IRAN OFF THE BIKE. The next chapter of my weeks in Iran is far less adventures than normal. This time I would be just an ordinary tourist. The one that rents a car, chooses a restaurant according to a guidebook recommendation and needs at least three cups of coffee a day. I also had some company, Rodrigo. We met 2,5 years ago while doing the same trek on the South Island of New Zealand. And when he decided to come and visit me in Iran it was the first time we saw each other since those days in New Zealand.
The first pitstop on our 12 day car-rental-roadtrip was the Caspian Sea, a few hours drive north from Tehran. The water was warm and while the men went in for a swim with only their short swimming shorts, women had to keep both their jihab, long trousers an shirts on. Because that´s the law in Iran...
The second day on the road we left the main road at the Caspian Sea coast and drove south-west back up to the mountains. The gravel roads we found just took our breaths away. I never could have guessed that Iran was this beautiful! The views made us stop so many times that I would guess our average speed wasn´t much faster than what I have on my bicycle.