Today we finally crossed out of what once was the great Mongolian empire, the largest empire the world has ever known. At its height it extended from the Pacific (East of China), into modern day Russia, it included the sub-continent of India and encompassed everything in between all the way to the Middle East and Eastern Turkey. After more than 35 days of solid driving we are finally leaving this once vast empire. Having seen the diversity of people, food, animals, and geography it is amazing that an empire like this could have existed at all, however, as with all empires it gave way to greed and infighting. During its existence it was able to accomplish an amazing amount of cooperation and trade that should stand out in our history books. However, it seems as little is known, in the west, of Asian history and its glory. Now, let me step down from my historical soapbox and attempt to cover the events of the day.

We were all sad, except for maybe Chanda, to say goodbye to the amazing country of Iran. I found it to be awe-inspiring, its people, its history, its hospitality, its architecture and so on. I was completely enthralled. I grew up believing Iran to be the enemy, I knew some Persians, but it was totally different to be on their soil. I think the fact that Iran is somewhat of a forbidden fruit adds another point of intrigue. After all as United States citizens we have no place to call if we get in trouble there. There is no U.S. Embassy or consulate, the only place for us to go, in case of trouble, would be the Swiss Embassy.

Before entering the country we were told not to divulge our national identity at any cost. Removing anything that would lead people to believe we were Americans, such as CA license plates, was essential because of the political and religious tensions. At first we tried to abide by this rule, however, our policy of secrecy quickly faded as people's faces lit up when we revealed our nationality. In many cases people would comment on the military training they received in the US (pre 1979) or would talk of the relatives who either went to school there, live there, or both. We were always very cordially received and needless to say we were all well fattened as we approached the border on this day.

As a western person, and a man specifically, I must say it was very hard to get used to the chadors worn by the women. As I am sure was mentioned earlier, every woman was cloaked in black from head to toe; only their faces exposed to any kind of sunlight. To me, as an outsider, and a very ignorant one, this seemed to be a symbol of the country in many ways. It seemed as though the country as a whole was cloaked similarly to the women. There seemed to be an impalpable air of tension, as though someone was always watching. It sometimes seemed that we made our guides nervous by our apparent air of carelessness, looking at women, wandering around by ourselves, and trying to find places in which to get rid of our old Pakistani money. The fear was unspoken, yet unmistakably felt. I hope we didn't get anyone in trouble, with our non-chalance and ignorance, and if we did I certainly apologize.

The Iranian culture is very interesting and Persia (synonymous with Iran) as a country has a long and interesting history. Our brief, but pleasurable stay has indeed wetted my appetite for learning, and I plan to read as much as I can, and hopefully one-day return to this wonderful/exotic place. I give a heart felt thanks to our guides and all who made it such an exciting first taste of Iran.

Today, as with previous border stops, is low mileage day. We drove through the northern mountains and upon seeing Mt. Ararat we knew we were near the border. As gas is 15 cents a gallon, just short of the border we filled our tanks and nearly every sealed container we could find. We hoped that our fuel would not be confiscated at the border, because sometimes limits are placed on the export of fuel, the Land Rovers each held about 70 gallons, but this was a chance we were willing to take. We figured the worst thing that would happen, was that they would make us give back the fuel, but luckily this didn't happen.

Upon approaching the border we sighted a long line of trucks, (about 1.5-2 miles long). Hoping we did not fall into the commercial class, we took our chances and went around this motionless line. Again luck was on our side and when we finally realized where to go we found ourselves just yards away from the official border gate. Again the carnet thing was difficult. Fortunately we met a friendly travel agent who took it upon himself to help us through. Borders are lined with buildings and it is often difficult figuring out to which offices you are supposed to go. This man (who reminded us of C3PO, his accent, demeanor, and humor) succeeded in ultimately getting us to the right places, and after a circuitous chain of events we were off to Turkey.

Doug and Nick drove the cars into Turkey and the remainder of us had to walk across the line. Earle was not our friend today as being a Canadian, he did not have to pay the $45 Visa fee that U.S. citizens had to pay, but we soon got over that as he lent several of us money when we did not have enough U.S. cash. We were met at the Police checkpoint by a long line of people; we went to the shortest line and got our health check stamp. I am not sure we needed this as the person who gave it to us gave us a weird look, and besides no one else was getting one, we had just hoped it would have helped us get through the border. I soon found out that we could not cross into Turkey without checking in at the police checkpoint, which was mobbed, so I tried to push in with everyone else. After getting thrown out twice, a young girl saw the my American passports (one Canadian), and took them through the crowd and submitted them to the official behind the glass counter. I was hot on her heals emerging at the front of the line feeling like a Chinese contortion artist as my body was being bent around, six other people, two bars, a counter, and on through a window. The police seeing me, but not being able to hear me asked where our visas where, I tried to communicate the fact that we needed to buy them, but he couldn't hear. It turned out that we were supposed to buy them on the other side of the border, however we couldn't get there without having them. Luckily Nick and Doug strolled in the office, that was behind the glass against which my face was pressed, right about the time my back was breaking around two big guys that just pushed their way into the line from behind. Nick and Doug saw me and started to laugh, but managed to let the proper people know what was going on and whom we were. We were subsequently let through to buy our visas and without too much red tape and bureaucracy we were on our way into Turkey.

Mt. Ararat was both beautiful and a sign of security, although in all my travels I really had never needed the services of an Embassy or Consulate (Except in Pakistan) it was a relief to have political protection. I never felt threatened and nearly always felt very welcome, having an Embassy or consulate is like having triple A, just in case.

In the later part of the day we drove without incident to Erzurum, Turkey where we had our last supper with our comrade and electrical man Earle. Earle we will miss you and safe journeys. See you in the states. This is Todd signing off