Hubbard Motorcycle Adventures

 But first is is down to Bandar Abbas. We get an early start to maximise the cooler temperatures. Wise move Dick!  It starts off cool but gets progressively hotter as we get closer to the Gulf.   The temperature gauge on the bike moves upwards  through 32,  36, 38, 40, 41, 42, and then tops out at 42.5 degrees. That is hot and as I understand it humans top out at 50 degrees or not much above it. And this is Autumn here !  We got very good on our travels at sheltering from the rain under over ridges. Here is the opposite. We find one to shelter under from the relentless sun!  It is near the top of a mountain pass and the temperature drops to a cool and welcoming 37 degrees in the shade.   We see trucks lined up in a huge queue leaving the duty free port zone    Then is is back down the heat as we approach Bandar Abbas. Bandar is a ferry port, a very large cargo port and a very large Iranian navy port. It is right on the narrowest parts of the straights of Hormoz separating Iran from the

We get  to Persopolis early in the afternoon and find a hotel about a kilometre from the ruins. It is very hot and it seems very crowded so it is an easy decision to go first thing the next morning when it is cool and the crowds thinner.   What an amazing place and one of the founding centres of modern Western civilisation - or at least until Donald Trump destroyed the concept of western civilisation ! The city was built by King Darius in something BC finished off by his son. Alexander the Great then came and plundered it and used 3, 000 camels just to take the spoils of the treasury away with him. I think the ancient city it is more inspiring than the Parthenon in Greece or the ancient ruins of Rome. One almost feels privileged to see it. We spend several hours taking in the wonder, the grandeur and the history of it all.      Then reality hits and it is time to head down the road to Shiraz all of 53 km away. We look for a hotel on the northern approached to the city as it is easy to

Yes folks, it is time for a bit of luxury and a bit of well deserved rest. So we re jig the program and head down to the fabled city of Esfahan. Robert Byron once described Esfahan as one of the rare cities of the world that is a balm to man's soul. We are about to find out.  We barrel done the Persian Gulf highway to Esfahan. A three lane motorway all the way with virtually no traffic    Motorbikes do not have to pay tolls and at every toll booth we always get cheery waves    We arrive down the beautiful leafy streets of Esfahan    And we arrive at the Abassi hotel which is said to be the oldest  hotel in the world at 300 years old. I am not totally sure about that claim as I have stayed at some olde English hotels that I think are at least that old. The mattresses of one of those  English hotels was at least 300 years old or at least it felt like it. However I digress. Joy of joys there is a room at the hotel. The most expensive room  in the hotel but you only live once and it is

Today we head out to the desert town of Kashin. The reason for going there is of course so that I can  "Cash in " some US money into local Rials. Anyway we take a nice trip down lovely roads and I deviate from the chosen path to avoid going through the holy city of Qom  We manage to find our hotel which is a " traditional house " of Kashin made of compacted earth and grass such as you can only do in a rainless climate    We navigate the tiny lanes    And settle into our special hotel.    Getting the bike in and out was an interesting  exercise indeed      It did fit through !     The architecture and buildings structure  was interesting and you could see tourists photographing it !    We dine under the stars eating traditional Iranian food in a courtyard    Another eye opening day in Iran.

Firstly just how do we navigate in Iran without a GPS ?  Well firstly I look for the Southern Cross in the sky! Having discarded that as a workable  option it is a case of then intensely studying Mapsme on my iPhone and marking a route.  Then memorising it.  Then also looking at Google maps where the Internet is available. I also use the road map on the tank bag. I use the compass when I am riding which still works on the GPS. I also  an eye on the position of the sun.  I study the Lonely Planet book on Iran each night with the intensity of reading passages from the bible. Then last but not least we become unafraid  of asking bystanders. They always help. The combination of all of that seems to get us there.  We do the cultural thing today by first visiting the big Mausoleum at Soltanyeh. It is the third biggest clay domed roof in the world.    It is full of scaffolding inside but you get the picture of the size      We then then head up to the Zoroastrians  ruins  of  Takh- e-Soleyman

Our program had us stopping in Tabriz, a big city about 50 km down the road.  We look at stopping at a very very flash hotel on the edge of town. To make up got the previous night. Uniformed doorman and all of that.  Sorry, no room at the inn! Pity    So we push on down to the town of Zanjan. Lovely dual carriage road all the way. What a contrast from Armenia    Stunning scenery with ochre coloured hills just like the Atacama desert in Chile    And thus we get to Zanjan having sort of mastered the art of navigating and finding a hotel without a GPS. Again an obliging local jumps on his motorbike and leads us to a hotel. You only have to stop anywhere on the side of the road in an town in Iran and someone will try to help you. And most people speak reasonable English !  Certainly my Farsi and Arabic is somewhat non existent. And the hotel was an improvement on the previous night although still fairly basic.  It is interesting getting through traffic like this    Our next day - into Ira

" The day started full of promise" We started off out of Tbilis ready to head down the road to the border crossing. There were two crossing to choose from.  The decision was taken out of my hands as we missed the turn off to the first one.    We follow the "M6". It is not quite the standard of the M6 in the UK!  The road gradually deteriorates    And gets worse    And worser!   After two hard hours we arrive at the border crossing. It is shut!  There is a power failure so no computers. "How long?" A shrug of the shoulders. We wait two hours. Occasionally the power comes on and off again. Still nothing happening. We decide to cut our losses and backtrack for two hours to the turnoff to the other crossing  We get there at 3 pm. 7 hours on the road and we are 70 km from Tbilisi !  Not good. Then a difficult 2 hour border crossing. They do not like the paperwork for the bike. Virtually no English spoken. We get thru by 5 pm. Then it is a difficult ride on very