Day 114 to Tehran, Iran, 66km, 9,466 to date, 1223m up,  1216m end. 

I found the day hard, but probably a result of 5 hard days in a row.  We were bussed the last 60km into Tehran - all very busy freeways with no shoulders for cycling - it would have been way too dangerous to cycle.  We now have two rest days to explore and enjoy Tehran.

Tehran is  a huge city, some 15  - 18 million people.  Although in the West we hear about the embargo and how much it is hurting Iran, you don’t see it.  All the latest electronics are here, as are the high end stores (Rolex, Gucci, etc.,).  Apparently there are some 200 “illegal” ports that bring in (and export) goods.  I’m guessing, but suspect the embargo really means that only chosen “friends” get to trade - there are many very rich people in Iran, probably with corresponding very rich trade partners in the west.

First thing I noticed when I laid on the bed in the hotel room, was the arrow on the ceiling - it points to Mecca, so you know the direction to pray.

I have never been shaved by a barber, so off to a barber I went.  It was really delightful, it was mid afternoon, which means the off-time so no other waiting customers.  He spent over an hour shaving me, very carefully trimming hair/eyebrows/ears etc.,  At first I was a bit nervous of this guy taking a straight razor to my neck, but quickly relaxed.  Like many things here, any business conducted involves a cup of tea, so a cup of tea after the haircut it was.  The final result:

The location map: 

 

I'm back...

All is good, very good in fact.  I crossed into Turkey this morning.

Iran has been a wonderful country to visit, however, one catch, the censors block access to blogs.  I was initially using a VPN to get around the censors, however they seem to have the smarts to detect VPN's.    So the VPN was blocked.

I've quite a bit of material to post, I hope to do so later today, stay turned.

...Ron

Day 113 to Riverside Camp, Iran, 93km, 9,400 to date, 1753m up,  1741m end. 

And another serious climbing day, at least today the wind was neutral.   We’ve had 4 days in a row with each being the equivalent of the Vancouver/Whistler GranFondo!  We ride into Tehran tomorrow and two rest days - looking forward to the break.

Just started doing my homework on “to do in Tehran”, if any of you have suggestions (other than as listed in Lonely Planet), please mail me.  Thanks.

Whilst riding through a good sized town I stopped at a corner store for a drink (the one litre tetrapak’s of fruit juices are really good), the mosque was announcing the “call to prayer”.  What I noticed was that not a single person was stopping to pray, everyone continued about their business.  Talking to one of the riders, Robert, he worked for many years in Saudi Arabia, there it was law, at the call to prayer, everything stopped, shops closed up etc.,

Iran appears to be quite prosperous.  Every town/village we go through seems to be hustling.  Everybody seems to be working.  The only people that are sitting around are the shop keepers.   There is lots of construction, the highways are excellent with a lot of new highway construction - there seems to be a view of building for the future. The western countries embargo doesn’t seem to have really impacted anything - or at least I don’t see it, other than the lack of some western consumer goods.

A couple pics from the day:

We have a rather nice campsite today.  These sorts of camps seem to be fairly common in Iran.  It seems that when carpets start getting worn, they are then used as flooring and pillows in outdoor sitting/lounging areas.  This is my “camp” tonight:

Day 112 to Semnan, Iran, 137km, 9,307 to date, 1832m up,  1096m end. 

Another serious climbing day, with some wind against just for good measure.  Luckily some cloud cover, so not really hot till the last 20km.

Since I have been in Iran I have had possibly a hundred interactions of all variations, like the following:

Car comes along side me whilst I am riding, slowing to match my speed:

He:  Good morning Sir, Welcome to Iran.

Me:  Salam, good morning.

He:  Have a good journey.

Me:  Thank you!  With the hand to heart gesture.

There was a variation this afternoon - I was three quarters of the way up a very long climb.  A car coming the other way sees me, stops and motions me over.  I can’t understand him, but I think he is asking if I need anything, I gesture I am fine pointing to my water bottles.  He then hands me a package of cookies and insists I take them!  Again, welcome to Iran!

Only one pic as not much change:

Day 111 to Damghan Lake, Iran, 153km, 9,170 to date, 883m up,  1265m end. 

It should have been an easy day, only 883m of climbing, mostly right at the start, then mostly downhill, except at about the half way point we started getting head winds, strong head winds, then there was a 400m climb at the end of the day with very strong headwinds - quite done in by the end!

The good news was that we were camped by a lake, something of a rarity in Iran.  So a good cleanup was possible, being careful of the need to always have a shirt on.  The dress code was a challenge for the women, so the three of them simply went in fully clothed appropriately washing under their clothes.

Interesting police warning sign:

As some of you may know, because propane under minor pressure is a liquid, on can transfer propane from one tank to another by simply connecting the two tanks with a male/male connector and holding the source tank upside down higher than the receiving tank.  I saw one car being “filled” this way.  Also, this was a tank filling station at a small “corner store”:

Day 110 to Kosh Yeylag, Iran, 74km, 9,017 to date, 1884m up,  1784m end. 

A good day, serious climbing all day, but pleasant countryside.  We left the hot and humid flats of Gonbad-e Kavus near the Caspian Sea and are now in the hills, much cooler and way less humidity.

A couple pics from the ride:

Again today we were recipients of the generosity of Iranians, shortly after we arrived at our camp location, a gentleman wanders over and offers us a tray of honey from one of his beehives.

Day 109 - rest day Gonbad-e Qavus:

As I referenced in an earlier post, the Iranian currency unit is the Riel, the official rate is 31,500 Riel to 1USD.   Well it is not that simple…  All the shopkeepers refer to the Tooman, e.g. the ice cream is 1,000 Tooman, I finally figured out that 1 Tooman = 10 Reil.  There isn’t another set of bills, but just to make it easier to talk, they drop one zero from the number and call it Tooman.  So my ice cream was 10,000 Reil or about $0.30

Iran is home to the hottest point on earth, the Dasht-e loot or Lut Desert.  In 2005 the temperature was recorded as 70.7C or 159.3F.  A runner-up in the hottest contest is the Turpan Basin near the Flaming Mountain on the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert in China - where I cycled two years ago.  How come I end up in these very hot places and I don’t really like the heat!

Speaking of heat, the humidity here (Gonbad-e Qabus) is very high, our temp yesterday hit a modest 36C, but with the humidity it definitely didn’t encourage one to do anything.  Today it hit 42C, didn’t really do a lot - appropriate since it was a rest day.

Visited this tower - see sign for details.  Interesting in that it is 10 sided, everything in this world is 8 sided...  Nothing inside, but if you stand at the special point you get a good echo of whatever you say:

Also weighed myself, considering I was sick for essentially three weeks, I was pleased I wasn’t down as much as I thought I was:

A snack on the way back to the hotel: