30-Sep-2014 -- This is the 10^th out of 12 confluence reports, reaching 10 and attempting 2 confluence points in Iran and Turkmenistan. The story starts at 36°N 51°E and continues from 37°N 57°E.

We bypassed the city of Sabzevār (سبزوار) and continued further south on a lately built road towards Bajestān (بجستان). But 20 km after we had passed Sabzevār it was time to leave the highway and drive on sandy tracks in order to cover the remaining 11 km to the confluence point. Our approach turned out to be easier than expected (note that this is a rare case!). Although the Confluence is in the middle of nowhere, the main track directly leads to the point. We parked at a distance of exactly 100 m and walked over to the exact location. Interestingly, the point is at the edge of an agricultural field. But during our visit it was dry season and the field was hardly visible. The area is totally flat with only some small plants resisting the seasonally dry climate.

After the documentation of confluence visit was done, we didn’t turn around to get back to the highway, but we rather tried to get through the desert and reach the main road towards Mašhad in the East. Some tracks were extremely sandy and we were lucky that our little 2-wheel-drive didn’t get stuck. After 7 km, we reached the poor village Yaḥyāābād (یحیی آباد). It seemed that this village hasn’t made it into the new century. Most houses were built in the traditional way with clay.

In the evening we reached our goal Mašhad, where we dropped our car and continued our trip by bicycle.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to a road: 11 km
• Distance to a track: 100 m
• Distance of car parking: 100 m
• Time to get to the confluence from car parking: 1 minute
• Time at the CP: 12:38 PM
• Measured height: 1164 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy: 3 m
• Topography: absolutely flat
• Vegetation: bare sandy ground with scattered little bundles of dry bushes.
• Weather: cloudless, 34° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Clay Village Confluence

The story continues at 38°N 58°E.