Shahpasand - Mashhad

Shahpasand - Mashhad

E.Route : Cheman-bid - Kal. m Qala : ETD 0600 : ETA 2200 : Dist. 389 m.
A.Route : Shahpesand - Mashhad : ATD 0610 : ATA 2200 : Dist. 322 m.

Depart Shahpesand 0610
0615 - 0622 Shopstop (Shahpesand)
0645 - 0653 Bogstop.
0730 - 0734 Bogstop.
0811 - 0813 Crew change.
0835 - 0842 Bogstop.
1011 - 1029 Crew change / Bogstop.
1216 - 1225 Crew change / Bogstop.
1342 - 1419 Shopstop ( Bodjnurd )
1453 - 1635 Lunchstop.
1905 - 1940 Trouble with fuel system.
1959 - 2004 Damage to donkey.
2059 - 2107 Humanitarian stop.*
2130 - 2140 Quarantine post*.
Arrive Mashhad 2200

Distance : 322 m. : Gross T.Time 15:50 hr : Net T.Time 12:38 hr.
Est.A.Spd : 24.30 mph : Gross A.Spd. 20.1O mph. : Net A.Spd. 25.50 mph.
Stop Time : 2:12 hr : Speedo TD 7728.2 : Speedo TA 8950.5

Comment : Horrible road with minimal surfacing begins about 100 yards outside Shahpesand and continues to within a very short distance of Mashhad. Part of it is throug a lush semi-nature reserve, but most through rather arid upland. Asterisks - a case of dehydration on Oxford. Damage to donkey - visibility fair to good, brakes excellent, driver R.Crees.
The Large number of bogstops - Kirsteen's attempt on the world record.

Gordon's letters

Jim Lindsay's diary:

There was a lot of grunting and groaning but we still got going just after 0600. The road wound through some very steamy-looking vegetation along the Caspian shore and then inland through dusty valleys and watersheds. It was a day of bad roads, bad enough to encourage one of our plastic paraffin cans to leak all over the contents of the boot. One reason for this was that a nice new road was being built but not much was in service, so every time we got onto it we had hardly gone any distance before a row of little stones across it warned us that yet another diversion was due. At one point Ricky hit a donkey but it survived.
We had been warned that Mashhad was a holy city and did not take kindly to scantily dressed infidels. The population certainly did not look entranced to see us but we were escorted into a park that was very much in the standard Shah-ware landscaping mode, and away from any risk of causing offence.