Gorgan to Shirvan (day 9)

I have the worst night of sleep in a while, sleeping next to the road wasn't such a great idea as the traffic was constant all through the night.

I get up and start to pack up my things and get ready for departua bottle of water in the building with the soldiers and policeman but it's locked and they're still asleep. I have to wait for them to get up. I take out the map and look at how far I've got to go and where I should I top so that I'm at the border crossing ready to cross. 

I then realise that I'm a bit ahead of schedule. I'll potentially be at the border on the 27th but my visa for Turkmenistan doesn't start until the 28th! The guards are up and I bring the map in to ask which route I should take towards Mashhad. I can continue along my northern route or drop down and continue east towards Mashhad. He tells me to continue on the current road and stop in Shirvan.

Stopped for tea are a small shop at the road side, you can see giant kettles with boiling water. A few people gather around and the owner's son seems interested in the bike. The kid has his picture taken with him sitting on the bike. One of the other lurkers decides that he wants a piece of the action and and jumps on the bike. I panic as this man might topple the bike over with his enthusiastic behavior.

There was nothing special to see on the first part of this route but then it all changed as it started going through the Golestan National Park. The scenery is fantastic, much needed after a couple of days of similar looking towns.

There's hardly any traffic and I'm settled into my 85-95km/h rhythm. I stop to take the occasional photo and admire the view. I'm approaching the town of Bojnurd and it's much bigger than I expected. I'm on the mountain road on the way down to the city and it looks big, bigger than I could have imagined for a remote area. I stop off to get some water and of course the next crowd draws in. They want to chat but we have a language barrier.

I push on towards Shirvan. I stop to ask some kids for a hotel and food. They point to a restaurant 20 meters away from where I parked. I go in, the people look at me. I feel a bit out of place. I try to order food with pointing at the menu pictures. A guy appears and speaks very good English. He helps me out. Another man appears, out comes a pen and notepad. I'm told he's a reporter, I'm asked for name, age where I'm from, where I'm traveling and how have I found my journey through Iran so far. I'm going to be in the news tomorrow! The celebrity life is tough I can tell you!

I also get directions to a hotel, just on the outskirts of town. I head there after eating. It looks abandoned, I walk through the door, guy at reception is almost surprised to see me. He doesn't speak English but some German (again!). We negotiate a rate. He then tells me to park the bike in front of the door and not leave it in the car park, for security reasons. The hotel seems empty and I think I'm the only guest. Later I see some other guests. 

Total distance travelled: 358km