August 22 Tabriz, Iran
I left the hostel at around 8 am as I am expecting a long
riding day. Breakfast wasn’t available till 8.30 am, so I headed off without it.
It was a real adventure ride in Armenian. There was three
high mountain passes, and it was raining and with heavy fog near the top with
visibility down to around 5 metre. I had to ride at 40 -50 kph with high beam
and hazard lights on. So I was going through 20 km of heavy fog three times
during the day before reaching the border with Iran. There were only a few
people crossing the border. An Iranian couple was just on front of me. They were also
leaving Armenia, so they were helping me to go through the procedures. Leaving
Armenia was slow and I had to pay $90 for the bike exit fee, and then went through a couple of counters and gates. The border guards at the gates were slow and kept chatting with me.
I think they were trying to get some money out of me but I just played along and be
patient. All that took over an hour to get through. The Iranian was completely
different. They were friendly, efficient, and helpful. I got through in less
than an hour. After the border, the road was fantastic and I was riding through beautiful mountain scenery. I reach Tabriz,
a city with 1.5 million people at around 10 pm. The traffic there was busy and chaotic. There
were cars, truck, motorcycles and people all over the place and come from all
direction. It was tough riding in such condition. I checked into a cheap hotel through at around 10.30pm.
August 23 Sarein
I got the precise GPS position from Choy, so it was an easy
short ride straight to the hotel. It was great to see Alan and Choy again.
Sarein has hot springs which attracts lots of Iranian tourists. Honey is also
very popular there.. Choy had a cold, and Alan had
diarrhea, so both of them did not want to go to try out the hot pools. I had been to quite a few hot springs before, so I also did not try it out. neither.Both Alan and Choy were both
traumatized by the traffic in Tabriz, and wanted to get out of Iran as soon as
possible!
August 24 Bandar-e
Anzali
We rode around the road next to the Caspian Sea looking for
a hotel. I stopped and spoke to an old man who were there touting for business.
I got a price for 800,000 Rial ( $36) per night for 3 people. We then went to a
Seaside restaurant and ordered 3 fried fish for lunch. Very delicious but the
price was 1.8 million Rial ($82). I think we got ripped off again, as we did not check the price before
ordering. We then went for a walk on the
beach. The beach was made up of dark grey colour sand. As in everywhere in Iran, there were lots of rubbish on the beach,
so it was not so nice.
August 25 Chalus
We decided to make an extra stop at Chalus, so we can arrive in Tehran on Wednesday
afternoon. Thursday and Friday in Iran is the weekend, and Choy’s friend Amir
would be free to meet us and show us around. There was nothing to see in
Chalus. I tried out their imitation Kentucky Fried chicken – quite good.
August 26 – August 27 Tehran
We were riding through the mountain roads. Being school
holidays in Iran, the road was chocked with slow traffic. We were overtaking
cars and trucks to get ahead. At around 2 pm, we stopped at a road side
restaurant for a delicious meal with typical Iranian style seats.
After lunch,
we entered the traffic again. Choy and Alan managed to pass a few slow cars, and got ahead. I was having
real difficulties finding a safe spot to pass, so I lost sight of both bikes.
After some 10 minutes before I got pass through, but I could not find Choy and
Alan. I was entering the freeway. So I continue to ride to the GPS position
of hotel provided by Choy. The traffic in Tehran was absolutely
terrible. I missed a turn off from the express way, and got stuck behind
massive traffic jam for 20 minutes. I finally arrived at the GPS position at around 4.30 pm, and it was a
bus terminal! I stopped and
looked around and could not see any hotel nearby. So I went to plan B – which is going to the nearest hotel from my Garmin GPS with similar name. I arrived at Hotel Parsian Azuri and asked
at the reception about our hotel booking. The reception could not find our
booking there. He said there is another hotel Parsian a couple of Km away. I
ordered a milkshake and access the hotel internet to contacted Choy who had
arrived at the correct hotel around 5 pm. I eventually made it to the hotel Parisan
Esteghial at around 7.30 pm. It was the most frustrating afternoon riding for
me. The traffic in Tehran is the worst I have encountered so far in this trip. It
was a very hot day with massive jam and
chaotic traffic everywhere. As it turn out, my GPS sent me directly onto the
freeway, and Choy’s GPS sent them to a longer way to the Freeway where they
were waiting for me. So we missed each other.
We met with Choy's friends - Amir, his wife and daughter for dinner nearby that night.
Next day was spent sightseeing with Amir around Tehran.
Next day was spent sightseeing with Amir around Tehran.
August 28 – August 29 Isfahan
We stayed at Iran Hotel where the owner was extremely
helpful. Both Alan’s and my Sena
Bluetooth communication system had developed a problem, and we managed to
got them fixed by a watch repair shop next to the hotel. Isfanhan has a very impressive square and bazaar.
August 30 – August 31 Yazd
After breakfast, we went to the car park to pick up our
bikes from the parking building, we were asked to pay 250,000 rials each (just
over $10) for the 2 days parking! We
thought parking was part of the hotel deal, as the manager did not give us any
option. We would have park our bikes free just in front of the hotel. We spoke to the hotel manager who then spoke
to the parking attendant, and only managed to get us back $4 refund. We got rip
off again.
The 320 km ride to Yazd was quick as we were riding in 2 lane highway. The GPS
coordinates for Silk Road Hotel was precise, and took us straight to the front
door. The sun was blazing at 38 degree, so we quickly accepted the hotel deal
for US$60 per night.
A quick shower later we sat down in the hotel restaurant
for our lunch.
We then went in our air conditioned room for a quick nap. A couple of hours later, Choy and Alan were still sleeping, so I went out to the local Mosque where they had their calls for prayer and I was taking some video and picture. I was then offered tea and cake which was very nice.
We then went in our air conditioned room for a quick nap. A couple of hours later, Choy and Alan were still sleeping, so I went out to the local Mosque where they had their calls for prayer and I was taking some video and picture. I was then offered tea and cake which was very nice.
Alan was not well so Choy and I went out the next day
visiting the Fire Temple, and the Water museum. Most shops and sites are closed
after 12 pm, and it get too hot, and few people venture out.
September 1 Kerman,
Iran
It was a 4 hours 370km ride to Kerman through the Iranian
desert. Not a cloud in the sky and in 32 -35 degree heat under the desert sun.
We checked into Akhavan Hotel for US$65 per night including breakfast and
dinner. The dinner was meant to be Chicken and rice, but we were given a full
banquet by mistake. So that was the
biggest and best dinner in Iran so far. All three of us were completely full –
Choy managed to eat half of the entire banquet! We only realized that when we
look at other tables. Two guys were having chicken and rice, and a group of
Chinese tourists arrived later and I suspect that the banquet is meant for
them!
Choy and I had to go for a long walk to help digesting those
food!
September 2 Zahedan,
Iran
It was a tough day ride in the Iranian desert, We covered
520 km of travel, 100 km of which was a very desolate part of the desert where
nothing can grow, and the temperature rose to 45 degree.
About 85 km from Zahedan, we passed a Petrol Station on the other side of the road, and my trip computer showed that I had 80 km of fuel left. I was thinking of turning around to get more fuel. But we decided to ride on, as Choy had lots of fuel in his tank that could be given to me. My fuel gauge was showing empty when were stopped by a Iranian border police just outside the city. The border police took our passports and signaled us to a room. Choy went in, Alan and I stayed back so we could transfer some fuel from Choy’s bike into mine. 15 minutes later, there was still no sign of Choy coming out of the room. We were concerned that there might be corrupted police trying to extract money from Choy, so Alan and I decided to secretly take some picture of the area and the police. Unfortunately, one policeman saw us and we were all summoned into the room. The photos were then deleted and we were free to go. This incidence with border police left us with a bad impression of Iran. With the help of the locals, we found a petrol station to fill up and rode to the Tourist Hotel where we stayed the night. Zahedan is the frontier town with a bad reputation, so we did not venture outside the hotel.
About 85 km from Zahedan, we passed a Petrol Station on the other side of the road, and my trip computer showed that I had 80 km of fuel left. I was thinking of turning around to get more fuel. But we decided to ride on, as Choy had lots of fuel in his tank that could be given to me. My fuel gauge was showing empty when were stopped by a Iranian border police just outside the city. The border police took our passports and signaled us to a room. Choy went in, Alan and I stayed back so we could transfer some fuel from Choy’s bike into mine. 15 minutes later, there was still no sign of Choy coming out of the room. We were concerned that there might be corrupted police trying to extract money from Choy, so Alan and I decided to secretly take some picture of the area and the police. Unfortunately, one policeman saw us and we were all summoned into the room. The photos were then deleted and we were free to go. This incidence with border police left us with a bad impression of Iran. With the help of the locals, we found a petrol station to fill up and rode to the Tourist Hotel where we stayed the night. Zahedan is the frontier town with a bad reputation, so we did not venture outside the hotel.
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