The Dasht-e Kavir desert showed herself from her best side. Check out these photos!
Day 61 – Farahzad to Esfahan
Day 60 – Tehran to Farahzad
Iran’s natural beauty should not be underestimated. This is the land of mountains and deserts. Iran is a diverse land where snow-capped mountains border vast desert plateaus and cliffside villages contrast with palm-filled oases. 34% of the land is infertile and today we passed through a whole lot of it before we arrived in the desert oasis of Farahzad, close to Mesr.
Day 59 – Tehran with friends
We started our last day in this bustling metropolis by visiting the bazaar. This is a bazaar how we imagined it; beautiful stone arches with a real market place underneath including carts being pushed back and forth, shouting businessmen and remarkable products.
Day 58 – Interviews in Tehran
We met up with Mr. Hua, who is from Hangzhou and living in Tehran since 2008. We interviewed him for our series ‘meeting remarkable Chinese overseas’. He is running a hotel that accommodates mostly Chinese businessmen. It was really fascinating how his living room, including the watermelon on the table, and three smoking Chinese businessmen made us instantly feel back in China!
Day 57 – Tehran
Salaam to the capital of Iran! Tehran, a sprawling metropolis of 15 million people fixed between the majestic Alborz mountains and the hot deserts surrounding the city. This is the big, concrete, chaotic and dynamic beating heart of Iran.
Day 56 – Mashhad to Tehran
Nine hundred kilometers between the two largest cities of Iran. The same distance as from Lille to Marseille in France. And while in France you drive through the entire country and pass by some of the largest cities and idyllic villages, the desert between Mashhad and Tehran made us realize again how empty the world can be. And how large!
Day 55 – Mashhad, Iran
We are in Iran. In every vain of our bodies we feel that. Being stuck at the border is really different than being at the holiest city of Iran. Thanks to very friendly Iranians we were able to visit as non-Muslims, the Imam Reza Haram (shrine complex). This is one of the marvels of the Islamic World and ever expanding to accommodate an increasing amount of visitors and show its importance in this modern age.
We are puzzled, surprised and intrigued by everything we see. We are observing it all to be able to understand, if only a little, the history and complexity of this country.
Day 54 – In Iran, with a car!
Thanks to the excellent team of BYD and their local distributor Zam Zam Motors we got our car customs cleared. We are still in the dark about the exact procedures and what all happened but the result is that we drove out of the Sarahgs border gate in the afternoon with an incredible smile on our face.
Day 53 – In Iran, but without car…
We woke up thinking that we just needed to get the stamps on our ATA (Chinese Carnet de Passage) and would be smoothly on our way to Mashhad, the second largest and one of the holiest cities in Iran, but that turned out to be a little different… The result is that we are stuck for another day at the Saraghs border in Iran, with a car that is still being kept at the Iranian Customs Clearance… let’s hope for better news tomorrow…
Day 52 – Turkmenistan to Iran
After having stayed in a nice hotel, with triple times prices for foreigners and the loveliest receptionist – or is it just me being on the road for 52 days? – we continued our journey to Saraghs border checkpoint to be able to cross into Iran.