#2: [22-Jul-19]

30-Aug-2004 -- This is the 5^th out of 29 Confluences on our tour from Germany to China, the story continues from 38N 47E.

On the ninth day, we started at 7:30 a.m. from Tabrīz. After our first successful visit of CP 38N 47E, I persuaded Guang to go for another one that day, because it was so conveniently located next to our route to Tehrān. The minimal distance from the main highway turned out to be 3 km; more than I had expected. But we were lucky as there was a newly built asphalted turnoff right towards the CP. Everything looked very easy by then. We went through an underpass, because they were building a new divided highway between Tabrīz and Tehrān. The construction work was in process. After passing through the underpass, we drove upwards a hill and parked the car on top of a hill at 430 m distance from the CP.

We began to hike through the deserted hilly land up and down. 430 m can be a lot, when it's hilly. Suddenly, I saw a motorbike heading towards us. We were scared, because he was riding towards us cross country. It was clear, that he would be after us, seeking an answer what we were doing here. We rushed down one of the many deep dips and waited a while. It wasn't easy to find us this way. And indeed, after we crawled out of our dip there was no motorbike in sight. But still, we were scared somewhat. We quickly got to the point, took the pictures and headed back to our car.

Our suspects came true: as we came back to our car, two motorbikes and their riders were waiting for us in the heat. We quickly hid the GPS and camera in Guang's pockets and approached them. We gave them a friendly greeting and smiled. But their distrust was clearly noticeable. It was obvious that they wanted to know what we had been doing. I tried to put everything on the language barrier which was separating us. But they did not beg off. So I squatted in order to show that I just had been to the toilet. Well that worked! We were allowed to enter our car and drove off.

Being back on the highway we thought all our troubles were behind us. But we were mistaken. After only 400 m on the highway a police car stopped us. We had to show our passports, visa, and driving license. Obviously the couldn't read anything, because after examining our passports for a long long time, they asked which country we were from. I thought, that this control would be just a routine, when they suddenly began to draw a map with a road, a turnoff and a big question mark behind it. This time I told another story: I pointed to Tabrīz, then to Tehrān, then to the car and finally showed my tiredness by putting both hands at my temple. This worked again! They asked how much a Mercedes Benz in Germany would cost and after I had answered this last question we could go. Now it was time for a break. In the evening we reached Tehrān.

CP visit details:

• Time at CP: 14:40 a.m.
• Duration: 1 h (until we were back to our route)
• Distance of car parking: 430 m
• GPS height: 1335 m
• Description: Steep hills, desert, some grass here and then. An overhead power line in 1 km distance.
• Given Name: The Suspiciousness Confluence

Story continues at 33N 51E.