Into Iran

23rd July
The Iran border is some 640kms from Quetta. Due to the flood damage we had decided to go as far as Dalbandin the first night then reach the border the next afternoon hoping to cross before it closed at 4pm. Dust haze had cut visibility to less than 1km in Quetta and continued for most of the day. We could occasionally make out mountain ranges either side of us.
The previous day two of the three car bombs that had shaken the country once again had occurred in the state of Baluchistan which Quetta is the capital. The hotel we were in insisted they call the police to enquire about an escort for us. Once again we were told it was essential. Proved a bloody farce as they met us at the hotel, drove 1km along the streets then stopped at an intersection and intimated we turn right onto the Iran road. That was the last we saw of any police escort. Expecting to run into another group waiting for us as was the case coming from Sukkur we drove along keeping an eye out until it dawned on us that there wasn't to be an escort. We were on our own which was a pleasant thought. For the whole distance the road follows the Afghan border getting to within 30kms of it at some points
After 20kms of roadworks the road descended to the usual pot holed secondary road we had become used to in Pakistan. Flood damage was evident for most of the distance to the border with a train stranded in the nearby track that had been washed away at one point. After almost 300kms the road improved to a fast 2 lane highway which meant we could cruise at 120km and reach the border the same day. Strong cross winds blew up a sand storm for the last couple of hours and at times we were reduced to a crawl, visibility was so bad. Soft drifts covered the road in places. We reached the border town of Taftan about 6pm.
Border formalities went off pretty smoothly the next morning. This crossing is part of the Trans International Route (TIR) and used by truckies taking goods mainly into Pakistan. Whereas the Indian/Paki border where we had problems hardly sees a vehicle apart from travellers, this one sees up to 100 trucks a day. They know the drill and everything is checked. The same on the Iran side, all documents were double checked to make sure they were correct. We wanted to push on to at least Bam but were once again held up by security as it seems we needed an escort as far as Zahedan some 90kms on. This time the army came in the van as well as a young Japanese traveller who had also just crossed. We reached Zahedan eventually on an excellent highway and after grabbing a bite to eat then arguing with the army that we didn't need another escort we took off covering the 370kms in just over 3 hours.
You may have heard of the price of diesel here in Iran, just how cheap it is. We filled up the tank along the way, 35 litres which cost us 6,000 rials. There are about 8,000 rials to a AU$. That's 2 cents a litre by my reckoning. We had bought a couple of jerry cans in Quetta as we were told the only fuel you could get going to the border was stuff smuggled in from Iran of a very dubious quality. I think we will keep them for when we leave the country as I believe diesel is expensive in Turkey.
We remember visiting Bam 31 years ago. It is famous for its citadel, an ancient mud brick town built on a fortified hill. Work was being done at the time in restoring it. Then came the 2004 earthquake that wiped out the modern town killing thousands as well as turning the citadel once more to rubble. The town is a construction site with massive steel framework being erected around which the houses are built. Mud brick is out. The place is a mess but that's to be expected. We will visit the Citadel today before heading on to Yazd.
We are pleased to be out of Pakistan. We love the people but the country is so screwed up. We never felt threatened at any time but then it might only take some fanatic to take his displeasure out on us to change all that. I always said I thought Pakistan would be the difficult one and that seemed to be the case.