17.07.97 - 06.08.97 Qushan-Rast-Astara-Tabriz-Maku 1800 Km
Visa
We got the iranian Visa in Bishkek. Usually they just give 3-5 days transit visas, which you can extend once your in the country. We got a 21 days transit visa, so we didn't even need to extend it (would have been poosible. One of the reasons probably was that the embassy in Bishkek isn't asked about visas to often and so isn't very strict. We had to wait for the visa only 6 days. In Pakistan we met people who waited for more than a month to get a 5 day visa. And in Turkey I met several people who didn't get the visa at all. In Istanbul you have to pay 50 U$ first and after some days they decide if they want to give you a visa, if they don't they keep the money and if they give you the visa you still have to pay another fee. The bordercrossings took a very long time. Coming in from Turkmenistan, they controlled all our luggage, including the waterbottles to check if we didn't have any wodka with us. Leaving Iran was a bit easier, but it was very crowded so it still took 3 hours.
Money
Rial, I forgot how much it's worth. You need cash U$, creditcards and travellercheques are not accepted.
Roads
The roads were good.
Traffic
Along the caspian sea there was quit a lot of traffic, but that's because many people from Teheran spend their holyday there. Otherwise it was average.
Accomodation
Along the caspian sea there are some campsites. Of course we stayed there. We went to a hotel only in Tabriz. The rest of the time we camped.
Food
There is lot's of Kebab. In the shops there are almost no foreigns products, they produce almost everything themselves. On our route we always found food easily.
People
Like Russia, the Iran was one of my favourite countries because of the people. Specially around the caspian sea everybody was very friendly. It probably has something do to with the fact that people were on holydays and relaxed as they would be on a working day. Since many rich Teheranis have a second house there it's a more liberal place than other parts of the country as well. In the evening young people were going out, drinking tea on the beach and listening to music. A young student told us that that wouldn't have been possible 2 years ago. The only problem we had was, that if we would have accepted all the tea invitations, we probably wouldn't have cycled more than 5 Km a day.
Language
Farsi. Many people spoke English.
Prices
Much cheaper than Turkey, a bit cheaper than central Asia.
Bicycle parts
It didn't look too bad. There are many shops, and they even have useful things, like repair kits and derailleurs. You wont find any 28" tyres or rims.
Dangers
If you behave as according to their laws, you shouldn't have any problems (if your male). During cycling, if you want, you could wear shorts, as some Iranian cyclist did, we prefered to wear long trouser. Women always have to wear long trousers and something over their head. Generally to me, Iran seemed more relaxed than Pakistan.
28.2.98/ chs