Chapter 65 thorny world

Today we leave Tehran and head south. The first stop should be Isfaham, the second stop is Shiraz and Persepolis (Persepolis), both of which are famous historical and cultural cities; the next stop is to turn east to Kerman (Kerman) ), into dangerous areas, as far as Zahedan, and further east into Pakistan. This driving route has a distance of more than 500 kilometers between each station, and most of them are one station a day. It is all bumpy on the Iranian plateau. It is hard to imagine the hardships; but what worries me is that the road is not smooth. . A few days ago, I asked a reporter who had lived in Iran for many years if he had ever been to Kerman and Zahedan.Several cars of a company were hijacked, and the people in the cars fled one after another. A fat man couldn't escape, so he was kidnapped for three whole months.What was even worse was a geological engineer who stopped for a walk and was kidnapped for eight months. He didn’t understand Persian, and was driven by the gangsters to carry weapons and ammunition every day. When he finally escaped, his beard and hair were all white and his nerves were a little deranged. up.

I asked when this happened and he said not long ago. At first I wondered if he was exaggerating a bit, but after reading a report by the Iranian News Agency here, I realized that the matter was indeed a bit serious. The incident mentioned in the report happened on November 3 this year, that is, 20 days ago, in the Zahedan area.The local police got clues that some drug dealers were about to deliver money and goods somewhere, so they went to arrest them.Thirty-nine police officers were mobilized. When they arrived at the place, they found five drug dealers waiting to be rounded up. Another group of drug dealers arrived just in time, forty-five in total.Thus, thirty-nine policemen fought forty-five drug dealers for two hours, and the result was jaw-dropping: thirty-five policemen died, and only four survived!

A few of my companions and I read that report over and over again, but we couldn't figure out why the battle was fought like this.The lack of police training is entirely possible in these countries, but the drug dealers are too good.Another report said that in addition to drug dealers, gangsters in that area took foreigners hostage and demanded extremely high ransom. Now, we are heading to this area. Even if we finally cross this dangerous zone into Pakistan, then, almost everyone is warning us that the situation there is more serious than Iran, and a large part of the area is not under the tight control of the government.

Of course, there is no way to think about things further away.For example, it has been reported that this winter the Himalayas are locked in snow and ice, making it difficult to move an inch; if the route is diverted and continues eastward, entering Yunnan, how can it pass through Myanmar?Even the famous Discovery expedition team did not go through, and went back the same way. Thinking of this, since we set off, whether it is the daily report or my diary, it has basically reported good news but not bad news.One is that I am afraid of leaving an impression of alarmism, and the other is that I don’t know how to write when the trouble is not resolved, and once the problem is resolved, it loses the value of writing.The result gives people the feeling of stopping and stopping along the way, relaxed and at ease.It's not that at all.

It was not until I came out that I realized that most of the security guarantees and appeal networks that I have been accustomed to when traveling in the past do not exist in these countries.It is dangerous not to seek protection for a convoy like ours, which belongs only to civilians in nature but attracts attention in form. It is even more dangerous to seek protection. Some media concepts that were originally far away, such as extremists, religious fanatics, anti-government armed forces, taking foreign hostages, creating international incidents, etc., although not necessarily encountered, must have jumped from books and newspapers to us.Civilized order also exists, of course, but it is hard to count on, and we are not qualified to count on.

Only when I got here did I realize that although many governments have a tough attitude towards the outside world, they actually have little control internally, and they cannot even guarantee the safety of their own heads of government. How can they guarantee us?It is very unclear what kind of forces control the places we walk every day. The only thing that is clear is that they have been separated from the international community for a long time, and they can't explain anything. In the past, we would happily list which places we have been to in the world. In fact, we went there by plane and train. We didn’t know the mountains, rivers and lands under the wings and beside the railway. Most of them have nothing to do with modern civilization.However, when we study the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, we obviously cannot covet the convenience of modern transportation, but must face it.

As I write this, I can't help being moved again by the busy day and night of my partners around me.I run hundreds of kilometers every day, carry heavy equipment and luggage as soon as I get out of the car, eat a mouthful of unpalatable food, and carry the machine to shoot with a swipe of my mouth.People are unfamiliar with places everywhere, and it is impossible to predict what they will see. The camera and language come from impromptu feelings, just want to capture a little trace of civilization in the chaos and danger.It was already late at night after shooting, and the material had to be edited overnight, and then sent back to Hong Kong by the transmission technician.After all this is done, it is often dawn. Everyone comforts themselves and says to sleep in the car, but sleeping in the car will definitely infect the driver. Most of our drivers are team leaders, general affairs, photographers, and technicians. It is impossible to sleep last night. foot.So I started a new day of bumps in my sleepiness.Whether there will be danger ahead, I don't even have the energy to think about it.

What makes me easier than others is that I can’t drive a car. What makes me more tiring than others is that I have to write a short article or a long article late at night every day.I can only share the roughness of on-site writing with readers.Fortunately, my readers will always understand me. This is my friendship for many years, and I understand it best in my heart. On November 20, 1999, traveled from Tehran to Isfahan and stayed overnight at the Abbasi Hotel