So then, the Iran update.
As you saw from the video, Iran was full of so much stuff and was definitely not what I expected. When I was ‘planning’ the trip in the UK beforehand, I was quite nervous about riding through Iran and was looking at ways to go around it.
Bt once I was there, I quickly realised that it was actually the friendliest country I would ride through and was absolutely amazing!
This is me with a some people who flagged me down because their car had broken down. I lent them my screwdriver, and once fixed, they said thank you, all with big smiles.
EVERY car, bike or lorry that you go past will wave and smile and say “How are you?” or “Where are you from”. Most don’t actually speak English, so they don’t understand the answer. But they just want to be friendly and welcome you to their country.
For example, the customs process was a nightmare. But an Iranian guy called Farnoosh helped me out for 4 hours, paying for the photocopying of my documents and paying for bike taxis to different building. And at the end when I tried to pay him, he wouldn’t accept anything and just said “You are in my country as a guest, welcome to Iran”
And Everybody was like this, hotel staff, food seller, petrol stations attendants, policemen, soldiers at check points.
Everyday I got something for free and this even extended to free petrol as you saw in the update.
The deserts in the south were nice.
The tarmac was relentlessly perfect. (Devon County Council take note, this is what a road should look like)
The sunsets were always beatiful. There was also no rain, there were rain clouds but nothing really fell.
The mosques were always very pretty too. (here’s me with my new Iranian cuddly toy snail on the front basket)
Persepolis is worth a visit too. It was built in around 500BC (I think) and the carvings are beautiful.
More carvings…here’s a photo that actually came out how I wanted it to.
The old ruins of buldings stood on the top of hills without being covered in graffiti or vandalised like they would be in the UK.
I went on a sight-seeing walk around Esfahan and as you saw in the video. A motorcyclist actually stopped and waited for me to finish taking my photo. That hasn’t happened in any other country I have ever been too.
Allthough I do cook a mean sponge cake (Dubai update), I’m no cook, but I’d love to see what I could make with all these different spices and herbs.
While we’re on the topic of top quality food 😉 It took 4 hours but I finally found the only KFC in Iran. This is actually not an official KFC (due to politics etc) but they did a bloody good job at copying it.
Also, this means that I have now had KFC in every country I have visited; Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Dubai and Iran. For some reason I set myself the goal lol.
See, pretty good copy and it tasted EXACTLY the same
A genuine fake Iranian Nando’s
In the north it turned into lush green valleys
A genuine camel!
This bike shop caught me eye. Good way of catching your eye as you ride past!
I’m also not sure what you have to do to cause this damage, but the wheel was actually straight and would turn in the forks.
Iran also basically only has 5 models of car; the Peugeot 405, Peugeot 206, one type of pick up, one type of van and some weird saloon car that’s name confused me. So people modifiy their cars to make them different. This “Fuel Injection” sticker made me laugh hehe.
The hills in the north were also very pretty. Every hillside was a mixture of multiple layers of different coloured rock.
Once again, AMAZING!
So there it was Iran. I’m sure there was so much more that I could have seen and endlessly fell in love with Iran over and over again, but I’m just an idiot bumbling around the world on a C90. I only ever see what falls into my lap, nothing is really planned.
I sound like a broken record but it’s because Iran is now my favourite country I have been to. I felt safer than in any other country, the people were the friendliest, and it re-wrote my entire view of the country which I had got from the media. Even the police check-points and military check-points would give me tea and cigarettes and we’d swap stories and show pictures to each other.
I know I don’t have much credibility, but take it from me and 90….Iran is not what the papers make it out to be. Go there on holiday, see it for yourself, and learn the truth.
