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.