Teheran
Hello all!
Greetings from Karaj, a suburb of Teheran
Yes, we finally started our journey. This will be a short mail, since I am quite tired, but more will come, insh'Allah.
First of all, sorry to all I could not say goodbye in an appropriate manner, things got rather stressful in the last weeks. One week delay was mainly caused by the slow Kirgisz embassy, we left the day my passport arrived.
The ferry from Ancona to Igoumenitsa in Greece was nice, sleeping in the car on the open deck. Then, we crossed Greece in one day, an interesting ride indeed. The roads and the landscape change constantly. Lots of potentiallz nice rivers. The Turkish border was a little complicated for a EU candidate, but everything went fine. The first night we wanted to spend in the mountains, but as Ludek told me, passing a village is never a good idea when you want to camp... So we stayed at a gas station. In the morning we got ripped off good by the patron of the adjacent cafe, what an asshole. We learned our share.
The next gas station was not so bad, and we crossed Turkey in 3 days. At the border in Dogubayazit we met a Swiss and a German couple, and as it turned out, the Swiss know Hynek and discussed the options for our trip with him! The world is small... They were at the end of their two-year trip.
The border crossing was funnz and we already met the Iranian hospitality. Everybody was helpful and all worked out well, in just around 1.5 hours, including the money change.
While the Turkish landscape was sometimes boring, but most of the time interesting, Iran started more exciting. It already started on the Turkish side: Mt Ararat in its full glory, we were right at the foot of this mighty mountain (5150m high or so). In Iran we went to a gas station to get Diesel (We always calculated to the last drop in Turkey, since a liter of Diesel is even more expensive than in Switzerland: an outrageous 1.85 CHF!!!). They asekd if we went to Turkey or Iran, then told us to go to the next gas station because they were waaaay to expensive. Nice. So no we fly with 100 to 120 kph over land, since Diesel consumption is so issue in Iran: 165 Rial per litre, and one Dollar gives 8900 Rial! Going to fill up 120 litres never was so much fun...
Traffic is supposed to be horrendous, but actually it's more like fun. If the road has two lanes, three trucks and a Landcruiser fit in easily, and two trucks and ourselves overland. In cities, everybody is either scared in their small Paykans (Iranian car, some old Peugeot/jointventure), or just nice to the foreigners (as they always are), or we just follow the unwritten rules how we should... Everything flows.
Two incidents in Tabriz are especially worth mentioning: First we looked for a campground in the city. We heard something like it. As we asked around, a student was coming, starting to explain, and then ending up in the car. He guided us to the entrance of the coolest park I saw: some palace in a big pond with fountains, people walking around and enjoying their free time. He insisted on paying the entrance fee, and we could park right next to the pond overnight. Then, a little later, a girl came to us, asking if she could talk with us. We talked, she was very interested about anything, starting with our impression of Iran, how we liked the architecture (She was an architecture student), constantly struggling that her headscarf didn't fall down completely. Her family was with her, it was very pleasant. So much about suppressed women in Iranian cities (We havent been in Qom yet, where Ayatollah Khomeini was coming from). They drive cars (is this good?), behave a lot like women in Europe, and study in universities (I heard that there are more women than men in Iranian universities). I really like Iran. People are actually as nice as you always hear. Eat this, Bush!
So we came right to Teheran since noon of the 17. of may, now we have to take it more easily. It is just rather tiring driving the whole day long for a week. The Landcruiser is doing super well, got his oil changed and will have another change tomorrow. Treat him well and he treats you well, too.
OK, I have to go to sleep now, it's almost midnight. Heheh, my rhythm changed significantly...
Please tell Zdenka that we are well and anybody else interested, and don't reply with big pictures (except exceptionally interesting ones, like your buried landcruisers near Gilgit...).
I will write again when it is possible, right now we have to stay in a hotel, so it is. Day after tomorrow we will be in Esfahan, to relax a bit. Then, near the end of the month we enter Pakistan, and another change in traffic.
OK, have a nice summer
Matthias