Iran 2: Tehran to Mashhad

One of our original reasons for coming on this trip was to learn more about the cultures that we would encounter on route. We have been nowhere where "western" perceptions of a people and the reality have been more at odds than Iran. Of course perceptions of a distant country are always filtered through a limited amount of media coverage centering on political issues. Politics, whilst being incredibly important, represent only one aspect of a country. Iranians are well aware of their negative image abroad. We have been asked on many occasions whether people in Britain think Iranians are terrorists ... Well?

Since our last posting we have packed a lot in... Ed got food poisoning again (ironically from that dodgy looking burger in the last blog post) and found himself in hospital in Tehran. Thankfully being hooked up to a couple of drips (!) made for a speedy recovery. We set off by bus to Sari in order to make up time and since then have cycled around 700km to Mashhad in the East of Iran.

Progress was slow, mainly due to an extremely large number of invitations by persuasive Iranians. So far we have camped in a Turkmen village; been invited to lunch by a number of people including a couple of mountaineers and a whole fire station and partied at a pre-wedding celebration. We were also waylaid for two days by a town council and some very persuasive English teachers. They put us up in the town council's lodgings, invited us to help with some English lessons and got their students to recite English poems for us! . We have had more food foisted upon us than we could carry or eat: freshly grilled kebab, bread, fruit, nuts and even hot tea in a mug passed out of a moving car (Iranian driving is pretty crazy). If someone reverses up the hard shoulder towards us, chances are they are going to stop us to offer us a phone number so that we can visit them when we get to the next town....It's been tough.

We did finally make it to Mashhad and managed to get to the Turkmen embassy to collect our visa. We were standing in the queue praying that we would receive the notoriously awkward transit visa (we gave up applying in Turkey after three frustrating visits to the embassy). It all seemed to be going well until the official rejected our dollar bills (that's 85 dollars each for a five day visa) for being too crumpled. We surreptitiously flattened them out and handed the same ones back to him. This seemed to work, but he was definitely not going to accept one 20 dollar bill. As we desperately scrabbled around for further notes a man in the queue stepped forward and paid the remaining sum for us. We offered him our dollars. He refused them. We offered the equivalent in Rials. He smiled and said "it is my present to you". We both shouted at him and demanded he accept, but the smile just got bigger. He hurried away down the street, with us calling after him.... Iranians just seem to delight in random acts of kindness to tourists.

We are now in Mashhad, gathering strength for a 7 day Marathon across Turkmenistan (two days to the border, 5 days to Uzbekistan). Mashhad is Iran's most holy city and second only to Mecca in importance for Shiite Muslims. Things are noticeably more conservative here than in Tehran or Esfahan. The majority of women are dressed in black chadors. People recite prayers on the bus when the central shrine complex comes into view. Groups of veiled women with only their eyes showing follow men dressed in white robes around- tourists from Saudi Arabia. We were allowed to enter the shrine complex, but as we are non-muslims, not into the shrine itself.

Because we are pretty short on time , the remainder of the post is going to be a selection of photographs from the last few days with a brief description....


Not so Iranian souvenirs in Tehran Bazaar (this one is for Helen's dad :-) :

Cyclist from Hong-Kong who we met in Tehran:

Tea break on a long first day's cycle:
Picnic dinner with mountaineers:


Some people who wanted to take a photo of us.. so we took one of them! The girls gave Helen a pocket mirror (much needed to check headscarf position!):

The Caspian sea!Camping in a park Iranian style:
Helen and the Portuguese cyclists we bumped into in Turkey!

Camping together:
Dinner in the house next door:
Our lovely hostess:
A really nice guy who invited us to dinner and showed us around this 1000 year old tomb-tower in his town:
Guests of the town council:




Listening to ...
..and teaching lessons:

Very nice people:

More very nice people:

Even more very nice people:
And more very nice people:
Surprise picnic to greet us at the road, organized by the town council. Thank you so much!
Cycling (yes we did do some) through Golestan Jungle:


Poppies in the desert
Ferocious headwind and steep hill force a grotty roadside lunch stop and bad temper:
Finally camping after an exhausting day:
Lunch at a fire station:
In front of Iman Reza shrine complex Mashhad. Spot Helen.


Ironing out those dollar bills ready for Turkmenistan:
We are staying in a fantastic homestay in Mashhad. If you are passing through, stay here! It is run by Vali and his family - they are super nice and helpful and Vali's wife cooks amazing food every night if you want it. The house is covered top to bottom in tribal carpets (Vali is also a carpet dealer) and has a great atmosphere. You can also buy carpets, but there is no pressure, and Vali organizes tours. Everything is incredibly good value and we might even have bought some carpets! Definitely the best place we have stayed in on our trip. Stay here if you can!

Vali's non-smoking homestay
vali32@imamreza.net
phone:0511-8516980
mob:09151001324

Vali and Ed enjoying dinner:
Carpet repairs:

Carpet from the Afghan border... people weave what they see. There are many Afghan refugees in Mashhad.