03-Sep-2004 -- This is the 8^th out of 29 Confluences on our tour from Germany to China, the story continues from 33N 53E.

On the thirteenth day of our tour we started very early in the morning at 6:00 a.m. in Eṣfahān. After the successful visit of CP 33N 53E we decided to go for another Confluence. On our way to the world heritage city Yazd with its old clay houses, we passed through the cities of Ardakān and Meybod. From Meybod there is a turnoff in direction Ḥasanābād. We followed this road for 6 km until we came to a railroad track. According to our map we had to follow the road parallel to the railroad. This road turned out to be a sandy track. At some places we had to go through loose sand and over big bumps. Our car just barely made it through. We both feared to get stuck again as we did in the morning while visiting CP 33N 53E. However, we successfully managed to follow the railroad tracks.

The Confluence is located in the desert across the railroad track. The minimum distance between the railroad and the tracks is 6.1 km. Parking the car here would mean having to hike through the desert all day. So we tried to find an overpass. There was one on our map, but none in reality. We kept following the railroad tracks until there finally was an overpass at a distance of 11 km. On the other side the track was even sandier, too sandy for our car.

At this point we gave up and made our way to the beautiful town Yazd, 25 km south-east from the Confluence. We visited an ancient mosque there. On top of another mosque, we made new friends. We both agreed: It was worthwhile to give up on locating the CP and visit Yazd instead.

CP visit details:

• Time at nearest approach to the CP: 13:30 a.m.
• Duration: 2 h (until we were back on our route)
• Distance of car parking: 6100 m
• GPS height: ~1083 m
• Description: Sandy desert with scattered bushes.
• Given Name: The Railroad Confluence

Story continues at 31N 55E.