April 28th – 1st May

Covering 300km on our first day in Iran had opened our minds and our hearts to the country and its people. Everyone seemed so calm, gentle and welcoming. The women seemed to float along in their black floor length cloaks billowing in the wind as they moved with fluidity. The roads were incredible and even the taxi drivers were pretty calm until we asked for directions, then they got all excitable with trying to help, even with little English. However, the road signs changed instantly from having some English to having none at all.

Tabriz is a bustling city with a huge university population, very strict bus lanes (learned the hard way) and the home of the largest covered Bazaar in the World. We had managed to wangle visa’s to visit Iran on the agreement that we would have a guide in each city we visited and Marzieh (the lady who helped us get around all of the rules and regulations) had arranged for two of her friends to be our guides while we were in Tabriz. We met with Vahid and English (he never told us his name but spoke great English so we adopted the name English for him) and were so grateful to have them to guide us. We had a lot of practical jobs that needed doing as soon as possible, plus, even though I had tried very hard to dress appropriately, I had failed. The boys politely told Alex while I was out of ear shot that my top was too short as it didn’t cover me almost to the knee. I quickly changed but still felt a little exposed as I walked through the city, I needed to buy some suitable clothes but we didn’t have any money yet.

Due to the sanctions against Iran, international credit cards are not accepted anywhere so we had to carry cash into the country and change it once we arrived. As such we were carrying a significant amount of US Dollars. English took us to a carpet market whilst Vahid took our money to change it, it may seem strange to hand over hundreds of dollars to a stranger but it never crossed our minds to question it. We knew we could trust our new friends.

Once we had our Rials there was the confusion that the money is called Rials but is spoken in Tomans. There are so many zeros on Iranian currency ( for example $10 is 267,308.21 Rials) that to make it easier to understand the locals remove the zeros and call it a Toman. So 50,000 Rials ($1.80) becomes 5,000 Tomans (still $1.80). When someone quotes the cost of something being 5,000 then they take a 50,000 from you, you can feel like you are being short changed until you are used to the way it works.

Next we had to find a way around the internet censorship laws in Iran so that we could remain in contact with our families while we were there and also so that we could contact Marzieh to keep her informed of our whereabouts should anyone check in on us and our guides. This all felt so underhand but appeared to be a common thing. 50% of the top 500 most visited websites in the world, including facebook, twitter and Google+ are banned in Iran, yet everyone we met with uses these social platforms.

Once all of our jobs were done we went to explore the Middle Easts largest Bazaar, wandered the streets of Tabriz enjoying people watching, visiting the remains of the blue Mosque and of course, eating some great local food. Dinner was an experience in itself. We lounged on cushions on a raised area while we waited for our food to be served, once it was ready a table cloth was spread between us and plates and plates and plates arrived.

Hot clay dishes, spikes filled with barbecued meat dangled from hooks and mountains of rice coated in yellow butter and salad arrived for each person. We tried Abgoosht or Shorva, a hearty soup made of mutton and chickpeas. Vahid pressed the meat and chickpeas into the bottom of the clay pot and poured out the red soup which we all mopped up with warm Nan-e-barbari (bread), then he mashed the meat and peas together and served us all a spoonful. It was delicious. Another flavour sensation came in the form of pickled cherries which shocked the hell out of me! We all ate until every single thing had gone. We were all sleepy full and needed a sugar boost which came disguised in the form of tea. Crystalised sugar sticks were served already melting in the hot steaming weak tea as we all slipped into a food coma around a small trickling water fountain.

We parted ways with Vahid and English late in the afternoon and spent the evening in our room (so that I could take my headscarf off) planning our route through this surprising country. There was so much to take in, so much history and beauty and a long, long way to drive to see it all and to get across to Pakistan. Over 2,ooo miles left to travel and with only 2 weeks on our visas we had to get a move on.

Armed with a paper map, cash and a route through to Pakistan we left Tabriz the following day after buying me some suitable clothes. It was over 100 degrees yet I had to remain completely covered apart from my hands and face. Until being in Iran I have never appreciated the beauty of feeling the sun on my skin, the breeze tickling the hairs on my neck or being able to wear whatever I please. It was exhausting worrying about how I was dressed all the time and it didn’t get any easier, I would soon find that what one city feels is acceptable attire, doesn’t necessarily mean it is acceptable everywhere.

Nervous about wild camping our first night on the road we stopped in a gas station and asked, using our trained charades, if we could park and sleep there for the night. Straight away the man nodded and ushered Alex into a room which he promptly began sweeping, indicating that we could sleep in his room which was bare concrete without a stick of furniture. Alex tried to stop him cleaning to show him inside Peggy to explain that we would sleep inside, he finally came and looked in the van and couldn’t believe his eyes. He was so intrigued that we had an entire home in our car, he laughed and nodded and pointed to where we could park. We felt completely safe and slept soundly, excited to see more of Iran the next day.

The road systems took some figuring out, it seems that as a driver you are responsible for avoiding driving into cars pulling out in front of you. Anyone coming out of a junction has the right of way and WILL just drive out without even looking. Once we had the hang of that the drive became less stressful, but it never once got less beautiful. Driving across to Gilan blew our minds. We gawped as we sailed past paddy fields at the foot of lush green mountains, we collected shells along the coast of the Caspian Sea and drove up, up, up into the sky. We spent the night on the top of the world way above the clouds, we sat pretty much dumbstruck at the beauty all around us. Disturbed only by a shepherd, his flock and several friendly dogs the night passed peacefully and the view took our breath away all over again the following morning.

Iran had captured our adventurous hearts, our free bird souls and allowed them to fly.