Got up at 6am to hit the road and apart from the back (as mentioned) had an enjoyable ride cruising at around 130km/hr on long straight roads, actually toll roads which motorbikes aren't allowed on (Iranian) got stopped by police a couple of times but no problems (they really only want to look at the bike) and was waved through all of the toll booths..they didn't know what to charge and also the Iranians are just like that with foreigners.
I was dreading hitting the motorway network on the out skirts of Tehran (pop. 15 million) as their reputation for crazy driving is well earnt. I never intended to visit the city, too much hassle, nothing to do with politics. As it turned out I shouldn't have worried, in on one motorway, first sign I saw was posted to Karaj, Quick left turn and I'm on my way. How easy is that!!!. Well one thing I have learnt on this trip is ying and yang. There is an up side and down side to absolutely everything!
Click "more"Being Friday the traffic was heavy as this route from Karaj to Chalus (160km) is incredibly popular with the locals from Tehran as it gets them up into the mountains and the cooler air and of course the picnic. But no matter it was around 2pm and I figured that they would all be heading back in a couple of hours anyway doh! I was stopped again by the police and asked where I was headed and got a curious look but was waved on anyway. There was a bit of a traffic jam getting out of Karaj onto the hill road and a driver said to me "no matter after 3pm it won't matter" or words to that effect. What??? I thought, is he talking about? Now you can see that this is all leading to something, it's obvious, but why didn't I see it coming, all the signs were there I just ignored them. After a 500km ride all I wanted to do was to get up into the cool air (I've been waiting for weeks, actually since the trip started to get out of the heat) and get to my destination.
The Sting was that at 3pm they close the lane from Karaj to all traffic so that the traffic coming back from Chalus uses both lanes. BUGGER!! about 35km out of Karaj the Police put their hand up "Stop" you can go no further! I asked what time they reopen my lane and was told Midnight!!
I looked at my options... I could go back to Karaj but there are no real hotels there, I could go back to Tehran and get a hotel there, or I could wait until midnight and ride to Chalus in the dark (not a good option on a very tricky winding road.
I decided to ride back about 10km to a restaurant I had passed earlier and figure out what to do. I sat there watching the traffic for hours as none of my options were appealing to me. I just couldn't believe how many cars there were coming back it was like the whole 15 million from Tehran were on this road. In the end I took no action and as it got dark I had no options left but to stay where I was. I got chatting to the owners of the restaurant and they agreed to let me sleep in their garden after closing time (Midnight!!) So I just sat there for 8-9 hrs watching this endless stream of cars (half in my bloody lane) go by. There was some entertainment though as there were numerous near accidents as 3 cars tried to fit into 2 lanes and there were actually 2 cars that spun out and hit the concrete barrier on the sharp corner 50m up the road. So I just waited and waited, it reminded me of the Pakistan border where again I was hot, tired, sweaty and dirty and just wanted to sleep. Soon after midnight I did, I just laid out on the grass and in no time I was unconscious.
Next morning woke at 7am feeling awful, I would have given anything for a shower after sleeping in my riding gear. After a cup of tea headed off for the short (yeah right) 160km to Chalus. Loads of traffic all going my way and they are bloody suicidal drivers (dare I say worse than India) they have no idea of safe braking distance, pass when road is clear, or Hey matey I may not be a car but I'm using this tarmac as well, I was forced off the road a couple of times by cars passing me with oncoming traffic. The scenery was stunning but I was too preoccupied with staying alive to really appreciate it. After 5 hrs I finally made it to Chalus only to find it wasn't very appealing so moved on to Noshahr (Nowshahr) a few km up the road. Found nice hotel (bath!!!!!) so I'm settled in for the night, after servicing the bike. Tomorrows another adventure