On Tuesday, 1 October 1929, Baba decided to leave for Isfahan. Three cars were hired. Baba ordered that the cars follow closely behind one another, but due to a disagreement between the drivers, the three cars took off in three different directions! Except for the car carrying Baba, both other cars developed mechanical trouble and broke down after going a short distance. Thus, another transportation arrangement had to be made. To accommodate the mandali and the group's luggage, a truck was hired. Baba continued to travel by car with Raosaheb and the two boys. Baba reached Isfahan on 15 October after eleven days of driving, and stayed at the Asre Talai Hotel.
Meanwhile, the truck carrying the mandali was having serious problems. Besides the mandali, the truck carried their 79 pieces of luggage. And besides these, the driver had stealthily piled fourteen heavy bags of sugar onto the truck. Due to the excessive weight, the tires burst on the second day of the journey. The mishap occurred in a desolate area, and the mandali had to spend two days there waiting for new tires to arrive. As for food, nothing was available but cucumbers. When they eventually left, the truck again broke down and they were forced to halt at two more places along the way.
The men stayed two days and a night at one place where nothing except meat and eggs were available, and once again they had to be content subsisting on cucumbers. Their next stop was a mountain pass 7,000 feet high where no shelter for the night was found. They were stopped by a military guard and spent a freezing night sleeping in the truck. The next morning all were numb. There was nothing they could find to eat and they went hungry. The area was notorious for thieves, and they felt in constant danger of being robbed; however, there was no alternative but to proceed. The truck broke down once again and could not be repaired. After waiting two days, a bus was hired in which they traveled to Isfahan and met Baba on 17 October, two days after he had arrived. They had been traveling for sixteen miserable days and were exhausted.
Meanwhile, in Isfahan, Baba had sent Raosaheb to the telegraph office several times each day, with instructions to cable the Commander of the Army, the Governor, the police and other authorities along their route to make inquiries about the mandali. Every reply said they had no information about where Baba's men were. Nevertheless, Raosaheb was sent again to insist that the investigation continue. This went on for two days. Finally, the telegraph clerk told Raosaheb that he would inform him if any information was received, so Raosaheb did not send any further inquiries.
When he returned, Baba asked him,
"Did you send the cables?"
Raosaheb admitted he had not. Baba slapped him three times and began abusing him harshly.
"You bloody fool!" he said. "You've spoiled my game. Whatever I told you to do, you should have listened and done exactly as ordered. It was my work, for the betterment of Persia. With every telegram I told you to send — to the Army Chief, the Governor, the police — I was working for their good, to improve things. But you spoiled it all."
When the mandali finally reached Isfahan, Chanji and Karim both had high fevers. Karim was unconscious and his mouth would not open. He appeared to be in a coma and on the verge of death.