DJ - We are watching the sunrise over Iran on Monday morning as we report to you on our update by satellite telephone from the Iranian city and province of Hamadan. Hamadan is described as "older than history". We left the "pearl of Persia", Esfahan and drove 500 miles on Sunday to Hamadan.

In passing across central Iran, it's harvest season, just as in the United States. Here, they are harvesting potatoes and table grapes. The grapes here are just fantastic. In fact they prepare and market a grape juice which is the pure and natural extract of the table grapes.

As we crossed into the province of Saravan, one of 26 provinces here in Iran, we were stopped by police. It's happened two or three times in our time in Iran. The stop by police was at a check point and the purpose was to give us a gift. A gift of mineral water, grape juice, flowers and of course, some local tourism information.

The greeting for our visit here in Iran is very positive. The mood of the people is that they are very glad to see people from foreign nations and as we pass through many of the cities and towns, a lot of young adults, children turn out and get very excited. Unlike in other countries where crowds have been sort of subdued and respectful, here, the children get excessively excitable and it becomes a real concern as we drive through the cities and villages. We drove through the city of Khomein, which is named for the Eman Khomeini and saw an exuberant greeting from the population there. We drove through a city called Arak and received a similar enthusiastic greeting. As we were driving down the highway in this part of Iran, we passed an enormous refinery of petrol chemicals. Thousands and thousands of acres. We understand that it was the object of attachs by the Iraqis in the Iranian Iraq war. We're not too far from the Iraqi border, a few hundred kilometers. We're moving today, it's Monday here, to the city of Tabriz. My recollection of Tabriz is the foreign minister and the representative of the United Nations from Iran, during the Persian War, was from Tabriz.

Well a few comments about this place Hamadan, because the history here is quite exceptional. Hamadan is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible as Ecbatana. It has a very important place in Jewish tradition. It is said for four millennia, human beings have lived here in Hamadan and it is also said that the Father of History, who was a Greek by the name Herodotus, actually studied life and the community of Hamadan, or its predecessor names. So if you want to expand your awareness, as we are of history, predating Greek history, refer to Hamadan or Ecbatana, it's one of Iran's oldest cities and dates back to Achaemenian cultures, as well as Median cultures. Those are two cultures that existed here before modern history. The Jewish relevance of this site and this city is that Esther and Mortaki are believed to be buried in archaeological correct ancient buildings and mausoleums that are here. That is just one of the historical significances of Hamadan. Alexander the Great from Macedonia visited Hamadan. The Mongols were here on more than one occasion and leveled and destroyed this city. The location of Hamadan is significant because it was on the Persian trade route between the cities of Babylon and Persia, and thus it was because of it's location along this route that Hamadan has some very special significance. It is said that the city was as glorious in its time as any of the Greek cities of the world. Today it is a rather drab place. We're told that the city was ignored for several decades in the 1900's because there was a coup attempted here in the early 1900's and it is here that is sort of the cradle for Iranian democracy. They have a city council here and apparently there is a sense of public participation in public policy. So ancient Hamadan or Ecbatana, as it is referenced in the Bible, is the place that we have finished spending the evening. The elevation here is also of some appeal to Iranians. It's above 3,000 feet and consequently, it tends to be cooler. Over the next couple of days, we're going to be rising to an elevation of 7,000 feet as we travel to Tabriz and then on in to Turkey.

So we're moving right along. As we've mentioned, each day this week we're going to be traveling 500 - 600 miles a day, very strong driving, a lot of movement in and out of hotel facilities and it adds to the rigors of our travel. The Packard is performing well. Carl is on edge about some tall tale chemical signs. We're always alert for might go wrong. We've had our third oil change on the trip thus far and we don't want to jinx ourselves, but the car is using no oil at all and that compares with many of the other kinds of engines in the other cars, V-8's, Roll Royces, all kinds of engines here, many of which are consuming vast quantities of oil, and that's not our case. So we're proud of the Packard for that reason. Carl is standing nearby here and we're waiting for our departure time on today's trip. So we'll take advantage of his presence to have him join the update.

CS - It's an extremely beautiful morning in Iran. The surprises that we've had, the enlightenment that we've had has been something special. Communications have been a little difficult. I tried to call my family to wish them all a happy birthday and finally got through. Again, I wish Chris, Mark and Karen a Happy Birthday. We will continue to try to communicate back and forth. When my bag was stolen at Mt. Everest, we lost the car's papers and I lost the phone numbers and fax numbers. So, if somebody is listening, Narcelle or Ed, fax to me in Turkey a list of the fax numbers at Motorwerks, I would appreciate it. We've seen some things that we never expected to see. The hospitality from the service people and crowds in Iran has been outstanding. The scenery is breathtaking at times. I want to thank everybody that has E-Mailed to us. It gives us encouragement and information. It's good to hear sometimes just the trivial news of America which has been totally unavailable to us since we've got into western China. Again, thank you for the E-Mails. I'll turn you back to Don.

DJ - And acknowledging some of that E-Mail, we've heard from Jeremy Coulter in London who advises us that our web site has been linked to the Peking to Paris web site and Carnet as a result of the information we're making available. We welcome anyone whose coming to our site by way of the London Peking to Paris web site. A native of Iran, Mark Firoozfar, I know I'm mispronouncing his name, lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is a native of Iran and left 13 years ago and says he enjoys hearing some of the experiences we're having while visiting his native country. We thank the Adler family and Nancy Adler of Syosset, New York who sent us a summary of news events that are occurring, including the top movies in the United States right now. Want Mary Jones, my daughter in South Bend, to know that we're healthy and I received her E-Mail and we'll be seeing her in Paris not too long from now, almost two weeks from Saturday. Red sent as an E-Mail and he says, "it's hard to believe that you are in Iran", and I have to tell you, Red, that it's hard for me to believe it and I'm standing here. Quite an extraordinary moment in time for us. Jack Shanahan, thanks so much for the description of the fall colors on Lake Winnebago and it makes one think about home. Fr. Dick at Oshkosh, enjoying receiving your messages and thanks for your good wishes and prayers. And to our nephew Jeff at the University of Wisconsin in LaCrosse, we've received his very newsy E-Mail and we thank Jeff Jones for finding us here in the world.

We've had the very first exposure to an English newspaper called The Iranian News. We found it here in Hamadan. It's a three year old newspaper that was issued on Sunday, October 5th and it's really quite interesting reading a newspaper printed in Iran. The front page discusses the US meeting reality on the total gas deal involving the French, Malaysians and the Russians. That gas transaction, $2 billion, is described as an embarrassment to the United States because it cannot stop the transaction and the newspaper editorially criticizes the United States for trying to be the masters of the world by deciding what business is good for who and what isn't. It also describes the movement of the aircraft carrier Nimitz just a matter of three or four days earlier than it is scheduled to enter the Persian Gulf. The newspaper reports that there was a slight earthquake in some southern Iranian villages over the weekend. No personal injuries, but a lot of damage. Also describes the fact that the Iraqis were haulted on its border with Iran two villages and the Iranian response was to send some aircraft into the no fly zone. So the newspaper is full of news from the point of view of Iran and as an American being here, it's quite interesting reading this point of view. The newspaper is also, I would have to say from a commercial point of view, successful. It has about a 60% - 70% advertising content. We have discovered here in Iran that there is a very strong emphasis on private sector activity. Iran is very self sufficient. It is said that the American boycott has absolutely very little significance on the economy here. People are working very hard, they seem to be very productive, very innovative and very business orientated, and the newspaper reflects that with it's advertising content. The newspaper also reports a terribly important piece of world sports news. That is that Michael Jordan is contemplating that this is his last year with the Chicago Bulls. You can say Michael Jordan and you can say Chicago Bulls in any country in this part of the world and get a big smile and a big positive response. So the headline on the sports page of The Iranian News Sunday says Jordan threatens to quit and it goes into detail about how Phil Jackson is contemplating this is his last year and Jordan says, "if Jackson quits, I quit". No matter where you are in the world, sports is a common language.

We had to cut short our report with Linda Dodwell because of satellite transmission batteries. Linda wanted us to mention that she intentionally chose the car she did to get to Iran, which is a former English type car, which is made and manufactured here in Iran. She felt that if she could get the car to Iran that she could get parts and mechanical service, which she was able to do to keep the car on the road and that is exactly how it has worked out for her. The car that she is operating is identical to the car being used by the three Iranian entries in the competition.

Well the competition is moving forward. The spirit of the participants is extraordinary. We'll try to elaborate on what we mean by that as we go along. But, essentially, no one is willing to quite. It is evident that these people do not give up. It is evident that they discovered that if you want to be successful, you cannot be successful by quitting. If you have a problem, you have to fix it and carry on. There have been very few retirements. There have been a number of cars that have fallen behind by days and then catch up, making extraordinary efforts to replace transmissions, engines and make major repairs. No one seems willing to quit the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. And indeed, it is a challenge. We'll wrap up now by telling you that we're in Hamadan in Iran moving to our next location today, Tabriz. Tabriz will be our last city as we conclude our seven day visit to this remarkably little understood region of the world, Persia. Rich in tradition, history and culture and full of intrigue for geopolitics in the 1990's. That's the update for now. So good that you would join us. We hope to see you in another 24 hours and we say so long until tomorrow from Iran.