Out on the old road from Tehran to Mashhad, somewhere between Shahrud and Sabzevar, the Alborz foothills drift away to the north and the edges of the great salt desert creep up from the south. Abbās Ābād lies on this corridor, a modest settlement known to travellers for its caravanserai, one of the roadside inns built under Safavid rule when Shah Abbas I in the early seventeenth century invested heavily in the pilgrim and trade route to the shrine city of Mashhad. In 2023 dozens of Iran's caravanserais, including ones along this road, were inscribed together as a World Heritage Site.
A caravanserai is a fortress for merchants: a single gate big enough for loaded camels, a courtyard surrounded by vaulted rooms, stables behind, and thick mud brick or fired brick walls to keep out raiders and the desert wind. They were placed roughly a day's journey apart, which on this road means you can still count them off as you ride. Local tradition in the Abbasabad area links some of its people to Georgians resettled by Shah Abbas, part of the mass population moves of his reign; it is a story you may hear over tea.
The riding is honest desert highway. Road 44 is broad, mostly divided or wide two lane, and carries heavy trucks and buses between Tehran and Mashhad around the clock. Surfaces are generally good, but drivers overtake in ways that will keep you alert, and crosswinds across the open plain can be strong. In summer the midday heat is punishing; ride early, rest through the afternoon, and go again in the evening light, when the mountains turn pink and the desert to the south goes silver.
Iran is a big undertaking for a foreign rider. You will need a carnet de passages for your bike, and the rules for foreigners and visas change, so check current conditions before you plan. Fuel is very cheap and available along the main highway, but tourists sometimes have to rely on station attendants' cards, so keep your tank topped up and carry cash. Tea, bread, kebab and dizi, the meat and chickpea stew, are easy to find at roadside restaurants.
There are no towns of any size immediately around Abbās Ābād, so plan your fuel and water between Shahrud to the west and Sabzevar to the east, and treat any caravanserai with a café as a gift.