Date: April 25th, 2016
Distance: 125 km
Song of the Day:

Leaving Bojnurd this morning Darius and I ran right into a headwind. There were a few hills, as well, to contend with, but it was the heading that was the annoying part. The wind lasted most of the morning.

As soon as we got to the plains around Shirvan, though, the wind just died. For the rest of the day it was hot, sunny, and flat. Nothing too exciting to talk about. More large farm fields, mostly green. There were a few plots in bright yellow. I don't know what those flowers are, but it sure is pretty.

We got to Quchan a couple of hours before sunset and checked into one of the best hotels on the trip. Just a stairway at street level, but covering the whole length of the block above the shops below. Sure, the shower doesn't work, but I could at least wash up in the sink.

Since Darius and I had a little time to kill, we decided to walk around the town a bit. The first stop was for an ice cream float. Here, it's saffron ice cream in carrot juice. Probably not what you expected, but it's pretty good. I also noticed that more women here have their hair fully covered. It is especially noticeable among the young women. Darius said that this part of the country, near Mashad, people tend to be more religious.



-Dravis

Date: April 24th, 2016
Distance: 109 km
Song of the Day: Dolly Dagger - Jimi Hendrix

The day started out sunny, cool, and beautiful. For the first twenty kilometers the road was bounded by mountains on either side, stark and beautiful. A few hardy plants were growing in the flat areas. The rocky cliffs to the north were bare rock, revealing the layers of sediment that built up the mountain range. The dust hovering in the air gave everything a faded quality, like a forgotten photograph from childhood. Iran continues to be an awesome place to ride.

The next little section was a long descent into the flat lands on the far side of Golistan Park. At the bottom, the whole area was covered with lush green farm fields. The day started to get warm and I started measuring the day in terms of cold drinks and ice cream.

We got stopped by the police in one little town. When they found out I was an American, they gave me a flower and wished me luck.



-Dravis

Date: April 23rd, 2016
Distance: 119 km
Song of the Day: I'm a Sensation - The Who

Darius and I woke up and had breakfast with Fatima and Ali. One of the interesting things here in Iran is that it's common for people not to sleep in a bed. Having a rug to sleep on is more important that a mattress. Now, I'm no stranger to sleeping on the floor. It's just part of traveling to strange places, and curling up on a rug last night was no problem for me. I was just surprised to see our hosts had done the same thing. Over breakfast, Faitma said that when they were first married she had told Ali they didn't need much money, just one good rug. I can understand why, now. After breakfast Darius and I thanked Ali and Fatima for the kindness and wished them well. Thank you.

Getting on the road, the wind was gone and the road began going uphill. Nothing serious, but it wasn't as fast as the day before. The day seemed to be confused about weather to be cloudy or sunny, so we ended up with a mixture of both. We stopped in a little town around noon. Darius had to go to a bank, so that left me out on the street for by myself a bit. A few old men and a bunch of kids gathered around me. They had a lot of questions, which I tried to answer as best as I could. I don't know Farsi, really, but I have gotten used to the questions that people want to ask. "Where are you from?" "What is your name?" "How old are you?" It was fun to try and answer the questions all on my own. It is harder to communicate, but much more fun and personal to do it myself. It's a little strange to be an odd sort of celebrity. Everyone wants to meet you. I haven't seen this since Africa.

Eary in the afternoon we arrived in Golistan National Park. What an amazing place. At first it started out with thick forests on either side of the road, which reminded me of many of the roads I have biked through in the Pacific Northwest. Before long, large cliffs started appearing on the north side of the valley. Soon they had become towering rock formations jutting from the earth. They appeared in amazing colors, with splashes of green trees and plants mixed in. This section of the day was fairly slow, I must admit. I was having a great time and a really wanted to take it all in. It was just a gorgeous place to be.

Golistan wasn't finished, either. As we continued down the road the land dried out. The forests gave way to small bushes and grass. The rocky hills stayed, though. The sun had also decided it was time to chase the clouds off. Eventually we came to an arid landscape. Few bushes here, mostly rocks in tan and brown with and occasional flash of orange. I couldn't help but laugh that I get to be in this spot. This was an amazing place and I am so lucky to be here at all.

The last twenty kilometers of the day were less fun. Slightly uphill, with a nasty crosswind. We were still making good time, but it was tough, hot work. I wanted to stop in a little town and have a cold Coke. I asked Darius what his plan was, and he wanted to go all the way to Ashkaneh, more than sixty kilometers away. With a little more than an hour before sunset, I thought we needed a different plan. I don't mind riding at night, but I have good lights. Darius has nothing. Plus, he was complaining about a bit of knee pain. Better to stop and rest. So we asked around the town for a place to stay. The village manager was happy to allow us to stay in their prayer room. It isn't quite a mosque, as there are no minarets or imam. But it's inside and has a good rug. What more could I need?



-Dravis

Date: April 22nd, 2016
Distance: 152 km
Song of the Day: Forever Young - Bob Dylan

Today was another one of those days where I was left thinking, "How the hell did that happen?" I could have never planned this, but I ended up in some amazing places.

Things started out well. The day was very windy. A layer of dark clouds moved in about mid-morning, but at least the wind was going my direction. It reminded me of my time in Spain at the beginning of this trip; a strong, steady wind at my back all day. I was also in a similar landscape. Darius and I moved inland, away from the Caspian Sea. It will probably be a while before I see that again. Inland, it's generally flat, perfect farmland. It looked like the wheat was coming along quite well and it's only April. Darius looked at it and said, "Here, they are growing beer." I corrected him on the nomenclature for crops in English, but I couldn't help but be amused by the idea. That was pretty much how the day went.

When we arrived in Gonbad, a car pulled up next to me. One of the guys in the car said, "Welcome to Iran!" and within about 30 seconds they had invited me to stay with them. I love the people here. Darius and I followed them over to the home of Ali and Fatima. They're a young couple with a large apartment. I was expecting something much smaller, more like the apartment in Tehran. This place was gigantic by comparison. It was funny to hear Darius explain my trip to them. I don't speak Farsi, but "Siberia" I know.

After getting settled, Fatima invited us over to a birthday party for a friend. I was excited to see what that would be like, so we headed across town to a different apartment. This was a much smaller and less formal gathering than the wedding last night, and it meant that there were women there. I am very curious about how they feel about the culture here. One of the girls, Eli, tried to explain as much as she could.

Other than that, it was pretty much like any other birthday party. There were things to eat and drink, music and dancing. I never claimed I know much about dancing, the best I manage is the 'white man's overbite', but the people here are pretty amazing. It turns out Darius is a fantastic dancer. And of course there was a cake. This was in the form of Sponge Bob, that they call Boba Spongi. Yum. Once the cake was done, though, people started leaving. It felt just like the wedding last night, the food was the notice that the party was over and people should leave. It felt very abrupt to me, though. I think the whole party lasted little more than an hour.

After the party, Ali and Fatima took Darius and me, as well as Eli, over to the tower. It is quite an elegant structure. Built out of brick, it is round with pointed buttresses around the outside. The tower is also about a thousand years old. Darius said that it's the tallest brick tower in the world, and it's also another UNESCO world heritage site. (I wonder if anyone has been to all of them...) The coolest part is actually inside the tower. I thought there might be stairs to head up to the top. Nope, the interior was just one very tall room. One with amazing acoustics, that is. It reminded me of the cyclopean tombs in Mycenae in Greece. The whole place was pretty cool.

We dropped Eli off at her apartment, then Darius and I took Ali and Fatima out to dinner. I felt it was the least we could do for them. This was a traditional restaurant where we sat on a carpet and relaxed while eating shishkabobed meat and tomatoes.

After that, the night still wasn't done. We went to a place in the woods for tea and smoking "galleon". In Turkey it is shisha or nargela. In America you might call it a hookah. They tell me that in Iran there is one in every home. It's what you do here when friends come over, you gather around and smoke from the hookah while chatting. Imagine it like drinking coffee around a coffee table. So that's how I ended my night, drinking tea in a yurt in the woods.



-Dravis

Date: April 21st, 2016
Distance: 95 km
Song of the Day: Blue Skies - Willie Nelson

Well, another fantastic day here in Iran. I mean, what gorgeous weather. The Caspian coast of Iran here is bursting with flowers and spring green. What a wonderful environment to ride through. My big goal for the day was to swim in the Caspian Sea, but things didn't work out quite as I expected...

I had a shot back in Chalus to swim, but the weather was kind of chilly and the beach was rocky. Not exactly the best opportunity. I figured with the warm and sunny weather now, swimming would be a lot better. After how hot it was today, I was ready for a nice cool dip in the lake. (The Caspian Sea is really just a big salty lake.) When Darius and I arrived in Bandar Gaz we started talking with a guy on a motorcycle, Amir, who said he would show us to the beach. That sounded like a good plan to me.

What we found wasn't exactly a beach. At first Amir took us over to a rocky jetty surrounded by mud and reeds. Not really a place condusive to swimming.

The second place we went to was the ladies swimming area. I wasn't sure how swimming for women worked in this country. Normally the women have to be modestly dressed with their hair covered, which doesn't really describe functional swimming atire. To get around this, special screened-off swimming areas can be set up. The one I was at wasn't being used, so the screens weren't installed, but I could see how it was supposed to work. There was a dock out into the water with changing stations, a bathroom, and showers. All of this was surrounded by series of steel poles sunk into the sea bed. A large circle of poles at the end of the dock was the swimming area. When in use, opaque fabric or plastic would be stretched between the poles to keep the area private. I don't know if it is better in the summer, but it didn't look all that fun. Today the water was murky and only a foot deep. That wasn't really going to be swimming either.

I realized that the water here was somewhat shallow, so to really swim I needed to get off shore a bit. The obvious choice, then, was the boat dock nearby. It went out pretty far. I walked all the way out to the end of it and figured it was deep enough to get in and really swim around. Darius was not happy about that plan, though. He said the police would come and arrest me. I wasn't too worried about that. While he was trying to talk me out of the plan, I decided not to jump in for a totally different reason. That was the human waste floating by in the water. Right, I realized that all the towns in the area must just pipe their sewage directly into the sea. Hell, Victoria B.C. is still doing that. While it is one thing to know that somewhere in a big body of water that is happening, it is quite another to see evidence floating in the water all around you. I never did go swimming.

We met up with Hassan, who was a friend of Amir's, and the four of us went for tea. That is pretty much your go-to activity here. The place we went was pretty simple, just a large roofed area with platforms and carpets for relaxing, drinking tea, and smoking hookahs. Other than the four of us, there were maybe a dozen other young men in there. As in young men with nothing to do. I don't know what it is like to grow up in this place, but it seems like there aren't that many opportunities for the young people.

After tea Amir had to go, but Hassan was going to take us over to his place. He had brought his own bicycle, so he could show us around. The first thing we did, though, was check in at the police station. Apparently, because it was such a small town, I had to check in with them before I could stay the night. I don't know if that is a law here, or just what people think. I guess I didn't really care, but it took forever. They asked for my passport and we waited outside the police station for half an hour before getting the all clear.

While we were waiting, Darius noticed that one of his spokes was broken. I realized that I've done almost ten thousand kilometers on my wheels, fully loaded and over bad roads, with no problems, thankfully. It's at times like these that I am really glad for the good work that Ben and Julian did on my wheels. Thanks guys. Anyway, getting Darius' wheel fixed was the next thing to do. The shop in town was closed, so we went out to dinner. Hassan called the guy who ran the shop and by the time we were done eating he was ready for us. While the wheel was getting fixed, Amir called Darius and asked if we wanted to go see a wedding. What the hell, right?

This is how I ended up crashing a wedding in Iran. Well, not the wedding really, just the reception. It seemed like half the town was there. I recognized some of the young men from the tea and hookah bar. Other than that, the reception wasn't all that different from one in America. No alcohol, of course, but some refreshments were provided. A DJ was playing loud Persian music and people were dancing around wildly. There was one glaring and obvious difference to American weddings, however. No women. They were all next door having their own separate reception. That, for me, was very strange. It was a wedding, the union of two people, yet the bride and groom would spent most of the evening in separate places.

At some point the music stopped and everyone started filing out of the room. I thought the recpeiton might be over, but Darius said it was time for giving gifts (or "jifts" as he says it). All the men headed over to the women's side to place money on a table in front of the bride and groom. The groom would then thank them for it. This seemed to me more practical than what we do. To hell with a wedding registry, just give the young couple some cash and let them figure it out. After the gifts were done, all the men wandered back over to their reception hall. By this point it was around 11:00 pm, and apparently it was time for food. I wasn't expecting anything, as I had already eaten, but I figured I could go for round two. The food was really good, lots of rice and chicken, plus yogurt and soda to drink. Not too bad for feeding four hundred people. As soon as people finished their meal they would get up and go home. From the look of the dancing earlier, I thought the party might go all night. Guess I was wrong, though. I can't tell if food was the signal for everyone to get out or if the meal was being held back to make sure everyone stayed until the end. Once we finished eating it was time to go, though. We walked over and thanked the groom. I was worried he might be upset that some guys he'd never met before showed up, but instead he was very happy about it. He thanked me very much for coming from America to his wedding. How cool is that?

-Dravis

Date: April 20th, 2016
Distance: 131 km
Song of the Day: Heroes - David Bowie

Holy crap, what an amazing day. I mean, it was just amazing and gorgeous the whole time. Leaving Firuz Kuh the terrain was rocky, dry, and barren. There was a good climb out of the town for the first twenty kilometers, after that it was all down hill. And this was really downhill. The road was steep and Darius and I were screaming along it. On either side were beautiful ravines and jagged mountain peaks. I would have gone slower to enjoy it more but I was actually worried about burning out my brakes so I was trying to use them as little as I could. The tight corners and bad roads had me pulling the levers at least a little bit. I know I was going over the speed limit and passing cars to boot. Bombing down out of the mountains in Iran, what a rush.

Darius stopped in a little town not too far from the summit. I figured it was a good chance to let my disk rotors cool off and he wanted to show me this amazing railroad bridge. I told you I like railroads right? Well, I'm also a fan of good engineering. This thing was pretty remarkable. It seemed to float between two walls of rock more than a hundred meters in the air. That it was built was already pretty amazing, but why it was built was also amazing. The rail line was descending down the valley just like we were, but to do that at a shallow rate the tracks had to curl around themselves. That bridge was there so the trains could come out of a tunnel bored into one side of the cliff, cross the narrow gap, then head into another tunnel on the other side. The entire valley was lined with bridges and tunnels for this train line. Very cool.

Even the little town there was pretty, nestled in this narrow valley. Large mountains and ridges loomed over it in every direction, but the green spring foliage softened the rocky terrain. The roofs on most of the houses were metal painted bright colors. I could have hung around longer, but we really did need to get going.

The day didn't get any worse from there, though the road did flatten out a bit. Frankly, I was glad of that. The white-knuckle descents are exhilarating for a while but I didn't want to do that all day. There were a few little uphill sections too, and the wind had turned against us. It kept things from being boring.

The weather continued to be amazing. The entire sky was filled with blue. On the horizon a few white puffy clouds were trying to make it over the mountains, but never seemed to manage it. The hillsides around the road were covered in trees, each of them bright green with new leaves soaking up the sun. At times it felt like the whole world was just made up of blue and green.

After finally getting to the flat lands by the coast, Darius and I stopped for some ice cream. Nothing better on a hot day. We ended up talking with the guy who owned the ice cream shop. As it turned out, he's also a cyclist. One of his friends came by and showed us photos of some mountain bike trips they had done. They were very excited about the trip I was on. The owner even had a book for guests to add a story about their adventures, so I did that. In the end he gave us the ice cream as a gift. The people here are amazing.



-Dravis

Date: April 19th, 2016
Distance: 136 km
Song of the Day: Tommy Gun - The Clash

Darius and I got out of Tehran today. There were a lot of ups and downs, both in terms of terrain and weather. The road we were on paralleled the mountains to the north. You might think that would be flat, but we ended up going over a bunch of the foothills. The ups were slow, but the downhill portions were amazing. I wish I had more time to really watch, but going 50kph and dodging cars, trucks, and pot holes doesn't leave time for much else. It was very exciting and I had a blast.

The weather was all over the place as well. The day started sunny and then went through cloudy, rainy, and snowy. The wind was also doing strange things. The morning started with a good tail wind, then we had a crosswind that brought the snow storm through. Then the weather turned again and pushed the storm right back at us. The day ended with a crosswind, but opposite of the direction from earlier. I don't think I have ever seen weather like that. The mountains must do something to the air currents.



-Dravis

Date: April 18th, 2016
Distance: Rest day
Song of the Day: You're My Best Friend - Queen

I finally heard back from my guys in Turkmenistan. They said my Letter of Invitation was ready at last, so Darius, Mehrdad, and I went over to the embassy. On the way over it started pouring rain. By the time we got there (Tehran is huge), the embassy was closed. I did at least talk to the guy, but I just got some forms and was told to be on my way. The weird thing is that I think he gave me the wrong forms, so the trip was a total bust.

Well, not a total bust. It did get me to a place with some internet and I figured out how to get around the filters, finally. Oh, I should mention that. The government filters many websites here. This includes YouTube and Facebook, but not other things like Instagram. I haven't a clue why these things get blocked, but it seems pretty random. It also makes getting things done here super frustrating. Anyway, I got it figured out and was able to get a few things organized. I also talked with my Turkmen guy and he said it would be easiest to just pick up the visa at the border, so that's what I'm going to do. I hope he's right.

That makes today my last day in Tehran, so I spent the rest of the day getting everything ready to head out on the road again.



-Dravis

Date: April 17th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

I was feeling somewhat better today. Three and a half months of travel without being sick, and now all I had was a bit of digestive distress, so I can't really complain. These things pass, after all.

Darius took me over to the main bazaar today. I love public markets like this, but it was a little different from what I expected. It wasn't exactly the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. It was a covered market, but more like the streets had been crudely protected from the weather by a few haphazard sheets of corrugated plastic. The other big difference was that the place wasn't really for tourists, this was a market for the people of Tehran. Lots of shops selling cookware or bulk foodstuffs like rice. Others were selling clothes or small appliances. A number were selling beauty products and accessories. Hardware, power tools, or locks, almost anything you would need was there. At the center of the place was a large mosque. I guess this practice dates back to the old caravansari days. The place where the merchants gathered would always need somewhere they could pray, so at the heart of each bazaar in here there is a mosque.

After the bazaar we took a tour of the palace of the Shahs. It was an interesting place, the architecture was a mix of different styles. The exteriors were done in intricate tile like the mosques here, but with features that seemed more at home in India. The insides were done in a baroque style more reminiscant of a Russian palace. Many of they halls were decorated in intricate mirror work. Like a mosaic, except created from mirrors. Finally, the grounds outside were well groomed like Versailles meeting a Persian oasis. I am not really into gaudy palaces, but this one was pretty interesting.

For dinner Darius took us over to Mrs. Mandana's place. I guess she is a friend of his family's from way back. When we arrived, she had provided fruit and cake for refreshments. Yum. She also spoke English very well so it was nice to have an actual conversation. Over dinner I tried to explain about American politics as best as I could. I am not sure how successful that was, as it is hard to try and give a reason for some of the stupid things polaticians say. After dinner her neighbors invited us over for cookies. They were excited to hear about my trip. Being an American here has not once caused an issue. Instead, everywhere I go the people are glad that I have come and welcome me into their homes. This evening was no exception to that, everyone was so polite and welcoming. I really feel at home here and I can't thank the people here enough.



-Dravis

Date: April 16th, 2016
Distance: Rest day

I was not feeling well today. My stomach was quite unhappy about something. I thought a simple breakfast of bread and honey might calm things down, but that really didn't help. I went with Darius to find a new tire, since I had been using his spare, but I was just not feeling it. I should have been excited to be wandering around Tehran and instead I just wanted to sit and let my stomach settle as much as it could. I started to think that maybe I should not have eaten that cucumber yesterday. I could have at least washed the damn thing before chowing down. Lesson learned.



-Dravis