September 11, 2004

I'll take a room near the pool

Tahkt-é Soleiman, Iran

I'm lying in an orchard near to the 3rd century fortress of Tahkt-é Soleiman. I'm five kilometres from the nearest village and fifty kilometres from the nearest hotel. It's midnight, and I'm lying in my sleeping bag.

The sky is fantastic. The best array of stars I've seen on the trip. The Milky Way is bright, satellites drift by and meteorites flare. I've got Pink Floyd playing on the iPod. Perfect.

I drift off to sleep.

Suddenly I'm awake. It must be some time later. The music has stopped. I wiggle my toes. They're wet. I move my feet. They splash. I quickly realise that my feet are completely submerged in water. I jump up in the sleeping bag to find a river flowing under my feet. Where did this come from? I quickly gather all my stuff and look for higher ground.

No sooner do I find a spot than I see lights heading straight for me. What's going on? There isn't even a road here. I soon hear voices and the sound of a tractor. They stop a short distance away. Have they seen me? Do they think I'm stealing their apples? I duck low to the ground.

They get off the tractor and are coming straight for me. Three men with lanterns and farming gear. Nothing for it. I stand up and give my most confident "salam aleykom". They stop and stare, astonished.

I have no idea what they are doing but they offer that I can join them at their little shed. I settle in on the concrete platform while they disappear for a while. On returning they pull a couple of blankets and cushions out of the shed and the four of us curl up on the concrete. Not quite as atmospheric as the grass but at least it's dry.

Come morning they collect all their stuff and head off again on the tractor. It's not quite dawn so I gather my things and head up to the fortress, to catch the first rays of the sun as they strike the ancient walls. Just another day on the road.

Posted by David at September 11, 2004 12:18 AM