Iran: first impressions

Iran is a world apart and a very refreshing one after having spent half a year in China and about a month in Central Asia. Of course, there are lots of interesting historical sights, spanning millenia of human culture. But what makes the country really interesting and welcoming is the people: forget about such terms as "axis of evil" and "cradle of terrorists" - none of that is remotely true. From the moment we entered Iran, people have shown a hospitable, open and curious attitude towards us.

It started with the businessman who offered us to bring us to Mashad, paying for our lunch. Then, there was the Swiss-Iranian lady who showed us a nice hotel. Two young men in the train were very gentlemanlike and helped us finding a taxi. People in taxis share their snacks with us. A man offered us a ride from the bus station to the town of Bandar Abbas. Women and men in the street smile and curiously ask where we're from (sometimes, this gets a bit annoying when there's 10 boys asking that question non stop, but it's all in good spirit). And the list goes on: Iranian people are great!

It is also quite clear that many (most) Iranians don't like their government at all: the list of mock-names for the president is long, and includes such terms as "monkey", "idiot" and "stupid man" (ok, not that impressive cursewords, but Iranians generally aren't that eloquent in English) . We also met quite a few mainly young people who openly share with us that they are no Muslims, and that they don't believe in God. One youngster in Mahan even proclaimed to be an atheist, who wanted to destroy all religions...

What is also very obvious is that the position of women is generally not very encouraging: the headscarf is omnipresent, and many women wear a none-revealing black chador, which is not only horribly hot in this climate, but also very unhandy: they keep it closed with at least one hand, and many older women even take a piece of cloth in their mouth as to cover their face.
In busses, women sit in the back whereas men sit in front. In shared taxis, a woman cannot sit next to a strange man, resulting in the fact that people shuffle around in the car until the mix is right. Women also behave in a very restrained way: they don't make a fuss about themselves and are generally keeping rather quiet.

Mashhad: conservative city!?

The city of Mashhad houses Iran's holiest site: the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza, a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed and the 8th Shiite Imam. Iranians and Muslims from distant lands come to pay homage to and mourn the death of this important imam. This makes Mashhad one of the most conservative places in Iran. We of course also went to visit the complex which was rather impressive, both architecturally and ornamentally, but it's also a great place for some people-watching: crying women, all of whom dressed in the black hijab, and contemplating and chanting men make the shrine complex a very interesting scene.

With Hanna covered up in the nothing-revealing hijab and with Floris's Islamic-style beard, we managed to get into the inner sanctum: the shrine itself, which is normally off-limits for non-Muslims. At least on the men's side, people were clambering and pushing to touch the shrine, some of them climbing onto it's fences. A rather impressive sight!

Later that evening, we ventured out in the city to find a tea house. Not even 100m out of our hotel, an overly friendly man took us to a small tea house. A friendly deed for sure, but we actually wanted to go to another tea house as the one he had taken us to was rather sadly empty. But the man had already paid our tea so we had no option but to stay...

However, just as we were finishing our tea and planning to leave, the young manager of the tea house came to get us for dance ("Please, Sir, Please!"), as apparently a small party had just started. We quickly learned that one of the ladies had her birthday party, and there was no escape. Not that it wasn't nice: we were spurred to eat some snacks, eat some cake and have a drink - including our first "underground alcohol" in this officially alcohol-free nation.

It was very interesting to have an inside view of how young Iranians go about. Meeting members of the opposite sex is a difficult endeavour in this largely conservative society and even in a closed private party like this, there were some restraints. Some girls took off their headscarves immediately, but others did so only very hesitatingly, letting it drop bit by bit. The boys on the other hand were very free: many of them dress extremely sexy. Interestingly, there was an old lady (somebody's grandmother) supervising the scene, probably to keep an eye on what was happening...

The unexpected combination of the religiousness of the worshippers at the shrine and the underground party of Mashad's youths made it a very interesting first stop in Iran.

First pictures from Iran online

As you may have noticed already, the first few pictures from our maiden steps in Iran are now online. Additionally, the trip tracker has been updated to our current location.

Enjoy!

Crossing to Iran at Badgiran border post

Crossing the border between Turkmenistan and Iran was the second big cultural frontier on our trip after the China-Kyrgyzstan border (well, Uighurs of Xinjian were in a way also an odd one out). Border officials were once more very polite and friendly on the Turkmenistan side, making this country's borders maybe the nicest one so far to cross. Hanna of course had to cover her head before entering the gate separating the two border posts. Iranian side was also easy; no questions asked, no papers to fill, no money asked and the customs officials seemed to be having a lunch break so no luggage search either (which kind of made us regret for not having stocked up on cheap vodka on Turkmen side).

On the Iranian side we were offered a ride to Mashhad by a charming Iranian businessman returning to Tehran from his company's side office in Ashgabat - there are no direct flights between these two cities so he could only fly to Mashhad. He had been living in Sweden for ten years and we had interesting discussion about life in contemporary Iran. We stopped to have lunch, and he absolutely refused to let us pay our part: "But you are my guests! It is my pleasure!" A warm welcome to Iran, indeed. On arriving in Mashhad, he once more showed us what hospitality means and insisted in paying for the taxi - our resistance was futile.

Just as we got out of the taxi, we bumped into an Iranian lady we had met at the Turkmenistan Embassy in Tashkent: an unbelievable coincidence! She brought us to the hotel where she stayed: a simple but comfortable room on walking distance of the Holy Shire of Imam Reza. She was travelling alone for a year through a great deal of Asian countries, including Afghanistan. With a background and the experience of having worked for over twenty years in the banking sector, she monitors the social and economic situation on a geopolitical level through travels and through living and communicating with the local people (she speaks a staggering 12 languages). With that information, she writes reports for "people with a lot of money, who wish to secure their wealth", thus working as a high-value, low-profile financial advisor. She definitely was one of the most interesting people we met so far!

New pictures and updated trip tracker

Now we're in Iran, we finally have some time to take it easy. Internet access is not a problem here it seems (as opposed to many places in Central Asia), so we managed to upload some more pictures from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The pictures are unedited and not all of them are great, but they do to give an impression at least.

The trip tracker is also updated to our current location after a long downtime due to Uzbek internet censorship.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

Turkmenistan: the 3 day transit visa dash

As soon as we got out of the taxi from the border in Turkmenabat, we were (as usually) besieged by taxi drivers. Diverting them by asking if there's a toilet nearby only helped for a minute or so: negotiations were soon undertaking in the (by the way not so inviting) toilets.

Finally, we got a taxi to Ashgabat for 30 USD, which is a fair enough price. The driver was taking his wife to the international airport (she was going on business to Istanbul), and thus acted as an impromptu taxi driver for the day. And why not? It was a pleasant drive across an endless desert, but we had a nice conversation (in "travel Russian", mixed with some local words and a lot of body language) and we ate some nice chicken on the way.

Arriving late in Ashgabat was not really a problem: it's a well-lit city and we easily found our way to the guesthouse we had in mind. Dobranow guesthouse: 20 USD, breakfast and dinner included, nice family: good deal!

The next day, we walked around the city. It is one of the more insane places in the world: Ashgabat is a very modern city, with loads of white marble apartment blocks, impressive palaces, ministries and monuments, golden domes on palaces and theatres - and of course loads of golden statues of the former president Niyazov.
One of the craziest monuments ever must be the "Arch of Neutrality": a 50 m 3-legged concrete arch with a 12 m high golden statue of the president on top. Most interestingly, the statue rotates so that the president always faces the sunlight. Madness.

There are some other crazy sights: a pyramid shaped shopping mall cum waterfall, a 80 m high monument to the independence which resembles a plunger (one of those things you use to unclog a toilet) and an earthquake monument where the golden baby Niyazov sits on top of the world, supported by a bull.

We learned that Turkmenistan is really a weird place. Gas, electricity and water are for free, resulting in people leaving their gas stoves burning all day, leaving lights on as they please and toilets and showers with constant running water being the norm. The plus side is that having a hot shower is a common luxury, but the Turkmen people obviously have never heard of Global Warming...

The streets of Ashgabat are impressively empty: on big lanes and in parks, there are no other people than the ever-present police (friendly police towards us foreigners, but still: they're literally on every corner) - and in parks there are loads of gardeners tending the flowers and mowing the lawns.

However, all people we met were very friendly: bus drivers, post office clerks, shopkeepers, policemen and other officials - but maybe that's mainly because they're utterly unaccustomed to meeting foreigners: Turkmenistan is a very closed country, listed only one place ahead of North-Korea in political unfreedom.

Crossing into Turkmenistan: the Farab border

In Bukhara, the day before we left the country, we asked around how much a shared taxi to the border (ca. 150 km) would cost. Starting prices were as high as 50 USD, but went down to 30 USD after another tiring negotiation.

Luckily, we had no need for a taxi the next morning as there was a cheap marschrutka taking us to Olot for 2000 som each (less than 2 USD)... In Olot, we took a taxi for the remainder of our sums: an overpriced 8000 sum but there was little option but to take it. Reaching the actual Uzbek border post at Farab involved walking across 2 km of desert, doable on an October morning but still quite hot.

The Uzbek customs was a bit slow but easy enough: we filled out a customs declaration, copying the information of the sheet we filled out when entering. Our details were noted down by another official and we got our exit stamps: that was that.

Another 15 minute walk brought us to the Turkmen border post: a very helpful, surprisingly friendly and straightforward business. We filled out some forms, handed over our passports for inspection and were asked to pay 10 USD entry fee and 2 USD bank fee - some sort of institutionalised bribery, but we got our entry stamps in no time.

It was an easy crossing, but the onward transportation was a bit more problematic. We took a taxi for 10 USD each, which we tought was going to Ashgabat (600 km) - a good and reasonable deal we thought, as gas is dirt cheap in Turkmenistan. When we were in the car however, and about 2 km down the road, we were told the car was only going to Turkmenabat (30 km) for that price. Confusion, some disagreements with the Russian co-passengers but we decided to stay in the car and see what would happen.
Upon arriving, we payed 10 USD for the two of us, still too much but in that kind of situation, you often have little choice...

Itinerary Iran

Entering Iran near Ashgabat, we head towards the holy city of Mashhad. From there, we head for Tehran, where we intend to meet Hanna's friend Maneli and her family. Continuing South to Kashan, Esfahan and Yadz, we make our way towards Shiraz and the ancient site of Persepolis.

From there, we return to first to Tehran and then head further north towards Qazvin, Zanjan and Tabriz, exiting Iran near Meghri in Armenia.

Timewise, this is quite an ambitious plan, which we very well may have to shorten a bit here and there, as our visa only permits us to stay in the country for 25 days. It's quite likely we'll extend our visa, but we'll see.

Uzbekistan: (fun?) facts

Some more Central Asian / Uzbek fun facts we came across during our journey:

1. Uzbek people have rows of glistering gold teeth.
2. Tashkent's metro was designed as a nuclear shelter by the Soviets (which means that taking photographs is prohibited) - and each station has a unique design, some of which are truly amazing.
3. In Uzbekistan, you're expected to haggle for everything: in hotels, for taxis, buses, trains, in barbershops, at the market. Fun, but it can be quite tiring.
4. The largest note in Uzbekistan is 1000 sym, which is worth about 0.60 EUR. Changing foreign currency inevitably leaves you with impressive stacks of notes to carry around, making wallets all but useless.
5. The bulk of the Uzbek agriculture exists of cotton plantations (your T-shirts could very well originate in Uzbekistan): the Soviets put up vast irrigation works, tapping water from the Amu-Darya and Sur-Darya rivers. One result of this is the dramatic near-disappearance of the Aral Sea, a massive ecological disaster causing widespread health problems across the region.
6. The 30 km long highway between Khiva and Urgench boasts what is probably one of the longest trolleybus lines in the world.
7. Catching an opera or ballet performance in Tashkent's Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre costs as little as 5000 sum (ca. 2.5 EUR).

Central Asian Cuisine

We were forewarned about this, and it proves to be quite true: the Central Asian culinary experience is not exactly the highlight of our trip.

Sure, after having spent some months in China, which has an interesting and rich cuisine that is however at times quite repugnant for unexperienced Western tastebuds, the recognisable foodstuffs of the "-stans" are quite a relief. The cuisine is however not very refined, with rather dull and often recurring ingredients (potatoes, bread, mutton and onion) and bland tastes. The sometimes creative combinations are quite frightening: ever considered mixing potatoes, rice, buckwheat, ketchup and mayonnaise?

There are influences from the surrounding cuisines: laghman (similar to Chinese noodles), plov (resembling Persian rice pilafs), nan (flat breads found across Asia) and samsa (similar to Indian and South-Asian pastries).

In Kazachstan and Kyrgyzstan, both countries with a long nomadic tradition, the diet consists mainly of meat (often chicken and mutton), milkproducts and bread. Uzbekistan is more influenced by the Turkish cuisine: kebabs, noodles and pasta, shashlyk and breads are some of the staple foods. Across the region, there is also a heavy influence of Russian cuisine: soups (borscht, okroshka), smetana, blini, and kotlety are found in most restaurants.
Drinks of course include tea (green and black tea being most popular), beers and the inevitable vodka.

In most restaurants, especially in smaller towns, service is of the ex-Soviet standard: we've encountered plenty of waitresses happily watching television only to be disturbed by our uninvited presence.
The food itself is rarely really inviting: you often get luke-warm dishes, fatty bits of meat and uninspiring cucumber and tomato salads. Of course, we haven't exactly been dining out in the more upscale restaurants in town. We often found that homemade food (dining in guesthouses where we stayed) or food bought at streetside stalls was a much better deal, both in taste and value.

An amazing museum in the middle of the Kyzylkum desert

The best museum we've seen so far on our trip, and for that matter probably one the best in Central-Asia, is the Savitsky Karakalpakstan State Art Museum. It is located in one of the most impossible places in the world: in remote and otherwise unimpressive Nukus, the capital of Uzbekistan's westernmost province of Karakalpakstan.

Most impressive is its outstanding collection of Russian Soviet-era avant-garde art, forbidden by the Communist Party but safely put up in this backward outpost by Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky (presumably even with support from local authorities). There's also a quite interesting section on local history and craft work from the Karakalpak region.

If you ever happen to pass by, don't give it a miss!

Uzbekistan: Historic Sites at a relaxed pace

After a few weeks of moving rather fast across Kyrgyzstan and Kazachstan, we decided to take it a bit easier in Uzbekistan, also because we had to wait for the Turkmen transit visa anyway.

Tashkent is quite a nice place, although there aren't really any "sights" that are absolutely necessary to see: there are some medrasses and mosques, the obligatory Soviet-era concrete showcase buildings and giant empty squares and parks, but none of that makes Tashkent very impressive.
It is however a quite easy-going place, which feels safe (at least during the day) and it just is a good place to learn a bit how the Uzbeks go out and about doing their business. And the metro is a wonderful place!

Samarkand is quite something else: it is probably the most touristy place we've come across (except perhaps Xi'An in China), but with the Registan and the Shah-i-Zinda it does contain some of the most moving sights of Central-Asia and definitely is a "must-see" for anyone with even the slightest interest in historical sites.
We stayed for about a week in Samarkand, taking in the monuments at a very relaxed pace and just lingering about in the town. We stayed at a good-value backpacker hangout bed and breakfast (Bahodir B&B), met some nice people and just relaxed and worked on our laziness skills.
Floris finally had his beard tidied up just opposite the Registan: relaxing, fun and cheap!

From Samarkand, we took a night train to Nukus in the far West. The train was cheap but otherwise not a huge success: travelling through the desert with a window that didn't close properly made it a sandy and cold ride. In Nukus, we saw the impressive art museum (see later post) before moving on to Khiva.

Khiva was well worth seeing because of its definite charm, history and moving architectural sights. It was however a bit empty: the old town is reserved exclusively for tourism with tour groups roaming the streets and shopkeepers trying to sell them their souvenirs.

Then, another haul through the endless Kyzylkum desert to Bukhara, where we stayed overnight just to take the train to Tashkent the following morning, to pick up our Turkmen visa. We just had a short stroll around Bukhara, but we're going back there later this week to see the town properly, before crossing into our last "-stan".

Turkmenistan, here we come!

Ladies and Gentlemen: "We've got it!"

Obtaining the visa hasn't been easy: it took us 5 visits to the embassy, 8 hours of queueing and waiting in hot sunshine and cold showers and a total of 80 USD, but we finally got our transit visas for the "North Korea of Central Asia".

It's only a 3-day transit visa, so actually seeing something in Ashgabat will have to be in an unusual rush, but we're very happy with this as this means that we will reach our aim of crossing overland!