A good early start with golden sunlight bathing the lands leading to the Sumbar Valley.
A steep 350m climb some at 10% between km 10 and 20 - reminding my legs & knees about the joys of ascents after three days of riding flat dessert. Then onto a sort of wide gently rising & falling valley bottom. Cars passed perhaps one every 10 minutes, and even fewer trucks.
Tarmac road 70% good, 30% (unpredictably) deteriorated into ruts & potholes. A bone-shaking bum-bruising ride . . . . .
Heavier than usual winter rains have turned the hillsides green. Crimson poppies littered the roadside and patches of hillside. Light pink clover coloured the crests of rolling hills.
A small herd of wild horses grazed undisturbed by passing cars - but took fright at my bike.
Magtymugly (which seems to be spelt in several different ways) is near the frontier with Iran - but no sign at all of strife from there.