I've Ridden Through The Desert On A Horse With No Name

I am currently in Esfahan having just extended my visa for another 13days. For some reason they keep giving me 13 days despite me asking for 30. After I got my Pakistani visa in Tehran I escaped to Kashan on the edge of the desert. Wow. What a fantastic place to chill. I sat in the hotel courtyard and could hear...... nothing! After the chaos of Tehran is was awesome.

I then needed to make a decision, at that time having only 6 days left on the visa, I could either keep heading across Iran to Pakistan and make the border in time, or try to get an extension. Racing for the border would mean I would have to do the dangerous Zahedan to Quetta run solo so I went to Toudeshk towards the centre of Iran where I could ring George and Morgan and find out their plans. I stayed with Mohammed Jalali and experienced an Iranian families life in the desert. Mohammed gave me a great tour of his village and took me to the sand dunes the next day where I fell off the bike a few times before letting the tyre pressures down enough to be able to run up and down a dune. The trick to sand riding, as I discovered, is to go fast enough, then go faster.

Mohammed and his brother, my hosts.

I waited until late afternoon before heading to Esfahan since It was demonstration day in Iran yesterday. I was advised to avoid it, but from the people who are here in the hostel, I was told it was a very strange affair. The government basically handed out placards reading "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". It seems to be a tradition or old charter or something that happens every year. At least it keeps them off the streets.

I have now become an expert at all things beaurocratical after my many visa applications and extensions and have some top tips to pass on when being shoved around in the queue to speak to the guy behind the one way glass in that foreign embassy...
1) Smile a lot but also look slightly scared!
2) Lend your pen to people, then they let you go to the front of the queue.
3) Act stupid. (Usually no acting is necessary) People will then fill out forms for you!
4) Befriend the security guards. They're young and very often bored so like sheperding around a strange foreign fellow with their AK47.

By using these tactics, your Iranian visa extension can be completed in 2 hours, rather than the 1 week suggested by a lady in the office I spoke to.

Back to Esfahan, its a really nice city. I would describe it as the Paris of the Middle East. Tehran is a big smelly chaotic dump. Don't go there. Here, everything is relaxed. The hostel I'm staying in is filled with cyclists from Europe on their way to India poor sods.

The plan now is to stay here for another day or so, the head to Yazd and Kerman to meet with George and Morgan before heading to Bam and prepping for the trip to Quetta in Pakistan. I am hoping to get a few people together to form a convoy since the armed escorts we get can be a pain in the ass, so anyone who is reading this, I aim to be in Bam in just less than 1 weeks time. Feel free to convoy up!