capítulo 5 - inglés

 



         Deunpunto Alotro Diary 5

    We arrive in Bandar Abbas at dawn and in the far unobstructed horizon, in the persian gulf, we can see fisherman’s boats and cargos as well as islands… One of them, colorful, stands out from the others. The island that already made us dream on our first visit. Therefore, it was impossible to fight the desire to come back to walk and climb on this salted soils once more. Hormoz, the jewel, the beauty, the thousands colors salted island with here we come.

   On the dock, waiting for the ferry, we meet three Teherani that came there to camp a few days on this magical island. They offer us to hop on their vehicle once on the island to go to camp on the beach. After a quick stop at the shop of the only village of the island, we start our first night with our campers and their island friends. It is a musical exchange evening where we discover traditional chants and a new Iranian instrument: do tar. The magic of this island starts…

It is night when we arrive and we can only see the broken shapes of the mountain range that suggest a beautiful landscape. For Thomas and Guiller, it is easy to imagine the beauty of the surroundings, but for Manue it is only in the morning that she discover the red saline face of the mountain top rising like a natural fence protecting the treasures of this mystical island.

We then go towards the desert, inside the island. The goal is right in the middle, rising above the others: the blue mountain. After crossing a plain with changing grounds from cracked to sandy, we arrive at the foot a place that could very well be planet Mars. The earth is in between red and brown, the soil is so loose that it erodes it leaves strange shapes making us doubt on the way to walk on it. We finally decide to follow the white marks of the riverbed of one of the plenty salty water sources of the island. Under our feet the salty layers crack as if no one had ever set foot on it before. From time to time, the mountain stripps and shows us the millernary colored salty layers with blue, purple, green, yellow and many other colorful minerals. On the way we have to be really careful, the ground is full of gigantic and bottomless holes going straight into the heart and intimacy of the island. 

 

   We found a cave and decide to get in to explore closer this inner show of incredible composition of this floating treasure. The sun going down, we find a spot to set camp with view on our objective.

The next day, we need to go back to the village to get some more water since our supplies are getting low and the weather is incredibly hot. We get some food and water and go to a few hundred meters from the impressive blue mountain. Nights are fresh but calm under the watchful eye of Orion.

In the morning, we break the camp and head towards our objective. To be lighter and climb easier we leave our bags at the base camp. The soil is unstable because it is made of small rocks and porous stones that slip easily under our feet and hands. Here we are ascending this mountain that contrasts with the reddish landscape by its bluish color. A few meters from the top, Guiller realise how dangerous it is to reach the top. The ascent is impossible and the risk of climbing down is high. We therefore enjoy the stunning views over the whole island and the maritime horizon.

On the other side of the island, we look for a paradise island that we have been told about. … We go through landscape that seem shaped by giants modeling the earth with different colors, one white the other red, another one yellow all of them next to one another without mixing.

Every evening, at sunset, we are happy to see in the shapes of the eroded mountains gnomes that we named the spirits of the island. As the night grown darker they change into other shapes and faces. On this evening, we camp under the milky way with animated characters, a crocodile, a dinosaur and the head of a tiger.

   We didn’t find the misterious beach, but we find a red sand beach where we chill for a while. Then we promised to go and see our friend Ali who works at the marine research centre. It is only in the morning of the next day that we meet him, after spending the night on an incredible creak where we could do a nice fire. Fresh grilled fish and tea, and it is already time to go to the pier to head back to the continent. The head still dreaming and the heart light…