The guys didn't speak english but as I was pointing to the carburetter indicating that there was dirt inside Ali appeared. Ali explained to them what I was saying and said they would take care of it. They cleaned out the air filter and blew air through the carb which I wasn't convinced was the best way to clean it but ought to clear a blockage and the charge was only 10,000 rials (about 80p).
Ali then insisted that I go back to his house and meet his family. Sure enough I arrived at his house and saw his wife, Roya, peeping around the doorway without her headscarf on, the first time I had seen any iranian lady without a headscarf. Ali had to go back to work but his wife Roya and daughter Neeloofah took me out for the evening to Roya's sister's house.
Here I am in Roya's siters garden with some of the family. Roya is in the orange top and Neeloofah in the blue. Note that I am dressed more conservatively even than Roya's mother(to her left). I was suprised to see that once the headscarves and outdoor coats come off everyone is dressed very casually in jeans and T-shirts. Even granny who arrived in a full chador was dressed just like an English granny might underneath. As for the boys, they played football in the yard and squabbled like children everywhere and like little boys everywhere their hero is David Beckham.
Roya's sister kept a constant supply of Tea and food coming all evening and I learnt a new word "Bocco" meaning eat! By evening I was about ready to burst but it was all lovely. Flat bread with honey, walnuts, cheese, butter, yoghurt, salad etc 
The next day I was sorry to say goodbye as I headed on to Persepolis. Unfortunately the fault with the car was still there. He was running at a fairly normal speed but still had the annoying miss-fire which if anything seemed to be getting worse.
The heat at Persepolis was intense. It's hot in the car withno air-conditioning but with a constant supply of water and the breeze through the window it's barable. "Don't you have a hat?" asked a girl in the car park. "No" I said it hadn't actually occured to me to put a hat on top of the headscarf I was already wearing but she was right my face would get burnt without one. "Here" she said, handing me hers, "my gift to you" She showed me the way into the complex and then said goodbye. Most of the women were wearing similar visors on top of their scarves and even over Chadors.
The ancient site of persepolis was incredible, everything that I had expected and more. I've seen statues like these in the British Museum but nothing can compare to actually walking around the site they have stood on for thousands of years.I had intended to continue to Shiraz but the pakistan border lay in the other direction and with the car playing up I didn't think I could afford the time. I stopped in another garage on the way out of Persepolis and indicated my dirt in the carb theory again. They did the same as the first garage but again the problem persisted.
Some miles up the road with the mis-fire getting worse I stopped in another garage and then I discovered why the mechanic's hadn't actually seemed that competent. A ploiceman stopped to buy some oil and I discovered these roadside places are just simple oil top up or change joints not proper mechanics. The policeman showed me the way to a mechanics where Pedro drew a small crowd. The fault was eventually traced to the condenser but not before half the children in town had Petrolhead Nirvana stickers on their bikes! I suspect a number of the cars got stickered too. The car in the background here is a Paykan 1600 and seems to me exactly the same as an old Ford Cortina.
In Yazd I missed the ring road and got lost in the city trying to find my way onto the road for kerman. Then I saw my first iranian Beetle!! A blue 1303s. I pulled in for a chat with the guys who were as excited as me to see another Beetle. They were fascinated by Pedro's baja style body kit and had lots of questions about who made him that way and where can they buy one. I think they now have plans to come to the Uk or Germany, buy a Baja and drive it home. Sorry for the bad photo, I think it's time I cleaned the windscreen and it was really too dangerous to get out and take photos in the traffic!
I spent the night in Kerman intending to continue to the border town of Zahedan the next day but Pedro had other ideas. We only made it as far as Bam when his throttle cable snapped. I coasted to a stop at the roadside and was attempting to fix it with some gaffer tape which to be honest was never going to work when first a van and then a car stopped. the van driver gave me some cold water while the well dressed man in the car made a phone call and spoke into his walkie talkie. A police nissan Patrol arrived, the policeman saluted the man in the suit (i found out later he was the head of all the police in the area). They towed me to Akbar's guest house and along with another police car went to find a mechanic. the problem being that it's friday and friday is the day of rest here, nobody works.
Well as I've been writing this the chief of police, Akbar's son and 2 different mechanics have been calling around and just now I heard the engine fire up! They found a cable from another car and he's fixed!
So tomorrow I'm heading to pakistan and the chief of police has arranged for a plain clothes policeman in a plain car to follow me to the border, apparently there has been a little trouble in this area. A couple of tourists were kidnapped by drug smugglers who then demanded the authorities release one of them who was in prison. The tourists were treated very well and were released a few days later but it would still be nice to avoid the experience so I'll take the offered escort.
In Yazd I missed the ring road and got lost in the city trying to find my way onto the road for kerman. Then I saw my first iranian Beetle!! A blue 1303s. I pulled in for a chat with the guys who were as excited as me to see another Beetle. They were fascinated by Pedro's baja style body kit and had lots of questions about who made him that way and where can they buy one. I think they now have plans to come to the Uk or Germany, buy a Baja and drive it home. Sorry for the bad photo, I think it's time I cleaned the windscreen and it was really too dangerous to get out and take photos in the traffic!
I spent the night in Kerman intending to continue to the border town of Zahedan the next day but Pedro had other ideas. We only made it as far as Bam when his throttle cable snapped. I coasted to a stop at the roadside and was attempting to fix it with some gaffer tape which to be honest was never going to work when first a van and then a car stopped. the van driver gave me some cold water while the well dressed man in the car made a phone call and spoke into his walkie talkie. A police nissan Patrol arrived, the policeman saluted the man in the suit (i found out later he was the head of all the police in the area). They towed me to Akbar's guest house and along with another police car went to find a mechanic. the problem being that it's friday and friday is the day of rest here, nobody works.
Well as I've been writing this the chief of police, Akbar's son and 2 different mechanics have been calling around and just now I heard the engine fire up! They found a cable from another car and he's fixed!
So tomorrow I'm heading to pakistan and the chief of police has arranged for a plain clothes policeman in a plain car to follow me to the border, apparently there has been a little trouble in this area. A couple of tourists were kidnapped by drug smugglers who then demanded the authorities release one of them who was in prison. The tourists were treated very well and were released a few days later but it would still be nice to avoid the experience so I'll take the offered escort.I missed a bit at the start of this post as I'm having trouble uploading my photos from my other memory card of Mount Ararat and the Mongolian Rally guys I met at the border so will try and add that later. right now I need food, a shower and sleep in that order.
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