Revolutionary Ride: On the Road in Search of the Real Iran

Travel Guide

Turkey

The journey actually starts in Turkey, “the mountaineous wilderness of Eastern Turkey” where she takes the boat across to board the train into the Islamic Republic. Alarmingly there signs which request that ” In case of death, do not lean on balustrades” But there is a nice experience to this train journey too when she is told by a fellow passenger she has only just met “Go and wake up your luck” which is a nice saying in Iran. Lois’ first experience of the land and its people…

Iran

On entry into Iran from Tabriz station:

“Khomeini and  Khamenei were everywhere; on giant billboards on the roadside at the roadside, as vast murals on concrete apartment blocks and less, impressively, on sagging vinyl outside schools and outside mosques”

Tabriz bazaar

“ It was thrilling to think that this very bazaar has one stood at the centre of the Silk Road or, to be more accurate, the Silk Routes, as it was never one formalized highway but a network of tracks with a maze of southern and northern routes but were used according to the weather and the time of year.”

The Chala Pass

At the Chala Pass, more than 8000 feet above sea level , the road began its descent into the Great Valley, the Great River of the Kings.” She heads east along the valley towards the village of Gazorkhan” Then there’s the sign into the village itself with its interesting use of typesetting

IT ISAGREAT PLEASURE TO WE-

LCOME TO ALL THE DEAR TOURISTS

Tehran

” To arrive in Tehran on a motorcycle is like being pressganged into playing a relentless video game. Constantly forcing yo  onwards and upwards, level upon level. You must keep moving”

“My most recent long distance motorcycle ride was around Iran, and was the most fascinating and rewarding journey of them all. The challenges were more cultural then physical but it was a truly mind-opening, heart-warming experience. This journey truly transformed me on a very deep level – just what travel is supposed to do!”

Kashan/Isfahan

“Despite the grandeur and beauty of my surroundings, I felt strangely isolated in Isfahan”

“Isfahan was known as none of Iran’s most conservative cites, but in reality, the unsavoury reputation of the Isfahanis was more likely the result of being the closest thing Iran gets to a tourist town”

Yazd/Persepolis

Yazd – “First I was heading east to the ancient city of Yazd, at the heart of Iran’s twpo great dserts, the Dasht-e Lut and the Dasht -e Kavir”

“Strangely for a country that produces millions of gallons of its own cheap petrol, Iran’s filling stations are few and far between and it as not uncommon to se queues at the pumps.”

then she stays in Hotel Nush Nush in Iranian Breaking Bad territory….

Persepolis

There’s an interesting anecdote here about how the French chefs from the famous restaurant Maxim came to be here. And how the desert was transformed into a tented city”

It’s the last stop on her tour before the final Shiraz.

Shiraz

“The final destination of her ‘Habib challenge and supposedly the friendliest city in the world’s unfriendliest country.”