When I drive around the corner from the hotel in Martoumi in the morning, the road is immediately broken. And after that it doesn't get much better and the asphalt is a huge cheese hole on which I can drive max. 30 km/h. I'm holding my breath because if it remains the 265 km that I have to cover today, I will not reach my destination. Fortunately, it is better after about 10 kilometers and it is making good progress again.
Unfortunately, Azerbaijan has still closed its borders to travelers, but my route today goes a very short distance along the border, so I can catch a glimpse of it anyway. It then goes up well, but now with dead straight up and down roads. The old trucks here spit out so much soot as they go uphill that I have to hold my breath as I pass them. Bah.
Soon the next mountain range appears. It is gray and foggy and now and then I drive in and even above the clouds! Looks great but I think it's too cold to get off for a photo and I want to be at my final destination as soon as possible.
I booked my B&B in Meghri, the last village before the Iranian border, but the address, like all the texts here, only consists of Cyrillic characters that Googlemaps and Garmin are not good at. When I arrive in the village I send them a photo of the supermarket where I am and 5 minutes later my host is standing next to me and I drive behind his car to their house. The large house is located on top of a hill and from the large veranda I look out over the village and the Armenian mountains. I am assigned my master bedroom and the bathroom I share with them.
The older couple has not yet received many guests and they often ask what I want, but with the translation app we will get there. For a small extra fee I can eat with you. Everything on the table comes from their own large garden.
The next day it is also a bit uncomfortable to have breakfast, because it turns out that there is none. When I ask about it, the lady tells me that her husband always only has coffee for breakfast. Fortunately I can politely make it clear to her that this is usually different at overnight accommodations and after half an hour she has breakfast for me while her husband already starts working in the fields.
When I go to see what he is doing I get a tour and I have to taste all the fruits. Perhaps a lot of new flavors a bit later my stomach protests a bit. I continue my day clearing the bike's maintenance notification, making reports, and getting the Garmin Inreach ready. With this device I can send a short message and my location to my contacts worldwide via satellite and send SOS in case of emergency.
Tomorrow I will cross the border with Iran and that is exciting given the current situation. I've thought it through and made a lot of inquiries and I'm convinced that it's not extremely dangerous for foreigners. After all, it's not a war and the borders are just open. If I avoid areas of uproar and keep my distance from discussions or opinions, I don't think I have much to fear. Just to be sure, I will remove the camera from my helmet and I will no longer film on the motorcycle.
Travel will be more difficult due to little or no internet and more police checks, but that was no different 30 years ago. I have been looking forward to Iran for a long time and I hope that my feeling will show me the right way.
