Iran 1

We crossed the border from Turkey all dressed up in our hejabs and loose clothes and met up with our guide Muhammad who we are required to have by law, no problems getting through. Our first night was a busdcamp in a fairly baron area and we immediately got our first camel sightings as 2 herds of 50-60 animals passed our spot, there were several babies in the pack being slowly moved along by their herder. We got our first real Iranian culture experience in the city of Tabriz where we found the people quite relaxed about their dress-code and so most of the girls dumped their tight hejabs for lighter looser scarves. The people are very friendly and make an effort to talk to us and offer their services should we need anything. We drove next to the Caspian sea to dip our feet in the water, we might have considered cooling down further but the ladies would all face a walk further up the beach to reach the women's section which is most likely covered in some way so we decided just to sit in the shade of the trees near the public access section, the place where only men and children can swim. Further along the road we camped at the top of a mountain pass with stunning views of the surrounding tree-clad mountains, we had a pretty wild night up there with the wind howling all night long, we were fortunate not to lose any gear although a couple of people had to sleep on the truck as not all tents were happy to stay atop a mountain. Further down the valley we spent a couple of nights in a gorgeous little mountain village of Masouleh which is quite a tourist haunt for Iranian. The quirky little place has houses terraced up the hillside, each using the roof below for seating maybe for their picnics or for their tea house or restaurant, very quaint and cute with really friendly locals.

We carried on driving east through mountains which then turned into flat wet lands with paddy fields all around us and then on to the drier lands of dust and sand. As Trucker Emily turned 21 we celebrated with some party games to entertain us at our bushcamp, as alcohol is banned here it was more of a kids birthday party which was a great deal of fun.

As we drive through the country we have regular 'comfort' breaks which have never been a problem but here there are a lot less public toilets here and we have been treated so well by the lovely locals who have taken us into their houses to allow us use of their bathrooms, as if this is not enough they then offer tea and watermelon, so kind. I will write more about the people and culture in a separate blog.