An overcast day dawned, not cold but with a hint of the possibility of rain. The clouds remained so for the rest of the day, it rained a bit but was never cold even above 2200m.
From where I camped, at 1800m, the road gently rose to just over 2000m then dropped down to Khomein, the home town of Ayatollah (or Imam as he's known here) Khomeini. The great man's image was on walls here & there in town but since his face is plastered up everywhere it didn't make much difference. There were signs to his house which I didn't visit. People were obviously proud that he was a child of their town. I didn't meet anyone who spoke English to ask about him.
From there the road went through more dry rolling semi-desert to Golpaygan to which I arrived just on lunch time. I asked about a restaurant that serviced dizi. Instead of being directed to a regular greasy-spoon type one down the street I was treated to quite a fancy one. My benefactor was the owner of a local flour mill & an enthusiastic cyclist. During the course of the lunch a number of friends & family members arrived at the restaurant. I was invited to spend the night but declined, 'having a bead' firmly set on Esfahan. I was given an escort to the right road out of town & a tour of the flour mill along the way.
I cycled 121 km in 7 hours & 12 minutes
Total so far 4086 km in 55 days
GPS Coordinates of end point - N 33°10.884, E 50°35.486
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