At 6am I sneak out of Zanjan. I go around the toll both onto the Autobahn. I’ve learned from my time with the Iranian police force that a) they don’t get going before 10am, and b) they can’t or don’t want to trace a license plate number. I hope to be off the Autobahn before 10am. I’m not sure how far the Autobahn will actually take me. It’s marked as “under construction” on my map. I fly along the empty Bahn
and at some point I realize that I should have filled up the tank. There are no gas stations on the Autobahn and I ride faster than usual and thus use more fuel than usual. After 408km my tank is empty. I roll as far as I can down the hill. I have another half liter left in the fuel bottle for my stove. I pour that in the tank and luckily there are only 2km of Autobahn left and there is a gas station 1km after the exit. That was a close call. I take the Northern bypass road around Tabriz. Near the airport I see this sign.
Who would have thunk? Iran of all places.
North of Tabriz the landscape gets greener again.
On the way to Maku I stop at Qareh Kalisa. It’s a beautiful Armenian church with rich stone carvings, built with light and dark stone.
Just outside the church is an old mill.
On the road to Maku I pass another Golden Boys roundabout statue.
