At 1300hrs on January 18, 2010, after 60 days and 1700km, Suunto Ambassador and professional explorer, adventurer and speaker Mark Kalch completed a solo trek across the Islamic Republic of Iran from its northern border on the Caspian Sea to its southerly border in the Persian Gulf.
The aim? To reveal a country much misunderstood and misrepresented in the West.
Beginning in the coastal city of Chalus, he crossed the Alborz Mountains heading south to the capital Tehran, before continuing south-west to Qom, Esfahan, through the Zagros Mountains, and onto the Persian Gulf at Bushehr.
The London-based explorer tracked his entire journey with a Suunto X10 GPS outdoor sports instrument, uploading his route to a Google map embedded on his website.
The X10 recorded altitude as he tackled 5000m high mountains and the GPS, compass and baromoter functions assisted his navigation over high plateaus, across desert landscapes and through subtropical forests.
“Iran is not simply about demonstrations, nuclear ambitions and politics,” says Mark. “Its people are some of the most hospitable on the planet and its geography some of the most extreme and diverse.
“After travelling across the entire country on foot and living with so many of its people I know this to be true.”
“Our view in the West of Iran has come about only through the narrow view of the latest breaking headlines. We do not see a country of people going about their lives in much the same way we do.
“I hope that having travelled the length of Iran on foot and meeting the average Iranian citizen, I can now help to expose the glaring similarities between Iran and the West.”
Mark slept in mosques, sheds, hospitals, fields, huts, homes, stadiums and, of course, his tent. He crossed two of the major mountain ranges on earth, the Alborz and Zagros, as well as Iran's inhospitable central plateau. He was welcomed with open arms in every settlement, village, town and city he passed through.
For further information please visit www.markkalch.com/expeditioniran.
Images by Mark Kalch
