Georgia - Batumi - Iran

 In the last few posts I will share with you some excerpts from our 1974 trip through Iran and Afghanistan.

1974

Saturday, 6th April

Started off in very cold and dull weather. road was very good indeed. Learnt the numbers in Persian and an American helped us to distinguish the coins. Drove on into better weather to Tabriz where we found a shop which sold windscreens, had one fitted and got one spare. They offered us tea. Very quick service, done within fifteen minutes. Found we'd lost a wind-screen wiper. Sun very warm. Drove through lovely scenery, rain, rainbows, sun and marvellous cloud effects. One or two bad spots in the road. Stopped for the night at Zanjan in a sort of park area with a loo which was a hole in the ground and a watering can beside it!

Sunday, 7th April

Spent a quiet day working out our money situation and playing cards. Neil was very exhausted after so much driving and felt better for the rest, so did I. Made a vegetable curry which tasted quite nice.

Monday, 8th April

Started off in dull weather which got better later until it was quite warm. Had great difficulty getting through Tehran and directions were hard to follow. Eventually someone told us to follow a bus which was going to Mashhad which we did successfully. It travelled at such a rate that at times we had difficulty in keeping up with it. The scenery beyond Tehran is desert really. We stopped after 30 kms. by by a stream and gave the van a good wash. A Persian couple stopped nearby and we exchanged chocolate, oranges, beer and brandy and chatted to them. They came and had some of our coffee and played their cassette recorder. We exchanged addresses and said goodbye. We spent the night where we were.

Tuesday, 9th April

The day started warm and sunny. Neil put a hasp and staple in his door and I did some washing and hung it on some string between trees. It dropped in the dirt and I rinsed it again. It became cloudy and windy and rained on and off. Some of the washing blew off so I took it all down. Some men came and stopped nearby, made a fire and cooked kebabs which looked delicious and made me feel hungry. They gave us some pieces and it tasted of barely cooked perfumed pork fat (which I think it was). Neil did some working out of miles and money. We set off at 4 p.m. and went through a pass, the mountains were of glacial moraine and it became a bit boring after a while, a lot of tunnels on the way because of loose rock. We also saw many packs of wild dogs. When we bought petrol the attendant tried to short change us by 10 rials but didn't succeed. We stocked up with water from a tap in the loo there. Stayed the night by the road just outside Amol. We have deviated slightly from the R.A.C. route but I don't think it matters. I went to the loo outside in the dark and got stung on stinging nettles.

Wednesday, 10th April

We started early in good weather and got back on to the R.A.C. route. Stopped and bought some fish for the evening meal and drove into a more mountainous region away from the Caspian Sea. The weather got worse and we had intermittent rain. Stopped for the night just off the road about 160 miles short of Mashhad. It rained all night and thundered a lot. Someone tried to do us out of 40 rials for petrol.

2025

Saturday 21st June

We had a fairly lazy day.  We walked along beside the sea and explored a bit more of Batumi.  It is such a mixture of everything, pleasure resort and port, old buildings and spectacular new ones, busy roads and green parks.  Here are a few photos.