day forty one - 11 September 2009 Iran, camping in the mist

There are hugs with Meg, who kind of apologises. I had been very curt with her the night before, and she is a little upset and tearful.

Meanwhile I piggy back Jen up the hill as James didn’t want the passengers on the truck while he got it up to the road.

On the road, there are lots of traffic jams caused by Sheep aka ‘Ram Jams’ or ‘Lamb Jams’ if you like. Other sites on the road include: Sheep packed on top rack of trucks, and bramble wood stacked up to twice the height of the truck carrying it.

Iran apparently has the highest death rate on its roads in the world according to JC. To me, the habits of Iranian drivers are governed by a kind of common sense rather than any traffic laws, although you are quite likely to find cars parked in the middle of the road. As no particular rules are followed, drivers have to be alert to any possibility.

The junction in front of our Tabriz hotel was a large intersection completely painted over diagonally as a zebra crossing. A form of madness perhaps, but at the same time quite liberating. There are certainly no ‘jay walking’ fines here.

Tonight we travel up to cloud level to camp, looking over a town and motorway in the valley below. The cloud embraces us for some time, but the weather clears later. Northern Iran weather seems to be much like England.

Meanwhile, there are cows wondering around our tents and we become a tourist attraction for many of the Iranians on the mountain for a picnic.

Some of our party think it is ironic that we are in Iran on September 11th, and they take a picture of a watch with the date on it while posing next to an Iranian number plate. Being a pedant, I point out that Iran had little or nothing to do with the events of 8 years previous, although I am sure some people in Iran applauded the occasion.

I help to put up the truck ‘toilet tent’ so that the ladies have somewhere to go. This is a bottomless tall square tent, so that a hole can be dug in the ground. However it is mostly used by men, especially as silhouettes are visible. When I go, there are a number of the lads chanting, but they stop when they see me crouching down. When I come out though, the local shepherd is looking directly at me from a distance.