Iran 1978

Posted by Lee Eccleston on Nov 05, 2013; 10:46pm
URL: http://sundownersadventures.385.s1.nabble.com/Iran-1978-tp5706763.html

In October 1978 Barney,Tom Sawyer and I departed on a Caravan.Gaye Miller was a passenger,heading home.
There were fuel shortages in Turkey as they weren't paying their bills.
Between Tabriz and Hamadan met Fred Sparksman coming the other way.He informed us our Hamadan hotel had been firebombed.So we drove overnight and arrived in Esfahan early in the morning.We closed all the coach curtains,as there was military at every roundabout.I remember this very clearly as I had a machine gun to the ribs when we pulled up near .
the Iran Tours hotel
At our hotel met up with Jaffa and he advised to stay in the hotel for the next 36 hours and he arranged for a hiding place for our coach.
This was the peak of demonstrations against the Shah.I think it may have been his Birthday.
He escaped to Egypt the next January.
We managed one day of sightseeing in Esfahan,and departed early the next morning for Tehran stopping at Qom for breakfast.It was eerily quiet in Qom,we had all the curtains drawn,everyone was  advised to return to the coach quickly at the first sign of trouble.Everyone had only gone a few metres away when a large demonstration came around the corner.I had everyone lying on the floor
The demonstrators although hammering on the sides of the coach seemed to be restrained by their mullahs.No broken windows unlike most of the other tours behind us.
We all met in Kathmandu for the big Sundowners Capricorn amalgamation at the end of 1978
In early 1979 all our tours overflew Iran from Kabul to Istanbul.
The coaches shuttled until mid 1979 when Plough was last one to turn out the lights in Afghanistan.
The Russians were invited to invade Afghanistan Xmas 1979.So we were the fortunate few to be able to go to Afghanistan although a few drivers who were detained unwillingly may disagree.
I ran we ran through Iran 1978.
Rocky