where I enjoyed breakfast before packing the bike and riding off the roof where the hotel had suggested I park at night. I stopped a few minutes later to buy a bottle of water, where there were three old blokes in the store, obviously all mates who hang out and chat at the store….

25th August 2014      40’C       265km Isfahan – Abyaneh – Kashan Leaving Isfahan, I stopped at a bookshop and bought a road map of Iran. Prior to reaching Iran, I’d had paper maps to reference, all through the Stans & Mongolia. While the GPS is great, there is nothing like a paper map to be able to orientate oneself and plan. I headed up to the mud brick village of Abyaneh, where I wandered around for an hour, then had lunch. The usual huge…

24th August 2014          34’C        0km by bike Isfahan The past month of riding has been hard on both the bike and my body. I’ve had a few breakdowns, fortunately minor, but they are indicative of the challenges of riding the Pamir Highway, and the roads of the Stans in general. I’ve dealt with a leaky fork seal, that I was able to temporarily rectify using a couple of business cards to clear the dirt from the seal. The rear pannier frame…

23rd August 2014       36’C       457km Tehran – Isfahan Riding in Tehran is absolute madness. So leaving the hotel this morning, to cross the city, was an exercise in focused concentration, not to be wiped out by anyone else on the road. Traffic lights don’t exist as I know them, they have been replaced with a single flashing red light, in place to warn you that you are about to enter an intersection where anything goes. Weaving inbetween cars, motorbikes, buses & trucks….

22nd August 2014       38’C        409km Shahrud – Tehran Another day of ploughing along freeways in stinking heat, not a great lot to see from the freeway, apart from concentrating to be hit by drivers getting too close at 130kmh. Tehran traffic is horrendous, probably up there with the worst in the world, due to the manic driving style, no traffic lights, no rules. Anarchy.  A few close calls again with taxis and motobikes, but no bumps or scrapes.

21st August 2014      39’C        494km Mashhad – Shahrud Long, hot, hard day. Evidenced by the fact this is all I have the energy to write.

20th August 2014        37’C       294km Ashgabat – Mashhad (Iran) I’d been advised to head to the Turkmenistan-Iranian border early today, principally for two reasons. Firstly, my Turkmenistan exit permit had been marked in my visa as “Saraks border” when I actually needed to exit at Bajgagan border.  Secondly, being early is always a good idea as often these things take all day. I reached the first Turkmenistan police check. My passport and bike paperwork were checked.  The young soldiers were jumpy and…