Day: March 18, 2006

We were at 1800 meters until kilometer 25, then there was a gentle down hill — the sun and wind were favorable.

Another good day, marked by farewells: at 14H00 Joël left us at Abhar.  He took a taxi to the airport in Tehran before flying to Paris.  He had been with us for 5 weeks so his departure was very moving.  It leaves a void because Joël, who took over Eliane’s responsibilities, was an important member of our group.  As of next Monday, he will return to his office: back to reality!

Serge feels better today, he doesn’t seem so weak.  He has developed a new adaptation of the Cyrano method by reducing the amount of time he runs, increasing the time he walks and by modifying his stride.  The Garmin watch graph shows us that he has increased his average by 0.1 compared to yesterday and that his average heartbeat for the whole stage has gone from 102 to 99 beats per minute.  Watch this space.

We set up camp 50 meters from the road, next to the Mausoleum of Eman Zaden Abdol Kheir, the burial place of a distant descendant of the prophet Ali.  The caretaker’s room was opened for us.  We had dinner there and René, Georges and Medhi will sleep there.  Dinner was shared with Mr. Salé.  We sat on the ground and for light had only a gas lamp but the ambiance was very friendly.  A stove soon warmed the room to the point where Serge and I were happy to find the coolness of the camper.  When you spend most of your time outdoors, it becomes difficult to remain in overheated places.

We are beginning to think about our arrival in Tehran, which isn’t far off.  Monday we will change guides and Tuesday the new team will arrive.  Our well oiled routine and organization will have to adapt to some changes for a while.