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Saturday
29th August
Set off early for Kandahar, and made it
about 3:30. Booked in at the
hotel we'd stayed at on the way out and then went off shopping. We were
all still on the lookout for fur coats, but there were none to be had
here. Looked in several fancy shirt shops, and found most of them far
more bent on selling us kilos of hashish – we christened them
"shit" shops in the end. The cost was around £2 a lb, as
compared with £10 an oz in England. Got invited to have an
Afghani type smoke that evening.
This turned out to be quite an experience.
Our guide took us through
back streets to a little back room where we found half-a-dozen Afghanis
squatting round a large vase, which turned out to be the base of a
gigantic water-pipe. The bowl of the pipe was filled up with hash, a
little opium was sprinkled on the top for added zest, a lump of
charcoal and we were away. When your turn came you stood at the pipe
(it was that large), smoked deeply until you were coughing fit to bust,
possibly grabbed the bowl of the pipe and whirled at around your head
to show you were finished, then sat back down against the wall to
continue coughing. The room, lit by a couple of candles, was soon full
of smoke, through which one could dimly see the Afghanis round the
walls, all coughing. Quite surreal. We floated home quite content.
(Footnote – in recent times Kandahar, of course, has become
infamous as a Taliban stronghold.)
Sunday
30th August
Drove to Herat – really hot, as it
was on the way out. It was
nice to be back – Herat was our favourite Afghan city. Booked
into the hotel where we'd stayed before, having a room to ourselves for
1/- a head. Bumped into Andy together with Romola and Chris, two others
of his party. The other two, Mike and Dick, had gone on to Mashhad,
giving a lift to Gus and Paul. The three of them took us to a cheap
eating place, memorable mainly for its loo – a hole in the
ground on the first floor, seemingly bottomless but out of which blew
the most horrendous smell.
Monday
31st August
Spent the day shopping, and finally found a
coat for Sue. Then went
swimming up at the pool we'd found on our previous visit. Met an
American called Pancho, who'd just ridden (horse) along the central
route from Kabul to Herat across the mountains. Ate dinner at another
restaurant, much better, where all the locals ate.
Tuesday
1st September
The big task for today was to cook up some
hash cakes for Mike's
birthday. We had the hashish, so Pancho and I went around the Herat
bakers to see who would make us some cakes. None of the five we tried
would (it's still strictly speaking illegal there), so we decided to
make some ourselves. Due to restricted ingredients they ended up being
pancakes. Pancho and I got completely stoned on the fumes just cooking
them, so we hardly ate any. This proved to be our salvation
…
Friday 2nd
September
We'd intended to set off for Iran, but
everyone (apart from Pancho and
me) was too stoned and poorly, and spent the day in bed. In the evening
we gave the rest of the pancakes away, and they had roughly the same
effect on the other people in the hotel. I chucked the remains onto the
roof, where a dog had a go at them. I hoped it was all right. Went
around town and took a few pics. I also discovered, strumming my guitar
in a café, that Mike Heron's "Maybe someday" appeals to
Afghans – at least the tune does!
Thursday
3rd September
Finally left Herat. Got through the border
surprisingly quickly, and
with the help of a new asphalt road reached Mashad about 5:30. Stopped
to have a Coke, and met a young Iranian who offered to show us a
turquoise cutting shop (Mashad being one of the two main centres for
turquoise in the world), so we had a quick look. Weren't able to go
into any of the fine looking mosques there as it is a very holy city,
second only to Mecca. Drove just outside the city and brewed up some
good English nosh (stewing steak and spuds).
Friday 4th
September
Set out for Tehran, this time by the
northern route which is half
asphalt. Got about 60 miles out of Mashad when there was a horrible
clunking noise from the engine, which stopped and wouldn't restart. So,
deciding we needed a tow back into Mashad we turned the van round by
hand and after a couple of hours a Landrover stopped and offered to tow
us.
I drove, and it was quite hair-raising, as
we were cruising at about 50
mph on a very short tow-rope, and we had to do a couple of emergency
stops. He left us outside a VW garage in Mashad, although unfortunately
not the official agent. However, it was open (on a Friday), so we
thought we'd let them do what was necessary. We later discovered it
wasn't just one garage, it was a collection of small workshops, and the
VW place was in fact about 15 ft square with 2 mechanics.
We left Malc and George to watch the van and
went with the owner of the
adjacent spares shop back to his house for lunch (at his invitation!),
which was a real slap-up meal of rice with chicken and yoghurt. After a
kip his son insisted on showing us round the park (the only time I've
walked hand-in-hand with another man – it's the custom there
and completely asexual!), and then took us back home where we were
invited to spend the night. We eventually persuaded them to let us go
back to the van to get sleeping bags etc., and there we found Malc and
George. Apparently the garage had shut at noon, after quickly stripping
down the engine. A valve had gone through a piston, but the mechanics
wanted to renew all four pistons at a cost of $210! However, M
& G had met a very nice Iranian who spoke fluent English and
who would bring his tame VW mechanic the following morning to have a
look at it. So the 4 of us went back to our supper and bed.
Saturday
5th September
Met George and Malc at the garage early
(they'd spent the night in the
park), and eventually sorted things out. It turned out the price would
be reasonable, but the repairs would take a day or so as several other
parts were about to fail and needed repair. Spent the day hanging round
the garage, and I amused the mechanics by taking the gudgeon pin they'd
removed from the smashed piston, wiping it and using it to play some
slide guitar! Dined out on kebabs on bread and kipped in the park
(about 4 miles from the garage).
Sunday 6th
September
I woke early and got a lift into town on the
back of a scooter. Work
was getting on, and was finished by about 3:00 p.m.. The bill was
around £25, which we thought was very reasonable.
So once again we set off for Tehran, and
this time did a bit better.
Kipped out in the desert after a meal of spam and eggs.
Monday 7th
September
Set off at dawn on the bad bit of road
– and it really was
bad. Only twice in a 2-hour stint could I change up into 3rd. However,
we made the start of the good road ok, after about 12 hours driving,
and camped (with his permission) in a famer's field. The whole family
came down to watch us prepare and devour supper, followed by a bit of a
sing-song. The old farmer was much taken with my little plastic kazoo,
so after explaining by mime how it worked (he was trying to just blow
it) I left it with him.
Tuesday
8th September
Set off early and almost immediately hit the
good road. This stretch,
close to the Caspian Sea, must have been the garden of Iran, for it was
almost like England. Indeed, we had fresh butter for breakfast, which
was a real treat. Turned inland after a while, to cross the mountain
range dividing the Caspian Sea from the Great Salt Desert. As we did so
the clouds and the trees gradually disappeared as we moved south. In
the
mountains we passed a traction engine. We'd heard about this
– it had been driven all the way from Britain. An unusual
sight for Iran.
Made Tehran about 3:00 p.m., so called in
the Post Office then got a
new flasher for the VW, finally checking in at the campsite about 5:00
p.m.. We all had a good shower and clothes wash, but then, when we
tried to start the van to go and eat, it wouldn't go. So we decided to
leave the fault-finding until the morning and walked to a nearby
café.
Wednesday
9th September
George and I got up early to fix the van,
and eventually found it to be
a dud condenser – of which we had a spare, so that was ok.
Set off about 8:00. Picked up a German hitch-hiker on the way and made
Tabriz about nightfall. Ate out at a kebab place, then drove to our
Agricultural Research Station – to find it locked up. Camped
in the hills nearby, and spent a really cold night – biting
wind which shirt, pullover, sleeping bag, blanket, coat and groundsheet
failed to overcome.
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