You may think that Kazakhstan and Wisconsin seem to have very little in common but you would be wrong in some respects, I happened to live in Eau Claire Wisconsin for a little while and I have very happy memories of the work we did there and the friends I …

You are not in Iran any more my friend I had just begun to get used to the grooved roads, and the wheel eating six inch deep two feet wide random holes in the main road, described in the earlier post, when I had my first wake up call that …

TheA groovy kind of Road The roads in Turkmenistan are very variable, sometimes they are super smooth pristine new highway, Sometimes they have these enormous 6 inch high tarmac ridges that come out of no where and tramline the car or fling you into the air if you hit them …

Today was one of those travel days that you just have to dig through and wait till they are over, mostly. The bit that was good was on the way from Mashhad to the border at Sarakhs with Turkmenistan I found a lovely ridge that stuck out over the desert …

Mr Vali is a 65 springy energetic Iranian man who runs a homestay in Mashhad. A homestay is pretty much as you would expect from the word you go and stay in his house, more accurately his basement, and you get to join his family for tea and chat. I …

The reason that 90 percent of visitors come to Mashhad is not the wild park camping scene, that is something to experience, but not a feature to draw Muslims from all around Iran and abroad to pilgrimage in Mashhad. The draw for them is the holy shrine of Inman Reza, …

After my trek through the desert I had a lovely nights sleep in the cool air of the mountains, the fresh breeze through the side windows in the sleeping area was a welcome relief from the heat of the day. I had followed a tip from my overlander website to …

It is academically interesting that my Iran lonely planet says the desert here is the hottest place on earth, while the same guidebook for Turkmenistan says it is their desert, and I am sure I remember the same claim being made for death Valley in Nevada when I travelled through …

One of the amazing things about my time in Iran has been the incredible warmth and generosity of the people.  Hospitality for travelling strangers a long way from home was a critical part of desert survival in the past, and the Persian culture which is embedded in the deserts has …

Once in my life I lived in the American mid west in Eau Claire Wisconsin, it was -40oC outside but life was well adjusted, the houses all had garages integrated into them and the cars and people stayed warm quite well, one evening after a dinner and a bit too …