Archive for March, 2008
Monday, March 31st, 2008
33km Gonbadli to Sarakhs
Today we’re singing the praises of the humble hammam. We didn’t really start to use the public bathhouses until Bijan introduced us to them going across the Dasht-e-Kavir desert but now we’re converted. For only 5,000 Rials – about 50 U.S. cents – you get a scrub up in your own private room. What could be better than that after a few nights of camping? Freshly washed, we spent the last of our remaining Iranian cash and rushed off to see what the border guards would make of our visas, with one exit date stamped as today and another dated for tomorrow. They were clever fellows and quickly realised their mistake as well as the fact that we wouldn’t be allowed to enter Turkmenistan today. We were assured there wasn’t a problem for us to stay one more night in Iran and so we went in search of a quiet place to camp. We were surprised to find a tranquil, grassy field just a few hundred meters from the border post so we lazed around for the rest of the afternoon, taking a last good rest before our dash across Turkmenistan. The weather was so mild and inviting that we didn’t even put up our tent but spent the night under our tarp with the fresh breeze blowing across our faces while we slept.
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Iran, Journal Entries by friedel
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
78km Mazdavand to Gonbadli
We’re almost to the border but Iran wasn’t about to let us go without a final farewell show of her hospitality at its best. The country’s kindness started in the morning when we stopped at a small shop for some food and asked where the bakery was so we could buy bread as well. “It’s closed,” the woman said, thinking for a second and then running into her home to bring us two large rounds of bread she’d bought that morning.
Not long down the road, after reaching the peak of a small mountain and cruising down the other side, we cycled out to the beautiful Rabat-e-Sharaf caravanserai, set in green farming fields a short distance from the main route. The holiday period for Iranian New Year isn’t quite over so although we arrived at the caravanserai in the morning, there were already a few families spreading out blankets for tea and midday picnics. We thought we’d picked a quiet spot for our extended lunch break but it wasn’t long before a large family showed up and of course our bikes attracted their attention, particularly of one man. (more…)
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Iran, Journal Entries by friedel
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
75km Tangal-e-Shur-e-bala to Mazdavand
We can feel summer coming now that the days are getting longer. By 5am the birds were chirping outside our tent and we were out of our sleeping bags a few minutes later. Before midday we’d already put 50km on the clock through the flat landscape. We don’t need to push so hard just yet though. The dates are fixed on our Turkmenistan visa so we have plenty of time to cover the remaining distance the border. Instead of pedalling on, we rolled off the road and had a lazy lunch break under our tarp. It didn’t take long for a shepherd to come along and check us out although once he discovered we don’t speak Farsi he soon wandered back to his flock and we returned to napping. A fierce headwind came up in the afternoon and we probably wouldn’t have gone far at all except that we needed water so we struggled through the remaining distance to Mazdavand. We thought the path to the border was going to be mostly flat so it was a surprise to see a large mountain road with switchbacks looming in front of us. With the wind growing in strength, we didn’t have to think too long to put that off until tomorrow.
1 Comment » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Iran, Journal Entries by friedel
Friday, March 28th, 2008
35km Mashhad to Tangal-e-Shur-e-bala
*Hello friends. Below is our journal for the first day from Mashhad to the Iranian border. We are now, on March 31st, in Sarakhs and ready to cross into Turkmenistan. Unfortunately internet access here is terribly slow (is there a hamster running this network??). We have managed, however, to update our journal on CrazyGuyOnABike (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Travellingtwo) and if we can’t get faster internet in Central Asia that’s where you’ll find our updates for the meantime*
We made our escape from Mashhad today. There’s still a few days before we need to be at the Turkmenistan border but to be honest the city was getting on our nerves.
With so many tourists flooding in to see the holy shrine, it’s impossible to even stroll down the sidewalk easily. Left and right, street sellers have blankets spread out, covered in everything from spices to childrens toys, clothing and household goods. If they’re not on the ground, they’re standing up, shoving things in your face that you just might want to buy. Cheap electric shaver? Flying helicopter? No thanks.
Prices are, of course, more expensive with a steady stream of eager customers and we had to watch what we were being charged more so than anywhere else in Iran. Maybe earlier in our trip it wouldn’t have mattered so much but we really don’t want to change any more dollars into Iranian currency.
Instead we’re trying to stretch out our funds for our remaining days in the country. That meant getting out of Mashhad and so we did after running a few last errands in the afternoon and fielding a host of questions from our hotel manager. It was a stream of consciousness that actually didn’t seem to need many answers, just a listening ear, and went something like this: “What about your parents? What is your job? Oh, you know all about bicycles. I bet your husband knows more than you do. Do you have a house in Canada? Don’t you think you should buy a house and make babies?”
After all that we were looking forward even more to hitting the road. From what we’ve seen so far, the scenery is unremarkable but at least the traffic dies down considerably once in the countryside. It’s mostly flat out here but we managed to find a farm track leading into some small hills and there we found a great little hiding place for the night.
Just as we arrived near where we wanted to camp, a motorbike appeared from the nearby fields. At first we were wary. We don’t like to set up our tent when someone is watching if we can help it. We waited a few minutes and sure enough the two men came over to say hello. Our fears were quickly dispersed. We think we’ve become quite good judges of character during our trip and these men smiled broadly as they asked us if we had enough water or needed anything.
As soon as we assured them we were fine they carried on their way and we were able to set up our home a few hundred meters away in a little dip in the landscape. It’s a good spot. A couple cars have driven up the track but we haven’t seen them and they haven’t noticed us either. A peaceful night awaits and then a relaxed trip further towards the border tomorrow.
No Comments » - Posted in Cycling Trips, Iran, Journal Entries by friedel
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
81km Fakhr e Dawood to Mashhad
We were warned that the traffic in Mashhad was the worst in Iran and it wasn’t an exaggeration. Coming into a city is never our favourite part of cycling but just imagine trying to negotiate streets when stop signs and red lights are mere suggestions and half the vehicles are from out of town. No one really knows where to go. They just want to get there.
Mashhad brings in tourists from all over the country who come to visit the shrine of Imam Reza and right now, during Iranian New Year, is peak season. Someone told us that over 6 million visitors come to Mashhad during No Ruz – twice Mashhad’s normal population. The streets are absolutely heaving with people going to the shrine and shopping for souvenirs like saffron and turquoise. Of course the vendors take advantage of this and we’ve had to watch prices more here than anywhere else in Iran. Even Bijan, who speaks Farsi, gets taxi drivers trying to charge double what they should.
At least the ride into Mashhad was considerably more relaxed. We had a great night’s sleep just outside the small village of Fakhr e Dawood and awoke to a breeze blowing towards Mashhad. Add in a few downhill runs and you’ll understand why we rolled into the city almost as quickly as the cars!
Now we’ll take a few days here to rest up and get some more work done on our bikes. On Saturday we’ll start the last leg of our journey in Iran towards the Turkmenistan border, where a cold beer and hijab-free cycling awaits.
As an advisory of radio silence to come, we don’t know when we’ll next have internet access. It’s unlikely we’ll check in as we’re cycling through Turkmenistan from April 1st-7th so don’t expect to hear from us until we reach the first major town or city in Uzbekistan.
