Today we moved further in our Greek adventures, down the coast to the small town of Parga. We decided to do our loop of Greece anti-clock-wise. From Parga we continue onto the only Iodian island that you can drive onto via a pier. We made it around to the south to Poros Beach. The campground there was closed but the owner allowed us to stay anyway…and for free on top of it all.
Gosh, what a lovely spot. I do look tired though
Check out time for our lovely hotel was 12 (noon) and we intended to use every second of that time to relax, enjoy the garden and update the blog while we have wifi. Breakfast was served late from 9 am onwards and we just kept our spot to lounge on one of the platform. After blogging for an hour we had an extra tea or coffee (which was still available from breakfast) and dug into the box with sweets once more.
But even the most chilled out morning in a while comes to an end so we packed and waved good-bye to Yazd which we really enjoyed despite it being rather hard on our budget. It is 316km from Yazd to Esfahan, something that is easily do-able in an afternoon ride. However, we had decided to wild camp tonight to save money so there was absolutely no time pressure on us. Unfortunately, the road led straight through a desert where the sun burnt down. It wasn’t inviting to dally.
I was exhausted already: In the heat and on the bike is not a good place to be ill
Around 2 pm, we stopped at an old roadside caravansary which had some spots in the shade and was probably used as a stop for truckers. A quick snack lunch and an extended break later, we were back on the road. I still didn’t feel well and was really happy with the break. I guess I’m coming down with a bad case of cold or something; my head feels kind of funny from all the slime that is building up inside of it. You are welcome for this description. =P
Once we hit the mountain range behind which Esfahan lies, it got cooler and more comfortable on the bike. Soon, we were starting to look out for a camp spot. Spare time can always be used for the blog and a bit of a lie down cannot be bad for a sick me either. We passed the first “maybe” spot when I suddenly realized that we hadn’t bought anything for dinner yet…and no extra water as well. So the looking for a camping spot stopped and instead, we looked for a shop now to replenish our tank bags.
Such a lovely, welcoming place
The first place we found was an actual village or small town called Toudeshk. So we turned off the highway and stopped at the first shop we saw…it was closed. Just when we got going again, a taxi pulled up to us, the driver looked out and asked if we were looking for a guest house. Since we weren’t, he pointed out the next open shop to us but then continued to ask if we would come to his guest house…maybe just for a tea. We had the time so why not? Buying bread, cheese and vegetables was done quickly and then we followed Mohammad to his guest house. Turns out that it is Tak-Taku Homestay which is recommended in the Lonely Planet and is a lovely, lovely place. Like a little oasis.
Completely vegetarian: Ash and an eggplant dish
We sat down with Mohammad and parts of his family to eat water melon and drink tea, joined by other guests after a while. It was lovely. Unfortunately, we really really didn’t want to spend money on a guest house but Mohammad insisted on showing us an option. So we had a look. Understanding that we are on a tight budget, he offered us to sleep in the fire room which only has three of the platforms in it and no beds. This would allow us to stay for very cheap. We said yes as all we really need to sleep is a roof and no bugs. Thus, we had a lovely late afternoon at the guest house, an amazing chat with the fellow guests and a great home-cooked vegetarian dinner.
Meeting Leon from the Netherlands, Tilman from Germany and Jose and Jorge from Portugal meant we had very well-travelled company who were also interested in politics, much to Flo’s pleasure. With dinner after dark, I was getting tired rapidly so I opted for an earlier night than Flo.
What a great place to wake up to
The night was cold, but just at the edge of uncomfortable. If I would have worn just a little bit more, it would have been fine. On the other hand, it was not nearly as cold as back in New Zealand, so it seems at some point we will have to buy at least another blanket for the upper regions of Kurdistan and Turkey.
Our camp spot was still beautiful. We took all the time we needed (and not to over-work still ill Nina) to pack up our camp and got back on the road. This road lead us in a bend eastward, down the current mountain range onto the same high altitude plain that Shahr-e Babak lies on. The last 100 km are another vast mountain range and the steep drop down to the edge of the desert. The last pass was impressive; with 2600m it was probably the highest pass Rocinante has ever gone over. At the same time, it was probably the least spectacular – just a simple mountain road.
into the heart of the old town
The heat of the desert really hit us when we reached the foot of the mountains on the Yazd side. We had come down 1500m of altitude on our 25km ride, plus hitting the edge of the desert. The outskirts of Yazd do little to impress, with their sprawling concrete facades. As soon as we turned a corner into the old town though, we were impressed. The big blue tiled entrance of a mosque beckoned us and we turned once more into the maze of mud-brick walls.
First stop was the Silk Road Hotel – their rooms were clearly out of our price range, but the Lonely Planet said that their restaurant would serve the rarity of vegetarian Indian food. Right there on the parking lot was something else that caught our eye: A proper camper van with German licence plate (Hannover to be specific). A brief look around once we were inside and we spotted the potential overlanders and eventually joined them for our lunch.
Overlanders! Such a lovely couple
Helga and Uli are a charming couple who have just reached retirement age. They have driven their van all the way down from Germany for a three month trip. We had lunch and then coffee together and all in all had a great time. It surprises me time and again what a huge unifier traveling is. Time and time we meet people with whom on the surface, we have little in common, just to kick it off like we have known each other for ages.
With a little bit of heavy heart, we pulled ourselves away from the good company to find a hotel and use the time for a bit of sightseeing in town. The cheapest hotel in the old town was still a good bit above our usual budget. Dorm beds would have fitted the bill, but Nina was still sick and we did not want to spread it too much to innocent travellers. After all, the hotel was amazing. An old merchant’s villa, it had beautiful courtyards with fish ponds and greenery. We gave in to the indulgence, promising ourselves a night of camping tomorrow to make up for it.
The most beautiful mosquito breeding ground ever!
The hotel was really stunning – we were looking forward to letting the day fade out on the platforms by the pond at the inner courtyard. For now though, we had some sightseeing to do. The hotel was right on the route of a suggested walk from the guidebook. Locals still gave us the odd look for wandering around in the afternoon heat (at 3 pm), but with all the shade from the narrow and sometimes vaulted alleys of the old town, it was really not too bad.
Completely covered alleyway
Disappointment struck soon though, when we found out that the prices for the sights along the route were “a bit” outdated. To be more precise, across the board the admittance for foreigners went up 10x to 20x from 2012. We hesitated, but could not in good conscience spend $10 to $20 NZD for every sight of half an hour. Luckily, we enjoyed then narrow and maze-like old town just fine on its own. It would have been cool though to get a look at one or two more of the old merchant houses. Generally, all houses are unremarkable from the outside here. Plain mud brick walls, that’s it. But like modern shopping malls, once inside, whole worlds unfold.
We continued, also skipping an inside view of the mosque for $4 a person to find what Nina surely defined as the highlight of her tour: Haj Khalifeh Ali Rahbar, a 100 year old sweets shop at the corner of the two main roads. After some guessing on how this shop works, we manage to liberate a mixed box to go with our afternoon tea (or two) for less than a single ticket at the sights. Nina definitively prefers this.
In earlier times, the water from the qanat would have filled the pool, creating a living room underground with cool and fresh air
We made one exception from our now frugal ways at the Water Museum across the street. Engineering history plus 300 year old merchant house was too tempting for me to forgo. It was pretty cool in the end. The house had two floors up and three down, to a depth of 10m below ground. This was to tap into two Qanats – ancient irrigation channels – below the house. The deepest room had water flowing through it once and would have been used by the inhabitants to escape the up to 50°C summer heat outside.
On our way back, we ran into Uli and Helga once more. They spontaneously joined us and we gave them a super quick tour of the sights in the old town before heading back to our hotel to catch the sunset from the rooftop.
Chilling in the cool night’s breeze with tea and sweets on one of the platforms in the courtyard was an amazing way to let the day fade out …
When I went there to check a minute later, I could only catch two eye-stalks
Despite my unpleasant encounter with sand yesterday, our camp spot turned out to be beautiful at sunrise. I even had a little stroll to the beach where lots of crabs were running on the still wet sand. Luckily, the bike was already “safe” on gravel from our “adventure” so we packed up and left the camp spot of doom without further issues.
Driving in the early morning is amazing as it’s still cool and you get to enjoy riding the bike again. The landscape kept changing again and while I still get excited by the sight of wild camels, I don’t take a picture of all of them anymore. There are just too many. I still like how they are scattered throughout the landscape though. Continue reading
I-i-i-i-iii ha-a-a-a-a-te co-o-o-or-r-r-r-r-ugati … oaaah, sand!
Look at those craters! Corrugation, about ankle-deep. Nina for scale is missing. 🙂
We did about 280km today, from Lyndhurst to Williams Creek. That leaves only ca. 170 km of gravel, minor excursions not included, of course. The road was tough to do on a motorcycle. About 30-40 km were either deep gravel, deep corrugation or nasty boulders half buried. The absolute priority for me was to get through undamaged. There were still one or two situations that got the adrenalin rushing.
There were stretches of hard packed soil were we could comfortably travel at 80km/h and within 15 m it would turn into something that would make walking speed an issue. At least with our bike. A dirt bike with a day pack and knobblies would probably fly right over. Twice it was touch and go. When we hit loose gravel and the bike just stated rolling out of control. I caught it both times. Riding with that level of concentration for hours is exhausting, though.
The one cloud of the day
And then there were the 1000s of hard hits and constant vibration. The check up in Darwin needs to be thorough, and I will do a minor check in Coober Pedy. For once, I admit that traveling in a tin would have its advantage. All the other tourists waddled out of their AC’ed Utes in jandals and shorts and did not seem to mind the road at all …
Nina’s comment: Today, I struggled. I struggled with the gravel which made for a more than bumpy ride. I struggled with the heat and the utter lack of shadow. I also struggled with my mood and Flo’s mood. 280km seem too long now. It is called a desert for a reason. This place is very inhospitable with the sun scorching down at 33 degrees in winter. I don’t think human beings are meant to be here.
Now it was not all pain and suffering. There were some cool things to see along the road and having made it so far is a bragable offence in its own right.
A locomotive of the old Gunn Line in Marree
First stop was Marree, an old cattle and railroad town. We met a bunch of other bikers who have done our route in reverse on GSs, and their tales about the road were encouraging. The local shop was particularly well stocked as well, so we sailed past the warning sign for the Oodnadatta track well prepared.
Along the way we stopped at “plane henge”, a peculiar sculpture park whose main attraction is a pair of planes bolted upright into the soil. The landscape kept changing constantly but subtly. Stony desert, plant cover, sand dunes and then soon enough the salt plane of dry southern Lake Eyre. White as far as the eye can see.
Lunch at the Oasis in Coward Spring
Probably the nicest stop along the way was Coward Springs, a campground at the heart of a wetland created by a leaking borehole. It had shade, lovely little campsites and a “spa”, filled with the water from said borehole. We were tempted to stay, but it was too early to call it a day and we kept it to a lunch break.
After probably the worst bit of road during the day, we made camp in Williams Creek. It has it all, quirky bar in the hotel, with travel memorabilia from all over the world. We had a Callipo Ice there and reminisced about our childhoods. We also met the first bunch of “serious” travellers like us. A German couple on a tandem push bike and swapped some route planning anecdotes.
Oh, one last thing … a small mishap … I’ll leave it to the photo to tell the story.
