<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> We've had a couple of nights bush camping on the road to the citadel of Tahkt-e Soleyman. It was the stronghold of Zoroastrianism around the 3rd century and was excavated in the 70s I think. The temples of fire, water etc are arranged around a effervescent crater lake, which actually looks quite like a crater, but is only effervescing slightly now. The ruins are mostly gone and there are ...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Drove out of Tabriz and headed for the mountains. The area northeast of Tabriz is very green and lush, and misty valleys. On the way up there we tried to get some diesel, but the locals have special cards that they have to put in the pump for it to work, and a couple of places we stopped wouldn't let us have any. Eventually we found another truck driver who let us use his card, and a petr...

Two nights in Tabriz - <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } -->The hotel we are in is pretty shabby and has one shared toilet for a whole floor and no showers, but hey, it's a bed. Today we walked around the bazaar for a while - it's pretty big but nowhere near as frantic as the one in Istanbul. We didn't get hassled at all to buy things, just wandered up to look at bits and pieces. Bought a few things to try to fit in a bit bett...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> Today we were heading into Iran, so the girls put on our long gear and headscarves. We packed up and left first thing to drive the few kms to the Iranian border, arriving there about 8am.At the turkish border we were stamped out in quick time, but because of a mix-up with the truck permits it took a bit longer to get the truck organised and through. On the Iranian side we were told to get o...

<!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> We drove north past Lake Van again and stopped briefly at a huge waterfall that was running just by the road. We climbed into mountains again and went over another high pass, and were treated to magnificent views of Mt Ararat before we arrived in Doğubeyazıt (aka doggy biscuit), the frontier town near the Iranian border. Our campsite is a few km outside town, and I think we are expecting...