03-Sep-2004 -- This is the 7th out of 29 Confluences on our tour from Germany to China, the story continues from 33N 51E.
On the thirteenth day of our tour we started very early in the morning at 6:00 a.m. in Eṣfahān about 100 km from the CP. In the town called Nā'īn (16 km from the CP), we turned off from our route to Yazd and headed north in direction of a town called Sagaru. From that road, it was still 6.9 km to go. We found it too far to walk in the heat (at least 15 km), so we tried our best to reach the point by car. Our car is not suitable for off-road driving, so we had to find some tracks. We tried some, but they all ended suddenly and we had to return to the road.
We came almost to the point of giving up, when I suggested to try one more track. The track was hardly visible and often forked with others. Thus a long odyssey began. We also had to avoid the desert grass with long thorns. Once we passed a shepherd's house and faced again difficulty continuing our journey to the CP. We had to pass through a dried out river with sandbanks. Fortunately, the car didn't get stuck.
But once, we found the track we were on was not going in the right direction, we decided to turn back. While turning around, we had to get off the track to accomplish that manoeuvre. But outside the track the sand was too soft and the car sank deeply into it. Trying to get out made it just worse and the car sank deeper and deeper. After the underbody had touched ground, there was no hope to get out anymore. We were trapped in the desert. I started digging the sand out. Soon I was all over crumbed with sweat and the sand sticking on my skin. But in the end, the digging was successful. With digging and pushing we made it back to the track. Being really scared, we did not dare drive on. I decided to run to the point for the remaining 1.5 kilometres. The CP itself is near a dry riverbed halfway up a hill.
We continued our way in direction of the ancient desert town Yazd.
CP visit details:
- Time at CP: 9:15 a.m.
- Duration: 2.5 h (until we were back to our route)
- Distance of car parking: 1470 m
- GPS height: 1863 m
- Description: The area is moon-like with rocks in different sizes, hardly any plants, and volcano-shaped mountains around.
- Given Name: The Deadlocked Confluence
Story continues at 32N 54E.