-
Staying with a Stone Mason in Yazd and Seeing Zurkhaneh on the Way to the Pakistan Border
August 21, 2009
After Isfahan the landscape between the big cities was bare and remote but the roads were extremely good quality. I choose to take the highway because I wanted focus on my goal of getting to India. After cycling a one of my longest days and being towed the last thirty kilometres by a guy and his girlfriend on a motorbike I was dropped off at a big mosque on the outskirts of Yazd.
Tags: HistoryVagabondingArchitectureIranCycle touringTravelWriting
-
Through the Desert to Isfahan
August 21, 2009
The emptiness of the desert spaces was in it’s way very beautiful with nothing to distract and nothing man-made. With no input it felt very meditative. Long trains of thought went through my head, which kept me occupied and sometimes I recorded them into my dictaphone. My bike was set up really well and I had a strong feeling of flowing with little effort, completing long distances. It became the norm to start early, push big gears and put in a long day.
Tags: Iran
-
Staying with fellow cyclist Couchsurfer Karim in Tehran
August 21, 2009
Couchsurfer Karim has been hosting me for the last 1.5 weeks whilst I waited for my Indian visa. He had previously cycled from Tehran to Scotland. His mum was Scottish and dad Iranian. His dad had worked in construction, building roads in South Iran. We got on like a house of fire, having rambling conversations about just about anything, but particularly cycle touring and future adventures. He was also an incredible cook, and I was treated to daily feasts of delicious rice, bowls of Osh (chickpea soup), and Chello kebab.
Tags: Iran
-
Cycling On From Tehran Alone and Staying With a Family
August 21, 2009
The ride out of Tehran was a leap into the unknown for me. I had been killing myself worrying about the crossing from Iran to Pakistan and the perceived danger of Southern Iran. Now I was actually making tracks towards that point, it didn’t feel that bad. Life was carrying on. No groups of terrorists emerged from the desert. No one tortured me because I was English. No Americans bombed me or water-boarded me.
Tags: Iran
-
Crossing the border into Iran and sleeping on the roof in Tehran
August 21, 2009
At Agarak on the Armenian-Iranian border, I remember cycling next to the border fence. I felt scared continuing over the river bridge to the border crossing. Guards looked down on me from towers above, guns in hand. After tentatively pedalling across the ‘No man’s land’, I entered the administrative building. The border officers tried their best to nullify my visa by claiming it was fake because it read ‘Great Britain’ instead of ‘England’ and ‘Ireland’ which wasn’t England either.
Tags: Iran