sleep off the heat

Naturally and totally in line with her character, the Caboose decided to go kaput this morning, just as we were preparing to leave the eco lodge. And it wasn’t just a minor problem, either: we crossed a tree branch, there was a thumping sound, and one of the axles had snapped in half.

There was a little issue with the spare wheel as well, but the team of Lotka kindly helped me sort it out:

Then we were on our way:

There were clouds, but it was warm anyway:

In fact it was hot, hot and humid and sticky and sweaty and miserable.

One time a car stopped, and this friendly gentleman came out and shook my hand:

Then he gave me this:

It was a sort of lemonade with basil seeds, a homemade version of the drink I had tried a few months before. Iranians liked this stuff when it was hot, and they were right – it tasted quite wonderful in the heat.

I rested next to a roadside mosque. There was what looked like a lemonade stand outside, but nobody ever stopped there, nor did anyone come out and man it:

Then I continued walking. This bearded weirdo grinned at me every once in a while:

Some truck drivers were resting in the shade:

There was a place where you could buy a typical Iranian tent (stands on its own, no nails needed, perfect for an afternoon nap on a slab of concrete):

And there was a parked truck with the image of Imam Hussein, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time in these parts of Iran:

All in all, it seemed as though the whole world was sleeping off the heat:

Only I was moving.

When I got to Bandar Anzali, it took a little while to find a bicycle repair shop, but in the end I got lucky:

The dude was super serious, didn’t speak much, and certainly didn’t smile. But he got the job done and changed the axle.

Then I crossed an old bridge in the center of the city:

It reminded me a bit of South Florida – the heat, the green mixed in with the concrete, and the wetlands that started right next to the city:

I took a time-lapse on one of the bridges (it’s in the daily video):

Then I went to a church that I had noticed on the map, but this gentleman told me it was closed:

I talked to a friendly nut vendor for a while, and he told me the church was only open on Sunday:

I looked at my phone – today was Saturday.

Daily video:

360 degree video: