31 Oct, Yazd

I can’t believe, today I’m 2 months en route. Time passes incredibly quickly. And it is also strange to be one leg already in November and to have 30C in the sun. Nights on the other hand are cold and the more east I go more cold they would be.

I got to Yazd yesterday early afternoon. It is a picturesque but not such a small place, around 350 km from Esfahan. Road was absolutely boring, no views, straight, full of trucks.

It wasn’t difficult to find a hotel. I stopped by a motorcycle spares shop. I took out my notebook with hotels, presented it to a guy, that appeared next to me and I asked in Farsi for a hotel. He took a pen and draw with a red line map how to get there. I have also purchased very loud horn for 25 000 rials – 3 dollars!

I found the hotel. In front of it, a brand new KTM990 was chained to the lamppost. Greg came here from Dubai. He was leaving early in the morning. He also gave me some of his oil. I climbed steep stairs inside. Outside the hotel looked like mud house, well it was a mud house. Inside though, had a spacey yard covered by textile roof. Sofas, fountain and dining area, really charming. I’ve set my tent up on the roof. Few Japanese and a French couple slept already there. Nights are chilly so I was glad I had my tent, unlike others sleeping under the sky. In the night I could hear clanking teeth. For this luxury I paid 2 bucks a night, not to bad.

I met there, Mike and Lotta, he is English she Finnish. They ride from Vietnam where they used to live for 5 years. They bought two Suzukis dr 650 and travel to Helsinki. They want to get to Tehran fast and from there take a train to Istanbul. Few hours after me another biker has arrived. Richard from London, on Honda 600XR. He just finished travelling around ex Russian republics and rides to Pakistan. He is joining me and we continue together tomorrow morning. From one story to other, when Rich heard I’m polish immediately mentioned a guy he met few days ago in Russia! It was Maciek (Lordmaciek) from Gdansk, who was coming back from Magadan after successful Motosyberia (www.motosyberia.com). The world is small. I was in touch with Maciek when organising my trip.

Yazd is beautiful. Hotel (Silk Road Hotel) stands in the old part of the city. Houses from mud or clay, narrow streets, small premises loaded with goods. Awesome aromas of fresh Nan bread escaping from bakeries. Old part of the city forms a big labyrinth. Every minute you can see a local racer on cg125 speeding by. Occasionally, farmers pick-up or a taxi, and at that moment you better stick to the wall and pray not to be touched by a mirror or bumper. It was first place in Iran where kids were coming to me asking for photos.

It is one of the oldest cities in the world. And minarets of the Jameh mosque are among the highest in the country (48m)

You could wander around Yazd for hours every moment discovering new and interesting nooks. I’ve done my favourite night photography as well as had tea in cosy tearoom in there.