Through the desert to Tehran

After saying goodbye to lovely people we met at the guesthouse, the last stretch of Iran took us through desert conditions and wind to Sarakhs where we did our last shopping before heading to Turkmenistan.

From Golestan we left the lush forrest and were back in the desert. We camped in abandoned houses and orchards until we reached Mashhad after a few days with tailwind.

Crossing the Alborz mountains we reached the green, hot and humid Caspian coast. We cycled flat for many kilometers till we reached Golestan National Park.

Toudeshk Cho is a small village in the desert where we spent a night in a homestay and took a car into the desert to go up some sand dunes.

Isfahan is an old city with very impressive old buildings and a very active society. We enjoyed the bustle on the square and at the bridge and visiting the mosques.

Yazd is a very pretty city with winding streets and houses made of mud brick/ We managed to extend our visa here.

Our stay in Shiraz was very relaxed at the Golshan Hostel. We visited Persepolis, met nice travelers and had a nice time strolling around.

In Tehran we mainly were hunting for visa. We also managed to join our hosts to by their carpet for their new house, visited the bazaar and chilled on the rooftop.

We cycled over small roads to avoid busy Iranian traffic and found deserted barren land. Here and there were mud brick villages very pretty in the landscape. We enjoyed to sleep in cooler orchards and met nice people along the way.

We cycled from Hakkari, Turkey to the border with Iran, through Urmia past Miyandoab until Takab. Here are are final impressions of Turkey and first impressions of Iran.