We stop at the entrance of Kapukey, between the mountains in the distance and the desert plain, before heading back to Naien. The afternoon is well advanced, the windy weather, and the veiled sky by the sand in suspension, a nice effect that leads us to take a small junction, then a track near what seems to be a village, perfect to film all the agility of Arty with the drone.

After 2-3 trials that allow me to train with the toy, U-turn before being slowed down and then blocked by a small blue van. Some locals apparently not very welcoming, inform us that the land belongs to the army and therefore, any shooting is prohibited… No sign, barrier or barbed wire to indicate it, but no doubt this is the case, since a police car (warned by the locals), then the army, appear. Very courteous and calm, but they still take the drone and the PC, and ask us to follow them: smells like massalei hast…

5 minutes later, here we are inside the barracks, with armed guards, where we will have to wait for a good hour before the head of the person in charge of the person in charge arrives to take things in hand.

From there, transfer from the cabin of the truck to their internal « hotel », where I will be more comfortable to wait with the children, while Loïc passes the test of the interrogation: our stages in the country, the Iranians met, going through our photos and videos, and of course, a look in the truck. Even when having nothing to hide, it’s still a difficult exercise: not to say more than needed to not bring useless suspicions, the picture that looks like nothing but on which they will stop and ask questions, the concern for our Iranian friends that we do not want to see bothered…

Two good hours of stressful wait, during which the impatience of children will not be simpler to manage, but overall everyone remains calm.

Epilogue: nothing to report, restitution of the drone and the PC with cards and hard drive intact, and a small meal offered before leaving the premises. Phew!

Well, all this brought us to the middle of the evening, we will only drive dozen kms to reach and stop at Naien.

The visit of this small desert town will be perfect to finish digesting our emotions of the day before: the charm of one of the oldest mosques in Iran, the ruins of ancient castles, and the view of the green wheat fields on the arid plains background.

The road will continue until Yazd, very busy a few days from Norouz, where we will have time to find and spend a few hours with Dina, who came from France to celebrate Norouz with family and brings us a special package.

Then, new search mission for parking space: it is doing very well, with a perfect location in one of the few rather wide streets of the old city. Ready for our discovery of Dasht-e Kavir.