It is not easy to say goodbye to the fascinating Martian Mountains. Nevertheless, we set off and travel step by step along the Persian Gulf to the Iraqi border. However, we take our time for the approximately 1800 km and interrupt the journey from time to time.

Tang mud volcano

The first stop is at the Tang mud volcano. There are other mud volcanoes in this region, but the Tang is the only one that is still (somewhat) active. A narrow path leads steeply up to the hump, where you can still see a number of spots spewing out mud. However, it was not active during our visit and we were unable to photograph any “bubbles”. Nevertheless, the landscape is fascinating.

Darak beach

The sandy desert and the sea meet at Darak Beach. This is what makes the beach so unique. Less unique are the evening visitors to the beach with their vehicles and mopeds, who plow through the sandy beach and disturb the idyll. The landscape and nature here are not so much there to be marveled at and admired, but rather to be used in various ways. Too bad. Nevertheless, Darak Beach will be our home for two days, namely on New Year’s Eve 2023 and New Year’s Day 2024.

The diesel miracle

We want to fill up with diesel on the way to Bandar Abbas. We join the waiting column and hope. Arriving at the fuel pump, we are once again told“no diesel for us“. I complain and the Iranian truck drivers notice. Suddenly they tell me that I can refuel. One of the drivers gives me 50 liters of diesel. He really does donate them, because he wants absolutely no money for them. At another filling station, one of the truck drivers even buys me 90 liters. And this is how warm contacts are made with the heroes of the street, which make us humble and grateful. In any case, I have never given a foreigner 90 liters of fuel in Switzerland.

Qeshm Island

In Chahbahar we met Iranian campers with their simple, self-built camper vans. To see this group again, we cross over to the Iranian island of Qeshm. However, the crossing is bureaucratically complicated, similar to a border crossing, even though we are not leaving Iran. The encounter with the camper group was all the more amiable for it and was worth the bureaucratic detour.
When we wake up the next morning, we are surrounded by tents belonging to Iranian families who must have arrived during the night. Typical Iran.

Bandar-e Bostaneh coast

A worthwhile detour on the way is the drive along the Bandar-e Bostaneh coast. A country road turns off the main axis towards the sea and leads along several beautiful bays with rocky outcrops. Here we spend the night by the sea again, but not without being checked by the coastguard in the middle of the night.

Asaluyeh

Asaluyeh is the land-based hub of Iran’s vast natural gas reserves in the Persian Gulf. During the night, the flames of the excess gas can be seen from afar.
We camp on the other side of the bay and after a spectacular sunset we enjoy the spectacle on the opposite side.

After Asaluyeh, we drive many kilometers along these natural gas plants and are glad to finally be able to leave the unpleasant smell behind us. The journey leads mostly inland along a barren mountain range. Suddenly there are green fields (tomatoes) and palm plantations again.
We stop in one of the many villages to buy tomatoes and fruit. We are happy to do this, also to help the locals earn some income. But he doesn’t want to accept any money and gives us the goods. Another one of those surprising experiences in Iran.

Border crossing

On January 13, 2024, we hand in our Iranian license plates in Khorramshahr and drive to the Iraqi border. Leaving Iran takes time. Unfortunately, the computer system crashed and all departing passengers have to wait several hours. This is the reason why we meet a small Swiss group with camping vehicles and also meet Peter Strub and Gabi Küng from “Pegasus-Unterwegs” at the border.

We can leave Iran later in the afternoon. To enter Iraq, we have to line up the vehicles in front of customs. We are seen as a travel group, which may have advantages?
Things are pretty chaotic at Iraqi customs. We have to walk through the whole customs area several times to get a stamp here and a permit there. To enter the country, the person in charge also has to clarify whether Swiss citizens are allowed to enter customs without a visa because weare “not on the list of approved countries“. In principle, he knows, because other Swiss have already passed through customs. But he still wants to insure himself and we can wait. So it’s not surprising that we don’t finish until after customs has closed, and that’s after walking about 9 km on the customs area.
Finally we are allowed to drive, but into a side street, because now they set the drug dogs on us and that means waiting again.
Exhausted, we park at the side of the road and sleep for a while.

Iraq

The journey through Iraq is only 80 km long. We cross the Shatt al-Arab, the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, on a high bridge. I am hoping to be able to travel here again because I would like to cross Iraq from south to north.
Leaving Iraq is definitely easier than entering the country and entering Kuwait is a little more organized. In any case, in the evening we find ourselves in the parking lot of a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kuwait City and spend the night there.