We go to pick up the Transalp early in the morning but apparently the parking doesn't open until eight o'clock. Therefore we have to wait an hour, a waste of time so after half an hour we start pounding on the door and the guard opens the door for us. We leave at eight thirty and we are quite nervous because now we are starting our journey through the desert of Baluchistan. This desert has a very bad safety reputation although the Iranian part doesn't face to many problems any more. It's the part in Pakistan where we must be really worried about. Anyway, we are happy to finally start with this part because it has been occupying our mind for a long time and we can't wait to get it over with, which is also the main reason that we are travelling at this speed.
We are facing a long drive so we decide to look up a hotel in advance using the Lonely Planet but at arrival it seems the hotel has been closed for quite some time. The international sanctions against Iran has given the tourist sector here an enormous blow which makes it difficult to find an affordable hotel. Now it was already getting dark so we decide to approach a man and ask him if he knows any hotel. We are lucky again and are invited to his house. He has to go to his job for an hour or so but his wife and child keeps us company in the meanwhile. When the man comes back from his job he brings some food with him. We have a nice evening, this family is really modern and open minded and makes us feel welcome and comfortable, even more then any family in Iran before. When they ask us to stay for another night, we obviously can't say no and gladly agree.

A Family Picture

The house is really nice and very big, and it also houses the parents of the man. The father is the former director of the National Bank and the mother is a former English teacher at the university. The man himself has his own business, and is really successful. The mother tells us the story of a Belgian group on a bicycle she met ten years ago and also stayed in her house. The family isn't Muslim and had some bad experiences with the Iranian Secret Service and therefore they are scared to be seen in public with us. We aren't really interested in this desert city so that doesn't bother us at all. The next day we stay inside and spend the day with small talk.

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