Day 84: Shiraz to Bandar Abbas, 580km, 8 hours

Our last long day on the road in Iran.

We are riding from Shiraz which is 1513m above sea leve and will be descending to sea level. 

Our destination is Iran's main port and home of the Iranian Navy.

Most of the route is through desert.

There are few towns along the way.

The forecast is for high temperatures.

A long hot ride.

The roads are good and traffic is light and very well behaved.

We meet some delightful people along the way.

 

 

We stop at the traffic lights and get a friendly wave  from the truck driver alongside. 

 

This area is shown as a lake on the map. 

 

Some shade for the sheep. Hay for them to eat.

 

Arid cropland. 

 

Lush corn in the midst of the desert. Water fed from underground qanats.

 

Local interest. Am I getting a replacement driver?

There are few places to stop on the road South.

When we do we are welcomed by a group of very friendly local folk. 

 

The eyes. Beautiful grey eyes.

 

 

Lots of teddy bears in the desert.

 

 

Some wonderful winding roads.

It is getting very hot... hovering around 41.5°C for the last two hours.

 

This looks like salt on the roadside.

 

 

Usually we look for motorway overbridges when it is raining and we want to keep dry. The last time we stopped because of rain was in Austria  back in mid July.

Today we stop so that we can catch some shade. 

It is 42.5°C in the sun and 37° in the shade under the bridge.

 

Volcanic rock forms. 

Earthquakes and volcanoes in Iran are linked to the fact that Iran sits astride the junction if three tectonic plates - Eurasian, Indian and Arabian plates.

 

We pass through a police check.

Trucks coming north from the port are queued for kms while they wait to be checked.

 

The air is dust laden.

 

 Main Street in Bandar Abbas.