Sitting in the little village of Loveh, we are the talk of the town tonight. We have just talked with the next group of kids that came to visit with their mothers. Our tents are set up next to a bubbling brook looking out over the valley. It will be an early night tonight.
Our camping spot in Loveh
Given our 2am descent into slumber yesterday evening, our departure was quite late. We waved our kind hosts goodbye, and cycled into the grey. We couldn’t see the mountains, or much at all. A highlight was the stop to celebrate my 10000km. At 10008km we stopped in a town to celebrate properly with cake, and at 10015km our passports were checked.
10000km
A day on the road on the way to Mashhad.
P.S. ‘Hello!’
I stick my head out of the tent. A man is there with his little boy and a plate of food. He stokes up the fire, and we sit around trying to find room in our stomachs for the extra food. The boy takes a stick, puts it in the fire, and makes patterns in the air with the glowing embers. They smile. We smile. Hand on our heart – ‘mamnun’ – ‘thank-you!’
arctic-cycler.com 
Belated congrats on the 10,000 – a bit back now, I know. And the designer stubble looks pretty good.
Thanks Valerie! 🙂
[…] I opened the tent. There, at the entrance was the shepherd and his son, holding a plate of food. ‘This is for you, mister!’ Such a smile of kindness you could never hope […]