What a fantastic few days of walking. I left Tehran early Sunday morning making my way past the Holy Shrine of Iman Khomeini. A huge and imposing complex, comprised not only of the shrine itself but an array of support services as well. On certain occassions the numbers who flock to this special place number in the hundreds of thousands, making the need for clinics, police, shops, banks and the like. I one-stop sort of place where you can get everything done.

As I tightened the harness of my pack and put my head down I passed a sign indicating 125km to Qom. Here we go! My first few hours were passed in far to close proximity to the highway for my liking. Thankfully I was soon able to leave this never ending auto trail and wander off into the fields which stretched into the distance. Navigating irrigation channels and flooded plains did not exactly aid in my forward momentum. Nevertheless I was marching pretty hard. After a quick lunch break of biscuits, flat bread and cheese I was fast approaching the desert plateau. The temperature here much warmer than even in Tehran, let alone further north. Not altogether unpleasant and with the sun masked by cloud it even became a little chilly. At every opportunity I tried to move further away from the highway, sometimes keeping it in view or at least keeping an idea of it’s direction. At anytime where I reached sufficient elevation to view this piece of tarmac snaking off into the distance I would attempt to take the shortest route between it’s turns. Of course, I learnt rather swiftly that a seemingly flat terrain is pockmarked with deep gullies and ravines requiring so many detours as to cancel out fully any advantage gained by such a shortcut. Oh well,the terrain was awe-inspiring and I was not exactly in a hurry.

I had made a target that day of a service area some 35km hike. By dusk I was getting close and forced back to the highway I was able to walk some 50m away and have my path lit by the same lights helping to guide the drivers who roared past at great speed. I came to a river well below a huge bridge. It looked as though I must climb high above in order to cross. Upon closer inspection I spotted a makeshift foot bridge spanning the water. Stoked! As I trudged over the drone of the distant cars high above was joined by a pack of dogs exercisng their lungs and I can tell you they were bloody loud! I had wandered into a construction site below the massive concrete bridge. 2 figures exited a demountable cabin, one carrying a club, the other a spotlight aimed in my face. Using my well honed but oh so limited greeting of “Salaam” I cautiously approached. After figuring out I was some wacky tourist and not come to pinch their building materials they just shrugged, motioned for me to follow them and re-entered their dwelling. Ali and Nazeem were both 50-something nightwatchmen, charged with protecting the stores of construction equipment lying beneath the bridge. Not a word of english was spoken or understood by the two. With my pathetic grasp of Farsi this meant a lot of signing was enforced. Dinner was put on to heat, delicious rice, chicken, onion and bread followed by tea. Of course they invited me to sleep on the floor of their tiny living quarters, a invitation I was glad to accept. Soon we slept, with one having to take his first turn at keeping a watchful eye over their domain, the other free to sleep ready for his shift a few hours later. In the morning we were all up at 7am, quick goodbyes and we parted ways. I was marching hard again by eight. Having covered 35km the previous day I was faced with 38km today. Some pretty decent ground to cover en route to Qom.

Now well into the rocky desert there were no signs of man to be found. That is apart from the flipping great big multi-lane highway beside me! Take this away and nothing but rocky hills and flat plains as far as the eye can see, east, west and south. At my back I could make out the Alborz and their keeper, Damavand. Once more I moved as far away from the highway as I could. Far enough that the cars were so small and silent in their travels south. Naturally the terrain was similar to the afternoon previous but it continued to grow. The colours grew more bold and sky more clear, bigger somehow. On occassion on the far horizon I could make out a communications tower or the like, linking this vast area to the rest of Iran. I was pushing hard now. I had my target in my head, not to mention the possibility of another hot meal in my belly.

Closing on 7pm I somewhat shuffled rather than bounded into the service area. Something akin to what you would find on any highway in Europe, accompanied by a mosque and ambulance station. I took a meal in the restaurant. a surprisingly good pizza, stocked up on supplies for the following day and went outside to wander off a ways into the desert. I spotted a dark area behind the ambulance station and buzzed the door to seek their permission or at least inform them of my intention to camp there. “Do you have a disease or are you injured?” was the response. No mate, I just have a question. The door opened and standing in front of me were Mohammad and Ali, the 2 paramedics on shift. I produced my letters explaining my puropse and immediately was invited in for tea. After faxing off my letters and speaking to a supervisor, the boys proudly invited me to pass the night in the compound. Once again, Iranian hospitality comes to the fore. I was soon eating a second dinner and not long after arranging my sleeping bag in a spare room. The guys work 2 days on, 4 days off which sounds like a pretty good deal to me. On shift they are on call 24/7 covering a 50km stretch of highway. Fortunately their services were not required this evening.

As I bade them farewell the following morning after breakfast I was amped for the day ahead. My distance to Qom now measured 47km. Could I cover this distance in a day? Perhaps. If not, finally I would break out my tent. I spent hours following the shores of a massive salt lake and headed into the hills once more. By 3pm either through exhaustion or from slacking off I had only covered 20 odd kilometres. It did not look as though I would be in Qom this day. 10km and a couple of hours later I wandered into another rest area with y first view of Qom on the horizon. I thought to whittle away the number of kilometres to walk the next day to just over 10 or 12 and so pushed on into the night. As darkness surrounded me I realised something was amiss. Much to my dismay in trying to push as close as possible to the city I had entered it’s industrial outskirts. Dammit! The land now had been graded flat for warehouses under construction, some fields and worst of all factories. The lights of Qom sparkled tantilizingly close in the distance. By 7pm I was still 15km from the city and facing camping not in the beautiful desert but beside a waste outlet pipe. I made a split decision to tab it out. Make these last 15km on my already tired and aching feet. Another goal, another test. Why not? After a couple of hours I began to sway in my boots. I was just 5km away, now forced again to walk directly beside the thundering road. I was out on my feet, finding it hard to focus and put one foot in front of the other. I really had to dig to make it, but as the final road sign clicked over I was there. 3 days, 125km to Qom and some fantastic experiences on the way.

I was lucky enough to be picked up by Shaker, the PR guru for tourism in Qom province. I foolishly turned down his offer to stay the night at the apartment shared by himself and his wife. My mind and body were going into meltdown just a little and I just wanted to crash so I asked for him to take me to a hotel, but not before he had bought me dinner at the best kebab place in town. No matter, I stayed with him last night and am so glad I did. I met his awesome wife and her lovely family and his assistance now means I am the proud holder of a 30 day extension to my visa. No need to bus to Esfehan, wait several days and return to walk there again. Thanks to him and the good guys at the local police station my visa was sorted in a couple of hours! So happy!

Tomorrow I push off again to Kashan, by all accounts a beautiful city. From here I will travel to Esfehan. The 3rd stage goal of my journey. All good right now and my feet are even beginning to feel better.