Vehicle is fixed [this all happened yesterday evening]: Henry turned up in Bitlis yesterday, about 5 pm. All of us walked back down the road to where the truck had been left at the garage, where by this time the truck had been towed. Henry knew what the problem was - some bolt missing from the transfer box. He had it fixed within the hour...I suspect or at least cannot help thinking why not do better maintenance? Or at least some maintenance? 
Prevention being better than cure and all that...Drove to Van, arriving about 11 am. Stomach a bit revoluted: probably (a) 1 lt cherry juice (b) two kebabs. A lot cooler - about 26 degrees - we are higher up - probably a few thousand metres. Arid landscapes - some blue green water (reservoirs?); little fluffy clouds. 1:20 pm wearing socks - it's colder - also do I need to cover my feet as we approach the border with Iran? Need to drink better things - today (so far) I've had a litre of cherry juice, one of Fanta and one of Coke - yuck! 3:10 pm second passport check post, just short of Yüksekova (scene of clashes between Kurds and Turkish riot police in 2006), 
probably 50 km from the border with Iran. These check points are interesting: typically the police take all our passports, but do not actually look at the occupants of the truck. Now just 20 to 30 km from the border with Iran - may explain the increased frequency of the checking. 3:40 pm stopped again! 4:28 pm and we have arrived at the border. Looks very industrial, dusty; we must wait on the bus for further instructions. Gate being opened 
and we drive through...something out of a Graham Green novel perhaps. Now inside some sort of military compound. Barbed wire fences. 7:30 pm Iranian time. Off the bus amd into a somewhat feckless hall on the Turkish side of things. Passport stamping to leave Turkey, thence into a corridor (longish) - by myself. Turkey behind me, Iran in front. At the end of the corridor a door. Like a regular front door from a big house. Locked - so here I am having left Turkey but not having entered Iran. So I knock on the door. Door opens and some questioning and passport stamping; now in a big hall on the Iranian side of things (with much more ornate woodwork than Turkish hall). An awful lot of sitting (because we're through but the bus isn't yet). Spending time staring at two ornate doors: dark wood, fanlights and square panes, right hand door warped and a waste bin. Not sure what happens next. 8:30 pm and still here: there's some issue re. the truck not being on the Turkish custom system as having left Turkey or somesuch. Suspect not really a problem, just needs time to resolve. Nipped outside onto Iranian soil for the first time. Looking up to the hills - just like Helvellyn; looking down it's a desolate cement dusty compound.; in particular the blowing cement dust (it's very windy here) is not at all nice. A real swirling dust storm. 9:15 pm Absolutely nothing to eat here - a duty free shop selling hairdryers and Breville sandwich toasters. Lots of money changers - but they are missing a trick - why not sell food? 9:30 pm Four Iranian climbers have turned up to meet us. I think this could work out really well. 9:40 pm I think we can get back on the bus - after a final random top locker search. 10:00 pm Iranian time and we are on the bus with the engine running; food for supper being chopped up (onions). Almost out of the compound through final barrier. Spoke too soon! Engine off. 10:10 pm. They now want to see three passports - why just three? Why not see all fifteen? [After this we cleared the Iranian border post and were in Iran proper, still several police check points on the way.]
Prevention being better than cure and all that...Drove to Van, arriving about 11 am. Stomach a bit revoluted: probably (a) 1 lt cherry juice (b) two kebabs. A lot cooler - about 26 degrees - we are higher up - probably a few thousand metres. Arid landscapes - some blue green water (reservoirs?); little fluffy clouds. 1:20 pm wearing socks - it's colder - also do I need to cover my feet as we approach the border with Iran? Need to drink better things - today (so far) I've had a litre of cherry juice, one of Fanta and one of Coke - yuck! 3:10 pm second passport check post, just short of Yüksekova (scene of clashes between Kurds and Turkish riot police in 2006), 
probably 50 km from the border with Iran. These check points are interesting: typically the police take all our passports, but do not actually look at the occupants of the truck. Now just 20 to 30 km from the border with Iran - may explain the increased frequency of the checking. 3:40 pm stopped again! 4:28 pm and we have arrived at the border. Looks very industrial, dusty; we must wait on the bus for further instructions. Gate being opened 
and we drive through...something out of a Graham Green novel perhaps. Now inside some sort of military compound. Barbed wire fences. 7:30 pm Iranian time. Off the bus amd into a somewhat feckless hall on the Turkish side of things. Passport stamping to leave Turkey, thence into a corridor (longish) - by myself. Turkey behind me, Iran in front. At the end of the corridor a door. Like a regular front door from a big house. Locked - so here I am having left Turkey but not having entered Iran. So I knock on the door. Door opens and some questioning and passport stamping; now in a big hall on the Iranian side of things (with much more ornate woodwork than Turkish hall). An awful lot of sitting (because we're through but the bus isn't yet). Spending time staring at two ornate doors: dark wood, fanlights and square panes, right hand door warped and a waste bin. Not sure what happens next. 8:30 pm and still here: there's some issue re. the truck not being on the Turkish custom system as having left Turkey or somesuch. Suspect not really a problem, just needs time to resolve. Nipped outside onto Iranian soil for the first time. Looking up to the hills - just like Helvellyn; looking down it's a desolate cement dusty compound.; in particular the blowing cement dust (it's very windy here) is not at all nice. A real swirling dust storm. 9:15 pm Absolutely nothing to eat here - a duty free shop selling hairdryers and Breville sandwich toasters. Lots of money changers - but they are missing a trick - why not sell food? 9:30 pm Four Iranian climbers have turned up to meet us. I think this could work out really well. 9:40 pm I think we can get back on the bus - after a final random top locker search. 10:00 pm Iranian time and we are on the bus with the engine running; food for supper being chopped up (onions). Almost out of the compound through final barrier. Spoke too soon! Engine off. 10:10 pm. They now want to see three passports - why just three? Why not see all fifteen? [After this we cleared the Iranian border post and were in Iran proper, still several police check points on the way.]
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