Rashti is a place name on a map of the central Iranian desert, and the honest thing to say is that it is a small, remote spot among the vast salt-and-gravel country that lies east of Isfahan. The nearest town of real size is Ardakan, about forty kilometres away, in Yazd province, and the closest settlement in the data is the village of Khavash Kuh. Beyond that, there is little for a long way in any direction except the sort of stony plain and low mountains that make up much of the Iranian plateau.
This is the edge of the Dasht-e Kavir, the great salt desert, and the landscape is austere and beautiful. The ground is pale, the sky enormous, and in the evening the hills turn rose and violet. People have lived here for millennia by tapping groundwater with qanats, underground channels that carry water from the mountains for kilometres to desert villages. The towns of Yazd province are famous for wind towers, called badgirs, which catch breezes and cool the houses below, and for their Zoroastrian communities and fire temples. Ardakan itself is an old town of mud-brick lanes and domed cisterns.
The riding is long and lonely. Roads cut across the plain in straight lines for tens of kilometres, with occasional curves around low hills, and the surface is generally decent on the main roads and rougher on the side ones. Wind and dust are constant, and in summer the heat is severe. Distances between fuel stations can be large, so fill the tank in Ardakan or Yazd and carry spare water. In winter nights can be below freezing, and the desert air is dry and clear.
Ardakan has about fifty-eight thousand people and has fuel, shops and food, including the Iranian staples of kebab, rice and flat bread with yogurt and herbs. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, with warm days and cool nights. Carry plenty of water, a spare tube and a phone map, and tell someone where you are going.