The border, a bush camp & our first scarved outing

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Geo: 38.081, 46.2901

The Iranian border, has to be one of the most nerve racking experiences I have ever had the pleasure of going through.

Our last night in Turkey was spent in a place known as Dogubeyazit (Doggy Biscuit as we all called it!), sitting just under the shadow of a snow capped Mt Ararat. It was a beautiful view, although the campsite had a little to be desired. It was basic lets say, with the toilets requiring somewhat of a pre deep breath before entering. For this reason and the lack of sleep from the Lake Van storm, the girls and I decided to upgrade to a room, with our own private bathroom, with an actual toilet rather than a poop covered squat! This cost us a whole 5TL each…. equivalent of less than 2 quid. The evening was spent preparing for the border crossing, early doors the following morning. We were allowed no sign of any alcohol on the truck (gin and orangeade all round!), no pictures of women showing their shoulders or more (so the covers of many a paperback had to be removed), no magazines with any sexual reference in it, no playing cards on display in the open, no personal photos of loved ones in any form of nakedness etc etc. This did not help with the apprehension.

In the morning, we were all dressed up in our Iranian gear, Black loose trousers, black, long, loose top and black head scarves showing no hair or neck. The boys delighted in this and many photos were taken. It was hot even by 8am! Bring on the heat of Iran!

At the border we had to tackle the 'happy chappys' at the Turkish exit first, before meeting the equally happy chappys at the Iranian entrance. A quick stamp in the little red books and they seemed happy to let us go into no mans land between the 2 countries. Now there was just a great hope that it wouldn't take 10 hrs like previous years to let us into Iran.

We all went through on foot, whilst Adam the driver had to take the truck though (he was responsible for everything on the vehicle whether it belonged to him or not, so we were all praying that everything that should have been removed had been removed). The first guard, stood behind a red, white and green painted gates, waving us in one at a time, checking that we had our exit stamps from Turkey (not that we could have got that far without them!) and our visas. It was about another hour before we emerged out of the passport check building the Iranian side, only to be greeted by many men trying to offer us currency exchange. We had to change some, so that we had something to have for lunch!! Baring in mind the exchange rate is 18000 Rials to the pound. Many people were millionaires before an hour was up! We watched as the border guards entered the truck with adam. They did not seem to be on there for long at all. About 15 mins later the truck roled on through. It had taken just shy of 2 hours and no problems! Amazingness!

At this point we picked up our guide for Iran (compulsory by law). Mohamed is a lovely man and amazing to talk to. During some of the chats I have had with him, he has invited me and my whole family back to Iran to be guests in his house if we want! Ledge! He used to be an English teacher, but retired due to lack of money to become a tour leader and meet a lot of new people. His dream is to come to the UK and send his daughter to the UK to be educated and to have a better life, but there is no way with things as they are at the moment, that he would be able to afford it (tears!!!)

It was a bushcamp on the side of the road that night, as time wise we would have never made it to the hostel. I was on cook duty…. What a nightmare it was! Cooking chicken thighs on an open, windy fire, with pasta and a tomato/vegetable sauce was not all that easy! The truck also was beginning to sink in the dry river bed we had parked on, so took a lot of skill from Adam and a prayer from everyone else, to bounce the truck free to be parked bang on the side of the road. Lets just say it was not a pleasant nights kip.

The following day, we continued onto Tabriz, which used to be the old capital of the country, until it was decided that it was to vulnerable from attack from the Turks and moved. The outskirts of the city did not seem to be anything special, nothing unusual compared to what we had been through in eastern Turkey anyway. High risse blocks that had not been particularly well cared for, little blocks of shops, selling what seemed to be similar things, deep gulleys for gutters running down the streets, with bridges over them so cars and bikes can cross with ease. We had plenty of waves as we entered, with renditions of ‘hello hello' resonating out as we drove past in our subtle huge orange beast!

Our hotel, Hotel Morvarid, was about a 15min walk from the centre of the town, so once settled into out little rooms (again with proper toilet and shower! – it is amazing how such little things can make your day out here!)it was off to the centre, still dressed in our black, so find some cheap food, and take in the sights and smells of an Iranian city.

As soon as we had got off the truck there had been looks! I am not sure they are used to having tourists in their midst? But we just had to ignore and lump it, as we knew this situation was not going to improve. After a few ‘just close your eyes and walk' road crossings we were becoming very hungry, and the smells emanating from a kebab shop were immense. The owner was lovely, however spoke very little English, so with much pointing, smiling and giggling, we managed to communicate enough to get a HUGE kebab each and a drink (for less than 2 pounds again!) Although as we all had larger notes and he did not have enough change, we were all given chewing gum instead, which added to the hysterics. Whilst sat eating, a lady and her mother also entered the kebab house and began to talk to us. The daughter, aged in her early 20's was very glammed up, with headscarf nearly falling off the back of her head, A LOT of makeup, designer sunnies (although they of course could have been genuine fakes as you tend to see a lot around here!) and bling. She did speak very good English and wanted to know what we thought of the city and what our plans were, etc. etc. She also enquired, at a complete shock to us…. Why we were wearing so much black and why we wore our head scarves so conservatively? She seemed shocked to find out it is what we had been told to do….. that is why we were getting so many strange looks.

We found the Bazaar after a little help from a few acquired friends en route, but it was nowhere near as flamboyant as Istanbul's. We, being girls, did manage to buy sweets though and some another headscarf to replace their black bonds. On our way back to the hotel, we also had a melon smoothie, as they looked delicious and in the heat of the day were much appreciated. Also a cake shop, with stunning displays of hundreds of varieties of cakes. We bought a few to try, although they were a little dry without a good dollop of cream on them!

After an afternoon, granny nap, it was time to think of more food and head out for tea. We had been recommended a pizza place, by the hotel, and so a subtle 18 of us walked down the street to it. We were going to try tongue pizza as it was the regions speciality, however, they had ran out – gutted. Considering it was supposed to be the best pizza in all of Iran, I was bitterly disappointed. Iceland's pound pizzas are much tastier and cheaper. They were not even on par with kebab shop pizzas back home. If that is the best pizza I am going to get here, kebabs it is from now on.

Breakfast was included in the hotel, much to our delight and we were greeted by a very smiley man, who said salaam (hello) to us and then delivered an enormous tea pot, some flat bread and carrot jam. Yes that is correct, carrot jam. We were a little apprehensive at first, and all tried the tiniest amount on a cm of bread! It has changed my life! I need to find a recipe on my return home!!! Tea is also drank through a sugar cube. The cube is placed behind your front teeth, held in place with your tongue and then a sip of the tea is taken through it. Bizarre at first, but you do get to eat a lot of sugar cubes whilst you perfect the technique and it certainly helps you to stay awake whilst on the truck!!!

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