Iran - Country of Hospitality

Iran: a country that fascinates even before you arrive. We hear about it regularly in the media, but unfortunately not for good reasons. We will discover a country with magnificent desert landscapes, an extraordinarily welcoming population, eager to change the point of view of their country.

This is the question that every Iranian, man and woman, have asked us during our 3-week stay in northeastern Iran: “What image did you have of Iran before coming? »

That's a very good question ! Indeed if we only read the information, then Iran comes down to a country classified purple-red on the government site, where the safety of foreigners is not always assured (in particular this Frenchman and his 7 years in prison for flying a drone near a military base…). The nuclear issue is also one of the subjects that comes up constantly. In short, if we had to answer the Iranians frankly, it is often not portrayed well at home!

But fortunately we are not the first travelers to visit this country. It is one of the main passages to reach Central Asia via Turkmenistan. We therefore know many cyclo-travelers who have been there before us! And anecdotally, when asked what is their favorite country of all those they have crossed, the answer is unanimous: Iran! So we knew that the country was a must-go!

We had also been advised of the legendary hospitality but we remained cautious, they may have been lucky! We just had to go there to discover it for ourselves!!

However Iran had 3 big problems for us:

First, you need a visa to get there. It is one of the only countries that requires one and it is not cheap: 100€ because you have to go through an agency! We still took the plunge by picking it up 2 weeks earlier in Turkey m, in the city of Erzurum.

Second technical problem: recreational drones. They would be banned in the country and we have one to film the trip and do not intend to get rid of it. After discussion with several other travellers, we will keep it warm at the bottom of the saddlebags, without ever taking it out!

Finally, last major problem: Iran has not allowed access to Central Asia for 2 years and the closure of the land borders of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan... but the first has announced that it may reopen its borders on September 1 , when we will be in Iran, not far from the border! We hoped it would transpire.

These 3 big problems being partly under control, we set off to discover Iran and its northwestern region! We cross the border at the city of Maku and descend to Khroy, Salmas then Ourmia along Turkey. Then we cross Lake Ourmia, the former largest lake in Iran now almost dry, to reach the big city of Tabriz and its famous covered bazaar. Finally we reach the city of Zanjan where a special meeting awaits us! This will be the end of our trip exclusively by bike because we will end up taking a bus to reach the capital, Tehran, where we will spend a few days before flying to Central Asia!

We had the chance to discover each of these cities through the prism of its inhabitants. Indeed, we were constantly invited to Iranian families who wanted us to discover their city and their culture.

First experience in Khoy, not far from the border. We did not find a place to put the tent, the area being agricultural with many fields of sunflowers. We finally knock on the door of a unit of the Red Crescent, Iranian equivalent of The Red Cross. The volunteers who work there welcome us with open arms, offering us a hot shower and then a private room! We were impressed by the curiosity of the captain, who asked us a multitude of questions.

The next day, it is in the town of Salmas that we arrive. First objective: find something to eat. As we unpack on the main artery, a car stops and a head pops out of the window: hello, welcome to Iran. Do you want to eat with us?

He is Hamid, a 24-year-old Iranian who lives in Salmas with his parents and his sister, he is revising his Toeic, an English diploma that may allow him to work in Europe one day. Once we arrived at his place, he immediately offered us to stay for several days. We are in no hurry and agree to spend the night. After a good meal, we set off to explore the city and the surrounding area in Hamid's Peugeot 206. In the evening he offers us a barbecue in his garden outside the city. We envisage the bbq will be a late night. We ask him if it would be possible to stay another day. He is thrilled! The next day, Hamid offers Tommy to go for a walk between Men. He wants to introduce him to his barber, women are forbidden and they have their own salons, out of sight.

They will come back 3 hours later, Tommy with his hair very well cut, and again, escaping the shaved sides. In the evening, a large family meal is organized where we are the guests of honor. We will excuse ourselves around midnight to leave at dawn!

On the road to Urmia the next day, we stop at a abandoned gas station. The guard comes to ask us where we are from. He is delighted to learn that we are French and immediately calls someone on his phone to pass it on to us. I answer and am surprised to hear my interlocutor speak French. He gives us an appointment the next day in Ourmia for a French-speaking lunch! So we meet this teacher who speaks French very well and tells us about his beautiful country of Iran. A very nice meeting, unexpected! We will sleep with a Warmshowers who was traveling in Tehran and whom we will not see and will eat with a couple of Iranian architects we met in the street! A real treat.

We head for Tabriz, a big Iranian city. We have to cross the dry lake of Ourmia. On the road, several people stop and they all offer us to see them again in Tabriz. Incredible, we have too many proposals! Iranian hospitality illustrated wonderfully. We will eat at one, visit with the other, sleep at the last… Lots of encounters, and what a pleasure to discover a city and its secrets with locals.

The road from Tabriz to Zanjan is splendid. A series of tunnels in several narrow canyons. We take the opportunity to finally pitch the tent and spend two nights in peace.

In Zanjan, we find Jalal. He is an Iranian that we met in Istanbul, 2 months earlier, when we were looking for tires for Roxy. He had given us an appointment in his city, and had promised us a visit, accommodation and maintenance of the bikes. Am idea of Iranian hospitality at the time. We can say that this meeting, although brief, had motivated us to visit the country!

In short, about ten kilometers before the town of Zanjan, a motorcycle stops on the side of the road and challenges us: it is Jalal, who hands us cold drinks. Heaven. He then escorts us to his town, perhaps to avoid us being invited by another Iranian family (which happened many times in Zanjan!).

We finally arrive at his house, a beautiful mix between a modern building and traditional furniture. A dozen sofas surround a large space lined with magnificent works of art and Persian rugs. We meet his wife and daughter. The latter, Sara, is our age and is a school teacher and Persian teacher on social networks. We sympathize very quickly and talk at length on a multitude of social issues.

Jalal has a surprise for us. Especially for Roxy. There is indeed a women's mountain bike race in Zanjan the next day, and as a sports coach and owner of bike shops and a multitude of high-end bikes, he is pinning his hopes on Roxy! The next day, despite the stress and competitiveness of the Iranian cyclists (about thirty all the same!), Roxy gives everything and, 7500km of cycling helping, wins a 3rd place! A great moment, the euphoria of the participants is impressive. Not least, cycling is still officially forbidden to women in Iran. But things are changing. We stay 3 days in Zanjan to recharge our batteries. This is where our non-stop cycling journey ends. Here we take our first bus to enter Tehran, the capital of the country.

In Tehran, the traffic is terrible. We have to travel about ten kilometers from the bus station to our host's apartment. This is the most dangerous 10km of our trip. Gasoline being at ~0.10€/L, everyone has a car and the megalopolis is saturated.

We arrive safe and sound at Mustafa, our host. He does not speak English but skillfully handles the automatic translator. We will stay with him for 4 days, before flying from the airport. He will make us discover his city, Tehran, which he wants to leave at all costs for Europe. He just needs a visa...

We will visit one more bazaar, one in each city visited in Iran. But here, it is too much. Too many people, too many shops, too much noise and smell. We find all the equipment to pack our bikes: boxes, tape, bubble wrap… The operation is complicated but thanks to some YouTube tutorials, we manage it! Our last adventure in Iran: the ascent of a 4000m peak! But since the mountains around Tehran are all at these altitudes, it is nothing exceptional... The car park is at 3000m, so the next step is a short hike to reach the summit with a breathtaking view of Damavand, the highest Iranian mountain at 5600m. We will come back in winter for this one, when there are less people climbing!

We can never thank Mustafa and his family enough, who made us discover each evening a different traditional dish.

We finally take the road to the airport: in a Blue Nissan! The symbolic pick-up truck of Iran, because produced locally at low cost and allowing to transport a multitude of various loads: our bikes for the occasion!

Third chapter starting soon: Central Asia!