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We arrived to the border at dark and there is no signage. There is a gate that looks like the entry to Armenia from Iran, but it is actually the exit as well. Here you hand over you passport, which they look at and then send you on another 500 m.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4207/...4be4e899_b.jpgBorder to Tabriz-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Again there is no signage, but you come to a large building and the exit is on the right. Pull past the booths and park. Then you go inside to the customs office with your passport and TVIP, which they stamp and sign. The agent then comes out, takes your TVIP and checks your plate number. You are then directed to the gate. Here the agent Opens the gate and asks to see your passport and checks the photo (with a flashlight). Here they send you another 400 m to a small shack. They want to see your passport, vehicle registration, and Armenian visa to get your exit stamp. All was going well until Daniel’s turn when they found that the Iran embassy had stuck the Iran visa onto the Armenia entry stamp. It is a faint yellow colour nearly impossible to see. They could see part of it. The officer and Dan walked back the 500 m to the first office to discuss the issue. 20 minutes later he was back and they decided to let him go once they checked the bike. Getting out of Armenia moderate challenge and took almost an hour so its 10 pm except its 1030 pm in Iran. |
There is no lighting at all on the Armenian side, but once you cross “the border bridge to Iran” it is all lit up. Just after the bridge is the police check. They look at your passport and then tell you to walk 100 m up to the office where a second officer looks at your passport. He sends you into passport control. Here we also met up with Reza our compulsory guide for the next 2 weeks. He said he did not see Orvar at the border earlier, but he thinks he passed him on the road.
We finally got a passport stamp and headed back to Police officer #2 and he checked the stamp and directs you back to the bikes and to ride thru the gate “pointing somewhere over there”. You ride about 300 m and past the decontamination chamber and a guard waved us to stop. They were very friendly here and helpful. The customs officer asked for our passports and Carnet de Passage and he entered these in the computer. He walked us over to the boss to discuss the Carnets’ The boss said immediately “ you are the 3 fiends of Orvar”! They did the paperwork very quickly and then wanted photos. They did not look at any of the luggage and only ask if we had any liquor. I said “ of course not we are in Iran” big laughs. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4241/...551dba22_b.jpgBorder to Tabriz-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4251/...c3381e0a_b.jpgIran by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Now to get some money since we can not access currency inside Iran. The rate here was very favourable and for 200 USD we got over 7.6 million Rials. One last stop for a passport check at the exit gate. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4229/...b6dc6abf_b.jpgBorder to Tabriz-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is now 1130 pm and we have 255 km to go to get to Tabriz. Most of the way is on a narrow windy road, but it is in good condition. Still a challenge at midnight after such a long day.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4280/...ac09c154_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-06-20 at 15.57.04 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4056/...2f39f995_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-07-02 at 18.19.53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We stopped 35 km from Jolfa for something to eat, but this turned out to be 4 whole grilled fish! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4258/...b77055d0_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-06-21 at 18.06.17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4217/...5d85a59c_b.jpgIran-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4277/...875d23e3_b.jpgIran-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr About 1 am we are eating and messaged Orvar to see where he is… Jolfa. We asked him to get up and we will pick him up in an hour….no reply. We figured he read the mail and then said no way and went to bed. So when we dropped by his hotel just of the road we were very surprised that there was the bike all packed up. Now we are 4 tired bikers and the guide in his car at 200 am. We still have 2 hours to the hotel in Tabriz. 30 km from the city we finally found an open fuel station to fill up before one of us ran out of gas. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4237/...15cb2a94_b.jpgBorder to Tabriz-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
4 hours of sleep is not enough after such a long ride. We had also not set the phone ahead and did not long onto wifi and so we were already 30 min late getting up. We scarfed down some breakfast and rushed down to the parking to find the guys packed up of course.
As an aside this whole women must have their hair covered thing is quite daunting. You can not leave your room without ankles, elbows, and head and neck covered. I am more careful of this when in regular clothes, but when out riding i just pull my buff over my hair and call it a day. We headed out of Tabriz for our first view of Iran in day light. The plan is was originally to ride 10 hours and 664 km to the coast of the Caspian at Chalus, but after yesterday and 4 hours of sleep we shortened this to 5 hours and 310 km to Astara. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/...7243c116_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-06-20 at 16.11.10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This meant the travel agent changing the hotel for us…We went east on the toll road and then off on the secondary roads. The traffic was a bit of mayhem in the towns. There are no rules, there are always more lanes of cars then lanes, and they turn right from the left lane and left from the right lane infront of you. When in the one “left turn lane” there may be 3-4 rows deep and any of them could actually be making a U turn into you as well. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4206/...21a0b230_b.jpgAstana by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We stopped at a butcher to pick up some meat for a BBQ dinner we had been invited to. While parked we were mobbed with people welcoming us and wanting photos with us.
The invitation was from (old) Hussein. The story is that old Hussein is the original man who has been booking tours and arranging Carnet free riding here. He is in the Lonely Planet apparently. His identity has been “stolen” by (young) Hussein who has tried to pass himself off as the Hussein. The younger even has called his company almost the same name as the older he just switched the word order. We had actually booked with the younger and he did arrange for our LOI for Turkmenistan and for our actuation numbers and we did eventually get into both of those countries. Friends had used the older and did not. That said the younger is just a fixer and not a registered guide or travel agent, which he says he is. He charges a lot of money for work others actually do. We would recommend you book with a registered guide if you need one and they will contract the hotel booking to a travel agent. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4259/...3fa5ed79_b.jpgAstana-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4212/...c3437868_b.jpgAstana-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4242/...dff2e65f_b.jpgAstana-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4251/...1ff10573_b.jpgIran-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4290/...7a0eb485_b.jpgAstana-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4248/...b654e820_b.jpgIran-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We crossed the plains here and it is dry and mostly flat as far as you can see. Many of the cars that pass us are waving and honking. Sara attracts a lot of attention as they never see a woman riding a moto. She had one super fan who followed (too close) for over 10 km.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4284/...ed682ae4_b.jpgAstana-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4277/...b445a623_b.jpgAstana-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4256/...b1520bf0_b.jpgAstana-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We resorted to putting stickers and a yellow dry bag in the guides car so we could spot him from a distance. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4285/...3d55d864_b.jpgAstana-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4217/...ed060fd6_b.jpgAstana-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Rest stops here have Mosques too!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4259/...d0cd28eb_b.jpgAstana-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4266/...5982353f_b.jpgAstana-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4278/...e9d3424b_b.jpgAstana-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4262/...982e221a_b.jpgAstana-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4255/...2e1b61af_b.jpgAstana-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Heading up over the mountains we were in the clouds. There is only 1 road and it is a single line of cars and trucks. People are passing at high speed. There are hundreds of local picnicking at the side of the road, under the clouds, and surrounded by trash. Not very appealing to us.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4231/...a3a2a582_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-06-20 at 16.11.32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4206/...283d4a55_b.jpgAstana-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4279/...2284422f_b.jpgAstana-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr 12 km before the hotel we were invited to the home of a friend of the guide better known and Old Hussein a famous guide here. We had a kebab meal on the lawn. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4282/...dc9c2969_b.jpgIran-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4255/...23127f2f_b.jpgIran-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4218/...30de657a_b.jpgIran-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4206/...df9dd9fd_b.jpgIran-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The “hotel” was a bit sketchy. The lobby was a construction site and they have a car repair shop in the parkade. There is no wifi of course. The rooms looked like they were once apartments. The bedroom was sparse, but clean. The living room dusty and mildewed. The bathroom a squat loo and the “shower in the room” type we particularly hate. Who thinks a shower directly into the bathroom is a good idea? Well at least there was hot water and air con.
This evening it is drizzling, but we walked out for some tea and a tour of the local Bazaar. The guys stopped for shaves and hair cuts. Here i bought a Manteau, which is basically a longish garment that you can wear over your clothes to adhere to the dress code. The guys were hungry so we got some falafel. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4210/...7d54f70a_b.jpgIran-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4195/...9f0e83a8_b.jpgIran-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4204/...b9e82fb9_b.jpgIran-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4260/...6fc969d1_b.jpgIran-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4218/...50e3a441_b.jpgIran-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4257/...1416a965_b.jpgIran-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We then walked out to touch the Caspian sea.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4285/...9515e963_b.jpgIran-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Even grocery shopping everyone wants a selfie for Instagram. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4257/...c70725f6_b.jpgIran-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4250/...35d76e29_b.jpgIran-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We woke to the pouring rain. The initial plan today was “the long way” to Tehran, but at the time we needed to decide on the route it was still pouring after 4 hours and so we elected for the “ shorter route”.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4097/...7f77714f_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-06-20 at 16.14.12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4238/...f84d44a5_b.jpgTehran by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4235/...71a577fb_b.jpgTehran-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4208/...3c65a687_b.jpgTehran-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4210/...414c4725_b.jpgTehran-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4210/...5c0f643e_b.jpgTehran-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Almost immediately after we headed south the sun was shining and the topography desert. We were still 260 km from the Capital. We did stop here for a traditional lunch. There was quite a gathering around the bikes when we came out. It is an issue to find food in the day time, but there are some places open for travellers.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4216/...baf79b30_b.jpgTehran-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4234/...16372d07_b.jpgTehran-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4288/...26dc6797_b.jpgIran-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4235/...2ac456d6_b.jpgTehran-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4277/...23d5a6ef_b.jpgIran-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4281/...b8b385e9_b.jpgTehran-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4260/...7f374931_b.jpgTehran-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4242/...30ba4045_b.jpgTehran-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4216/...a9963ae0_b.jpgTehran-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4206/...d1e9446d_b.jpgTehran-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4241/...9314df22_b.jpgTehran-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4279/...b0870817_b.jpgTehran-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The closer we got to the city the worse the traffic and the driving. We were very overheated and stopped for some shade, rest, and lemonade. We had lots of people coming up to talk to us and get photos. One guy came up to me and said hi and when i said hi he said “ wow you are a woman!!”
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/...37e90959_b.jpgTehran-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr 40 km from Tehran it was game on and you had to concentrate very well. Many drivers hug the line on your side or straddle the line. There are often no white lines and thus more “lanes” of cars than lanes. They exit and enter the highway from the left and the right at high speed and merge between the bikes. We were then stopped just after a toll by the police and luckily the guide had all the necessary paperwork for us. This extra security is related to the recent ISIS attacks. All he wanted was to see our passports. In the city itself it is a free for all. They mostly stop for red lights except pedestrians and scooters. The rounds about are a free formal as there is no centre core and bikes, people, and scooters are going every way at once. The cars from the right try to block the box and you have to push into the intersection all the while trying not to get hit and avoiding the people who run out in front of you or the scooter that cuts you off. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4211/...8821e05e_b.jpgTehran-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4205/...4e0585e2_b.jpg35696219075_ef5ea1477a_o by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr
"Big" bikes are illegal here so that means no tolls!! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4139/...b180ac4a_b.jpg34855422744_c7e6a1753f_o by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr All this at 37 degrees. The last gas we got was poor and both the 800 sound terrible. The 650 cut out twice and we let it have a rest at the monument to Tehran. The fuel pump may be the issue and we have one. It may just be the heat and bad gas. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4029/...b4b21959_b.jpg34855405274_65a2631f4a_o by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/...fd53332d_b.jpg35657048926_2f4d8f11bb_o by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4232/...bef86913_b.jpgBumot in Tehran by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4245/...099c6595_b.jpgIran-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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