Car & camping in Iran
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Car & camping in Iran |
Stopping just in time for a gorgeous sunset, Northern Iran.
| Camping in Iran ! |
| Our first night in Iran was
spent in a Toyota garage. There we learnt that we would not be meeting
Kathleen's parents a few days later as planned. As we were expecting a
break or a holiday within a holiday with Kathleen's parents, we had not
made any travel plans. So for our first week or so we stayed in small
guesthouses working on an itinerary. Subsequently we went to the hotels
where we were meant to stay with Kathleen's parents to ask them if we
could sleep in our car in their car park, as we have done in all countries
during this journey. There came our first surprise about Iranian
hospitality... On our way to the Caspian Sea we got bored of having
to ask hotels if this was OK. We either got a "no" or were asked
exorbitant prices. On two occasions we got a yes, only to be asked for a
large sum of money next morning when we went to the reception to thank
them ! Whilst in Northern Iran we found out that if we drove off the main
road onto a smaller road, then off that road again onto a track etc. we
would always find a quiet spot. We have applied this way of finding a spot
for the night for the rest of the journey since then and have never ever
been disturbed ! One of the great pleasures of
traveling by car is to be able to stop whenever you wish to. We have also
had to learn to resist to the temptation of always getting to the next
city or village. This was especially the case after we decided to stop
asking hotels if we could stay in their car parks. As you can see from the following pictures, Iran was an
excellent country for camping !
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| So imagine our disappointment
when one cold and very humid night in the small village of Masule,
something went "CRACK" when we winched up our tent and the car
wouldn't winch up anymore ! We thought the worst had happened but luckily,
it only took us 1 hour to fix the problem. The mechanism of lifting up the
upper part of the tent is done by a bicycle chain that had derailed. We
felt glorious going to bed that night having fixed the problem. Less
glorious the next day when the same thing happened again !
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One cold and wet night in Masule (left), victorious Kathleen & Christian !
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The next day we thought we deserved a warm (and long) shower in one of Masule's guesthouses !
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Washing in the wild ! A delicious shower somewhere on the road to Esfahan (left), a much cooler one in Northern Iran. Temperature outside was about 5 degrees C. (right). We have a solar shower with us but just using a plastic bottle is much more simple and uses less water.
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| Troopie gets looked after |
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| Toyota Zahedan fixing 3
broken suspension leaves (left), a beautiful local woman in the showroom
(centre), the garage or our sleeping spot for the night (right)
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| Life on the road : petrol stations & traffic jams |
| Fuel stations do not abound
in Iran and diesel is usually only found in stations on the outskirts of
cities. These are the stations where large trucks and buses will fill up
for the long journeys ahead. One advantage of this organisation is the
fact that the flow of diesel fuel is significantly higher than in other
countries. Filling up one of our 90l. tanks would take less than 2
minutes. Traffic was very light in the whole country. Perhaps because all
of it is in Teheran ! It is said a third of all vehicles in Iran is
registered in the capital city.
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A fuel station with diesel to fill up the two 800 litre tanks of these Volvo trucks (left), traffic jams in Teheran (centre & left)
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This is the reason for one of our traffic jams in Teheran ! Notice the damage done to the surface of the road !
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| Life on the road : food |
| Food has been a delight in
Iran as, for the first time in our trip, we have been able to sample the
country's fruits and vegetables thanks to the cleanliness of the water.
Shiraz is known for its grapes (used to make wine before the revolution).
We have seen and tried loads of pomegranate ! Kerman is known for its
nougat, Esfahan for its saffron ice-cream, Bam for its delicious dates. It
is strange that we do not have a single picture of our staple diet in Iran
: the kebab ! Kebab here, kebab there, kebab everywhere ! Along the
Caspian Sea we had sturgeon fish kebab !
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A taste of local products : grapes sold in Teheran (left), Iranian dates, olives & pomegranate for lunch (centre), Iranians have a sweet tooth ! (right)
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One of our lunches along the Caspian Sea was improved with the help of our Belgian friends in Teheran. Thank you ! (left) Stunning manufacture of sugar (centre), we have made an orgy of dried fruits and nuts (right)
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| As seen along the road / miscellaneous |
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As usual a few pictures we want to show you but don't know where to put !
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We are doing well !
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| Vehicles in Iran | Back to Trip page | Heading to Eastern Turkey |
