We were met at the hotel by the MG Car Club of Iran. Don’t be confused, these were not owners ofold MGs, but proud drivers of the products we saw in being manufactured in Shanghai. SAIC, the owner of the MG brand setting up car clubs for the new owners to promote the heritage of the brand.
We headed for the beach. It looked as though it was going to rain, but just stayed grey long enough for us to photograph the old and the new with proud owners on the shores of the Caspian. Many had travelled up for the weekend to meet us, so it was a big occasion for them. Unfortunately not many spoke much English, so conversation was limited.
Many of the round abouts (and there are many and traffic lights few) have decorations in the middle. This was one of the more elaborate.
It was then s short run to Rasht through built up areas and rice paddies as we had plans to visit Masuleh, an ancient hill top village, while half the cars were getting a long overdue service at the MG Service Centre in town.
The rode out to Masuleh through rice paddies and tea, and then started climbing up through the forest. Described as one of Iran’s most beautiful villages, the thousand year old village climbs steeply up the hillside so that the roof of one house is the front yard of the next.
On return the remaining cars were off for service. Like in Shanghai, the local mechanics were keen to work on the cars. But this time I don’t think they were quite the novelty or new experience. There are a lot of old cars in Iran. The most common being the locally made Pykan a version of the 1970’s Hilman Hunter, particularly the ute version. Knock-off, wire wheels were a novelty though.
We changed the now black oil, greased all the suspension and tightened all the nuts and bolts we thought of. Some, unsurprisingly were a bit loose.
Off to dinner at 9.15pm. The restaurant was packed with those finishing their day of fast. The service much quicker than the previous evening and we were on our way back to the hotel, a bit after 10.30pm.
