Trööööööööööt …. Short driver-passenger glimpse. Sounds nasty. Oh, the engine oil lamp is on. OK, let’s stop and see. And there was nothing revealed at first. Room and bilge controls (as we say in the Navy) were carried out. We realized we were loosing oil. We added some (we always have 8-10 liters oil in spare) and almost everything had to go in. Ernst was empty. Did we not pay attention? We had recently checked the oil level. Strange.
After a look under the car, we finally realized the extent. A trail of horror led approximately 300 meters to Ernst. Oil was sticking everywhere under the car. So it was time to find the leak. After a few minutes of searching, the culprit was identified. The oil hose (Stahlflex-hose, new, only 8000 km old) was torn. Inside. Oh great. What now, in no man’s land? Ok, short assessment of the situation and then packing everything and driving 400 m backwards to the gas station. The oil was just enough for it before the engine was completely empty again and the gas station attendant looked at us wondering. Without a common language, we could show him what was broken, but he himself could do nothing. A trucker helped with tools to extract the hose. And then?
Then the universe did the rest. A car stopped for refueling and a group of people got out and looked briefly what we were doing there. After some time, the driver came over to us and asked in excellent German, if he could help. It turned out that he and his wife had studied in Switzerland and are currently showing two Swiss friends Iran together with their daughter. What a coincidence! He helped us with the translation, and the gas station attendant and trucker had organized a taxi in no time at all, which drove Martin back to Ardabil (one hour) with his hose. There he found a workshop that could rebuild the hose directly. He took two. Then another store of oil sold. The first oil salesman wanted to cheat Martin so much that even the taxi driver said “Come on, we drive to the next one”. Then they bought original Iranian oil in canisters and speeded again to the gas station. The installation of the new hose was less difficult than the extraction and after a longer break (6 hours), we drove until late into the night and stopped at some point, tired and just next to the road.
Our mood was already somewhat muted by the oil hose incident, and we went on the next morning. We needed new money, the other had almost completely gone for repair and new oil. We drove to Rasht, away from the drought again over the beautiful mountains, towards the Caspian Sea. Behind the mountains a paradise of tea fields, orange groves and rice cultivation awaited us. Everything in lush green, the mood under the headscarf was better again. But in Rasht the next surprise awaited us.