TEHRAN & BEYOND

Location: Tehran, Iran.
Speed: 0 MPH.
Status: In a hospital!

We left Tabriz around 12:00, later than planned but hit the motorway for Tehran. It was 750KM and we wanted to do it in a day. The drive was fantastic, every time we stopped to change drivers or for a break we’d be given a water melon – four in one day by different drivers!

After a few hours behind the wheel and stopping at every single fuel stop it became apparent that diesel was hard to come by in Iran. It got to the point where we had used all our spare fuel and were close to running out. We stopped to discuss our predicament with the rest of the convoy when out of the blue an Iranian chap walked over with a twenty litre drum of diesel. We instantly though he was trying to make a quick buck, he talk at us in Fasi then phoned his friend who spoke English. The voice on the other end of the phone said “No money for the diesel, it is a gift” after saying thank you times he helped us pour it in our tank and we hit the road again.

That night we slept in the ambulance in a rather industrial area just outside Tehran, we slept around three hours then started the trek to Iran’s capital.

We arrived in Tehran and found diesel! Whilst filling the ambulance up we asked around about hospitals, a chap turned up who spoke good English. He asked us what was wrong and then explained how to get to the hospital. After 30 minutes of aimlessly driving around Tehran we got a taxi to lead us – there’s no way we would have found it!

Stu’s foot was giving him grief so it was good to get it seen to. They injected him, gave him some cream and some antibiotic tablets. The whole process took around three hours. We phoned William Russell (our medical insurers, and sponsor) in case we needed to make a claim; the phone call probably cost more than the treatment! The bill came to £9, so we quickly got off the phone!

We left hospital and hit the road for the border. We drove North to the coast to a town called Babol where we couldn’t find a hotel. When we stopped to ask directions an Iranian gentleman jumped in the ambulance and started giving us directions. It turned our the his mother worked at a hotel that might have rooms. We arrived, parked up and found out there were no rooms. We ended up sat in the lobby of a hotel drinking Chiai with the manger whilst the man who gave us directions disappeared.

Half an hour later and four teas later he turned up again. In international sign language we worked out we were being offered his house to stay at and shower – fantastic! We all jumped in the ambulance, including our new friend and followed the back streets to a house.

Walking in the house was fairly basic. The living room had a small television, and a two piece suite. We drank water and the family just stared at us – we couldn’t speak Fasi and they couldn’t speak English.

After half an hour (it’s almost 02:00 at this stage) the family left us and we settled in for the night.