J92 – 3/19/2006

At 7H20 Serge left the mausoleum.  The thermometer read 2° Celsius.  René and Georges left the camp in the direction of Takestan, then Buin.  The wind was ¾ to the right and brought angry looking clouds.  The rain just missed us.  At the 25th kilometer we left the main road which leads to Quazvin and heading south went around Takestan (the land of vineyards).  We hoped that the road we chose would have less traffic because at the beginning of the spring vacation Iranian families in great number take to the road to go visit their families.  These holidays begin a few days before No Ruz, the Iranian New Year, and last for two weeks.  They are equivalent to our Christmas vacation.

This vast plain was rather monotonous and not very pretty.  Other than a few fruit trees in flower, which cheered up the countryside, grape vines were everywhere.  They serve essentially for the production of grape juice and vineger.

This was another stage which brought us closer to Tehran, a city of 13 million inhabitants and which we worry about crossing, especially as New Year’s Day approaches.

Afraid there would be rain, we tried to find a place to stay in Buin.  There were no rooms for travelers and many families were camping along the main road.  We were thinking about setting up our camp 500 meters from that road.  There was a farm in the distance.  On the small road we took, Laure made a wrong turn and got stuck in a field. Luckily, SOS René arrived and got us out in no time.  We weren’t ahead of schedule and Serge was making good progress.  All’s well that ends well; the farm had a rather dingy room for us but at least there was electricity.  In spite of that, we got out the tents because some inoffensive but unpleasant insects had elected to spend the night there due to the warmth.  At 19H30 everyone went to bed.  Tomorrow will be another day.