Another bright and sunny day!

The night had been slightly eerie as we could hear the wolves howl. I was happy when the sun was back up and we could pack and leave. I know that there were enough sheep around that no wolf would be interested in us but still…

All of today was dedicated to exploring the Alamut valley. We started with a stint to Evan Lake which was the back-up camping option yesterday. Arriving at the tiny lake with lots of rubbish at the shore and almost no privacy, we were glad that we’d camped in the fields. However, on the way out we met a retired French couple doing an overland trip in a 4WD. They were lovely even though the conversation was in French (go Flo!) and gave us the coordinates of a possible campsite further on.

almost back on the main road now

The next “attraction” in the Lonely Planet is a road that leads through or alongside canyons. Flo found a loop that we could ride to not double up and so we went in on river-level. First, we follow the road along the ride with the cliff side to your right. It was hard to photograph as the sun was right behind the cliffs. After a while, the road starts to wind up into the mountains. From here, you can look into the valley with the canyons below. Again, we saw the tents of nomads up here.

Full service overland adventure …

On route to Alamut Castle, the next of the famed Assassins’ castles, we saw a group of overlanders parked in a little side alley. They rode down from Switzerland in a tour, complete with support vehicle full of spare parts and tires, and will continue for a month. Thus, they were in a bit of a hurry…once a flat tire was fixed. We talked to them until we were near melting, standing in full gear in the sun.

A quick roadside lunch at the Alamut Castle parking lot prepared us for the hike up to the castle. The “Assassins” were prosecuted and thus quite paranoid when they built their castles here: There is no easy entrance and no easy siege. The mountainside is steep so the narrow staircase is the only way up (the second entrance has been destroyed).

one wing of the castle. Must have been decently manned

Alamut Castle is the one with a bit more structure remaining but it is also the one where you have to pay a fee and most of it is covered in scaffolding. We were a bit disappointed, yesterday’s castle had much more to offer.

Technically, the “attractions” end here. There is a pass leading out of the valley all the way to the Caspian Sea but the Lonely Planet only describes it for hiking. The French overlander couple from his morning came in that way and while the views are gorgeous, they said the road was in bad condition and muddy. They were happy to have 4WD. Thus, I was not keen to go that way. However, coming from Alamut valley, most of the road up is sealed. Flo wanted to go as high up as possible…fair enough. First, the road continued on in the valley in a rather unimpressive way. When the incline finally started, the road became interesting again. Up and up and up and up. When we seemed to be level with the snow-capped mountains on the other side of the valley, the tarmac ended and Flo stopped as promised. We took a couple of pictures of the valley, Rocinante and us before heading back down.

The ‘final’ view – pretty cool

It was late enough to look for a camping spot but we were lacking in the important departments of food, water and fuel. So we hopped from village to village hoping to remedy these lacks without having to go too far. The first shop, with a lovely owner, had water, eggs and veggies for us. Good start but not all we needed. Again, he gave us the things for half the price and a toffee on top. The next village supplied cheese and bread but fuel was only available in the third village. By now it felt late. The first possible spot next to a field of wheat was ours.

Flo cooked the tomato-egg dish for me that Azemeh had made for breakfast all those days ago. It worked well and was delicious with bread and the seed mixture that Azemeh had given us as well. Well fed, we had a short visit by a shepherd asking for water before settling in for the night.