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November
18, 1999
Hello
there, this is Doug with Team Around the World 1999 calling in a journal
entry for November 18th that covers the journey from Kerman, Iran to Shiraz, Iran.
On November
18th Team Around the World 1999 woke up early, but as is often the case,
we didn't leave early. The threads on Alaska's overdrive fill hole were
shot and we couldn't get the combination plug/dipstick out. Topping off
Alaska's overdrive gear oil reservoir is a daily endeavor, because the
oil leaks into the transfer case, which has to be drained to an acceptable
level periodically. Anyway, Todd, Jeff, and I went to breakfast, while
Earle and Nick worked on the problem. For those of you who could give a
riff about the Rovers' various ailments, I'm sorry, and I'm with you.
But, we have a following of Rover enthusiasts bordering on the fanatic
and apparently they eat this stuff up. So, we have to include these
fix-it-up days from time to time. To make a long story short, Earle fixed
the problem, using his usual patience and ingenuity, and we finally left Kerman,
only about an hour or so late, heading South to the city of Shiraz.
We had
about 550km to go, but except for a picnic lunch there were no scheduled
stops on today's drive. The drive itself was pretty amazing. The two
things that really stand out are the endless desert and the numerous
mountains. Iran is full of mountains. They are almost entirely barren of
plant life, but quite beautiful just the same. It might take a while, but
we hope to get some pictures up for you guys up soon. We broke for lunch
at about the 300km mark and our guides Kamran and Ali Reza prepared us an
incredible lunch of tuna fish, feta cheese and beans, which we made
sandwiches with. The tuna was packed in oil, and we substituted the feta
for the mayo. Some of us added beans to our sandwich, while others chose
to eat them separately. Also served were dates, pistachios, fruit and
cookies. We even went so far as to brew a couple of pots of Peet's coffee
for the dessert. Thank you again Peet's, you guys kick ass.
The
remaining 250 clicks snake through some more beautiful mountains, finally
bottoming out into a large valley of sorts for a fairly hill-less home
stretch to Shiraz. Our hotel again rated the 'pro' status. Jeff and I
immediately set about ratting out the hotel by doing our laundry and
hanging it out to dry right out our window. Of course, our room was four
floors up, and smack dab in the middle of the front of the hotel. So
everyone pulling in could look up and see this lighted room with all
kinds of wet clothing hanging out of our room, pretty funny. We had a
pretty awesome dinner. We went and had Iranian kebabs with Taftun. It's
kind of a flat bread they cook inside a huge ceramic, kind of an oven,
kind of a bonfire covering almost, and the guy works the bread into a pizza
dough consistency and slaps it on the inside of the stone. I didn't watch
him take it off, but I think it falls down and then he pulls it out
through a door in the bottom. But, it's great stuff.
Anyway,
that's it for November 18th, signing off, we'll talk to you guys soon.
Bye.
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