On the way

Today I would like to say something about my plan concerning eating, drinking and  personal care:

First the questions arises, what to eat. If possible I will buy some groceries every day, since I cannot transport a lot of food. In case of need I will take 2-3 packs of trekking food with me. There is a lot of good stuff for example from Trek´n Eat, Mountain House or Backpackers Pantry. If I know, that I will not reach a bigger village, because I am biking through the mountains, I will buy a little bit more (= more weight to carry). And I also have a gas-cooker with me, so I can prepare tea, soup and also noodles. All that, of course, has to be carried too. What´s also very good: nuts, dried fruit, high protein bar, hard boiled eggs, stuff that makes you full and stay full longer.

 

For my water supply I have a 1- and a 2-liter waterbag from Platypus with me. One of them goes into my backpack with a hose directly to the mouth, so you do not have to get off the bike all the time. In addition I have a 5-liter waterbag from MSR and a 10-liter waterbag from ..... Also I have two bottles at the bottle holder right at the bikeframe.

If I fill up all my bottles and water-bags I will have 20 liters, which of course is way too much to carry on top. Just on my tour through the desert from Mashad to Yazd, I'll carry this additional baggage, since there are 800 km with not a lot of villages. 

 

I heard that the water-quality in Iran is very good and in the small villages it is even possible to drink from the faucet. Nevertheless I have a Katadyn waterfilter with me. With this filter you can even drink from standing water and it´s safe to drink it right away. It tastes ugly, but there are no germs and bacteria in it anymore.

 

Another problem is washing my hair. How am I supposed to wash my hair / myself in a country where I need to wear a headscarf when outside? I have thought about that a lot and finally I decided that there are some possiblities: first, I can wash my hair outside when it´s dark already and nobody is around. When I have to do it outside I will sleep in my tent in the middle of nowhere in the mountains anyways and there are no people around. Secondly, if I sleep in a town I will have a room where I can refresh myself. Third option: I don´t wash it for a couple of days and the fourth option is to use dry shampoo. I already bought one bottle. You spray it on your head and through this dry powder the grease in your hair gets bound and you can brush it out.  I am curious how that works. 

In addition there are pump houses for watering the plants near fields. Near those houses there are even areas where you can put your tent. There I also will have the possibility to wash myself when it´s dark. 

 

Just read my blog when I am on the go and you will see, how I finally will resolve all these problems. You can plan a lot in advance, and in the end everything will turn out different.