Iran, Kish no 2

So, here we are, one month later and we are still in Iran! We ended up staying a lot longer than planned on Kish Island due to a number of incidents…

1. Oliver stood on a scorpion and had to be rushed off to the hospital. No damaged done though. Luckily for him, the scorpions on Kish are not so poisonous. After an injection he seemed to have more energy than ever! He is now nick named Scorpion Boy.

2. We bumped into Mohammed, who works as a diving instructor on Kish. Pia and Richard were offered to go for a test dive and after that we all decided to get a PADI open water diving certificate. Kostas and Chi kindly offered to look after the kids whilst we did our intensive four day course. A good reason to stay for a couple of extra days we thought…

3. On day three of our diving course Tanja managed to poke Milans eye so badly so he had to postpone his last dive. After a couple of turns to the hospital (again) his eye finally healed enough for him to finish his course as well.

4. It was now time for the turtle eggs to hatch. Originally we thought we would miss out on this but by this time we had extended our stay for so long, we might as well wait for a couple more days for the chance to see the little turtles dig themselves out of the sand.

5. Our visas were expiring and in need of extension. This proved to be harder than we thought, but after quite a number of turns back and forth to the immigrations office we managed to get a few more days in order for us to get back to the mainland where we could extend our visas further.

All in all, five or so days ended up in a three weeks stay. Towards the end, we were all quite desperate to get of this Island. We felt as if we would never leave… But looking back, we had some incredible time and unique experiences on this strange Island. For some of us it was first time breathing under water! Diving is just amazing and we cannot wait for the next bit of coast on our journey where we can test our skills.

Tuvalie and Richard having some fun on the beach. /Pentax

Richard and Pia getting ready for their first dive. /Pentax

Tanja is testing out Oliver´s swim aid. /Pentax

Luka´s found yet another interesting crab! /Pentax

Mourning procession on the death day of Fatime, Prophet Mohammed´s daughter. /Pentax

Inside the great mosque on Kish Island. /Pentax

By the green tree, where people come to tie ribbons around the branches for good luck. /Pentax

And we did manage to see those tiny little turtles with a lot of effort digging themselves out of the sand and scurrying down towards the water. Such cool little characters…! One night turtles had hatched outside one of the fenced off areas so we were all searching the whole beach with torches helping the lost turtles into the water. The waken nights and lost sleep was definitely worth it. And we made some friends for life! The guys at the center for monitoring and protecting sea turtles are like family to us now. Almost for three weeks they let us stay with them, they cooked for us, played with the children and shared their work and lives with us. Hamed, Ali, Camran, Arash, Hossein - we do hope to see you sometime, somewhere again!

Newly born! /Pentax

Getting some help into the water. /Pentax

Just crawled out of the sand. /Pentax

Another close encounter with a turtle. /Pentax

Hamed, Camran and Ali. /Pentax

Preparing the catch of the day for barbecue. /Pentax

Iran, Yazd – Persepolis – Kish

Pretty neighbour at the parking lot in Yazd. / Pentax

Yazd is one of the oldest, still inhabited cities in Iran and is home to the largest Zoroastrian community in the country. Zoroastrianism was the main religion across the Iranian plateau before Islam and it was one of the first religions to have one supreme god. Yazd turned out to be a very interesting and pretty city with its mud houses and narrow lanes, but very hot and with few places to escape the sun with the kids. After another couple of nights at the parking lot of the silk road hotel , we made friends with a couple from Holland traveling overland to Malaysia. They were going to drive north in search for some nomads to camp with since this is the time of the year when the nomads move from the lowlands to the cooler highlands. They inspired us to change our plans slightly and instead of rushing towards Pakistan, we decided to go south towards Kish Island in the hope of bumping into some nomads. Kish Island, we were told, is quite a paradise, where foreign women and men are allowed to swim together without the woman having to wear chador (cover and veil). After four days in dusty, hot Yazd we were longing for the beach and some snorkeling… Costa and Chi would continue with us. We all wander a bit how it will be when we finally separate, now they´ve become like family members…

On our last night in Yazd we camped by the Towers of Silence. This is where the Zoroastrians used to place their dead for the vultures to take the bodies. According to their belief cremating or burying the dead would pollute the air or soil. They stopped doing this in the 60´s and now the 5500 remaining Zoroastrians in Yazd bury their dead in the small graveyard next to the towers.

Camping by the towers of silence, Yazd. /Pentax

This is where Zorastrians used to put their dead. / Pentax

Driving south from Yazd in the lookout for nomads we soon realized that we probably missed them. By this time most of them would have headed further up north, towards Esfahan because of the heat. So with no nomads in sight we turned off the desert road to camp in a small oasis village about 200 km north of Shiraz. We met a very friendly farming family that let us camp on their grounds. After a refreshing, cool night we continued south…

Some curious bikers in Firuz Abad. /Pentax

Friendly farmers. /Pentax

Next stop was Persepolis, an ancient site of the Achaemenid empire. This city was built between 518 BC and 400 BC and was the place where people came to pay homage to the kings during New Year. Persepolis was burnt to the ground in 330 BC by Alexander the great. We camped right by the ancient city, and had a long walk around the magical and fascinating grounds.

Persepolis. / Pentax

We continued further south and given up our hope to find nomads we got to Firuz Abad, where we spent one night by the ruins of Ardeshir´s palace. The ruins show what is thought to be the earliest examples of a squinch, which is what the domes rest on. After a morning wander around the palace, we started our, what was going to be a very hot and sweaty, drive to the coast. With over 40 degrees in the car and warm wind in our faces reaching the coast was like driving into a wall of humidity. The change is quite drastic as you get to the Persian Gulf and as there was no breeze by the sea we were all quite desperate to get into the water. (Pia and Lina still in their clothes however).

Costa and Chi measuring and taking notes of Ardeshir´s palace./ Pentax

Desert, desert, desert... /Pentax

To find out how and when to get to Kish Island took us a day or two and after finally finding a friendly captain with a ship that would take us without charging over price (they don´t seem to be so used to foreigners going to this island by car) we departed Bandar-e-Charak very late at night. We had to wait (for about six hours!) for trucks to load onto several ships before it was our turn to go. An estimated midnight departure turned into three o clock and with four sleeping children and six very sleepy adults we were finally on our way. We all tried to catch some sleep on the boat and arrived to Kish at 6 in the morning. At the port we had to wait for another of couple of hours for the immigrations office to open before we finally were released onto the island.

We soon find out that the so looked forward to foreigners beach had been closed down. Pia and I were now directed to the women´s only beach which is the only place on the island where women are allowed to swim. Not quite the paradise we had thought! Very disappointed it was however quite an experience to go to this beach where security is more strict than on any airport. No cameras or mobile phones are allowed, they search through the bags (and body!) carefully, and guards walk along the surrounding walls with shock guns in case of unwanted intruders. Inside is like any beach apart from the no men bit, and here women are free to wear bikini and no head dress. There is a life guard that whistles very angrily at you if you swim too far out (which Pia and Lina did all the time : ) ) or too close to the edges…

Beach bums! /Pentax

After a couple of days on the island were introduced to the Center of protection & monitoring of sea turtles. Sea turtles come to Kish to lay eggs right around this time of the year. To have a chance to see the turtles we camped by the little hut on the beach where they have guards 24 hours a day monitoring the turtles. Two years ago people would dig up and eat the eggs and they still do if they get a chance.

On the first night we had no luck even though we all stayed up half the night. But on the second night we actually got to see a Hawksbill turtle lay her eggs! It is so incredible to have seen it in real life. For one and a half hour we were watching this turtle digging, laying eggs, carefully covering the eggs in sand and slowly disappearing back into the water. We are now here by the Center of protection & monitoring of sea turtles for the fourth night and we´ve been lucky enough to see one more turtle. Tired however from the lack of sleep (it is now 3:18 and Costa is doing a last search on the beach) we spend the days on the beach or in the cool shopping malls which is not so bad. Today we managed to find a secluded beach with a cove where we all could swim together. (Feeling a bit like criminals however since it is strictly forbidden.) The day after tomorrow we will leave Kish and head for Bam, and Pakistan two weeks later than we originally thought.

By the center of monitoring & protection of sea turtles. /Pentax

Heading back to the sea after laying eggs. /Pentax

Iran

After Lina and Pia had changed their western clothes to something more appropriate we entered Iran a month ago. Crossing the border was no problem. Since then we have visited a number of places, a lot of nice people and learnt a lot about a country we knew hardly anything about - and a lot of what we thought we knew is not as we thought =)

Pia enjoying her new outfit in the Tabriz bazaar (Pentax k10d)

The first stop we made was in Tabriz, where we stayed two nights and arranged with the car insurance. At the place we stayed we met a guy called Costa and his wife Tsi. He is originally from Greece and she from Japan. Costa has been travelling for eighteen years, including living one year naked at New Guinea. The stories he can tell…! Since then they have been travelling with us, Tsi in Richard and Lina’s car and Costa in Pia and Milan’s.

Costa and Tsi showing us where to go in Indonesia (Pentax k10d)

We stayed two nights in a park in Zanjan on our way to Tehran. It was meant to be one night but due to the cue for diesel we had to stay one more. The diesel, by the way, is 1 Euro for more than 100 litres =).

Queing for diesel. 1 euro for more than 100 litres :) (Pentaxk10d)

We where recommended by some people we met to stay at the Shrine of Imam Khomeini where there is a nice park, 24 hours toilets and subway into the city. We had to arrange with the visa to India so this seemed like a perfect place; two of us could stay in the park with the kids and two go in to Tehran. The place, however, is a very religious place. During our stay people tried to get us to put our kids in the Islamic school by giving us water, juice and cakes – a lot. Richard ended up in a tent with a young guy and his five doves. He wanted to “guide” Richard. Different place and probably not representative for Iran, but we had many interesting conversations and met many friendly people. We even had food cooked for us in the park one night.

Unfortunately there has been too much time spent on the Indian Visa. First they didn’t want to issue one. After we mentioned that we were filming, they said they will consider issuing them and that it will take a month… to be continued… We stayed in Tehran four nights and then we left to go to Kashan.

The myth says that the three wise men travelled from Kashan when they heard Jesus was born. The city is also known to be a very nice place with different architecture. We stayed outside the town, at a place called Fin Garden. The place to be, we noticed. The actual garden is located at the end of a long street. Along the street, on both sides, there is water from natural springs which they also have lead to a park area where you can sit in the shadow and have picnic. Having picnic is however the national sport. They have picnic everywhere at all times. The Iranians love their parks and so do we. Wherever there is a park there is clean toilets, sometimes showers and tourists are allowed to camp everywhere. Very social. We first stayed four nights in a parking place, in the upper corner as far away from everybody as we could for privacy. It did help but despite the fact that we thought no one would spot us the drove across the empty parking to take pictures of the children… We spent time in the garden, at the bazaar of Kashan, bought water pipes (which we by now are totally addicted to) and visited a home where we got served tongue. Milan and Richard got their hair cut by Costa and his trimmer and now they only have about one centimetre of hair. Tsi and Costa stayed two nights in the house of an Iranian family. The fifth night in Kashan we where invited there as well (all ten of us!) to stay in their house and have dinner. The house is situated in Kashan, near the centre and is very nice. There is hardly any furniture and beatiful carpets on all flours. You eat on the flour, drink on the flour and sleep on the flour. Brilliant! We stayed two nights there. Amazing family, we really felt welcome. The first night we had dinner and then went for a night picnic at 2000 m height.

The kids playing in the fingarden, Kashan. (Pentax k10d)

After totally seven nights in Kashan we decided to move on. We stayed one night in Abyanesh, a village with houses that looks a little like ginger bread houses and is UNESCO World Heritage. Pia got very tired of wearing a peace of textile on the head in thirty degrees. This she could not change so she consulted Costa and his trimmer. We are now three happy, not so hot, skinheads =) From Abyaneh we went to Esfahan – the most beautiful and historical city of Iran according to many Iranians. This we can confirm, not that we have been everywhere, but it is one of the nicest cities we’ve been. We stayed at a parking place by a park for a week. Here we met some other overlanders and again we heard that Pakistan was their nicest experience along their route and in particular the Karakoum highway. Talking to the Pakistan official on the phone, he explained that there is no need for all the family members to come to the embassy in Tehran to apply for the Visa. So the last three days Lina and Pia was left alone with the kids since Milan and Richard had to go to Teheran to arrange with the Indian and now Pakistan Visa. Pia and Lina spent the time having lunch at nice Iranian families home.

Luka walking around in Abyanneh

Tuvalie in the Imam mosque, Esfahan (Pentax k10d)

The first mission in Tehran was to get the Indian paperwork fixed. After some time of inpatient waiting at the embassy we got to meet the man who has no power, as he quickly stated himself. We were then send to his senior, who we did meet a week ago. He explained that he also don’t have any power to deal wit this question and therefore he set up a meeting wit the person who is powerful enough to help us. This very friendly man was sitting behind a huge desk on which his title was written. This was the consulate general. After answering a few of his questions he smiled and picked up the phone and explained to the man we just met that we were basic tourists that have ended upin a diplomatic spin. Soon after we had the stamps in our passports. Pakistan next. When Richard and Milan turned up at the Pakistan embassy, after travelling all night by train, the same person who they talked to on the phone asked where the wives and kids where. When he was told that they are still in Esfahan and referred to the phone agreement he became very arrogant and explained that it not possible to interview people who are not here J. Richard and Milan had to go back to get the rest of the families as the first had to service the cars. Back in Tehran, all eight of us stayed in a sheep hotel. The whole procedure took longer than expected (as usual) and we ended up spending four nights there.

From Tehran we drove to Yazd staying one night on the way in Esfahan. Yazd is the oldest living city in the world! We now live at the parking place of the Silk Road Hotel and will stay In Yazd two more nights after which we head towards the border of Pakistan via Bam and Zahedan.

Lunch in the desert on the way to Yazd (Pentax k10d)

And then some refreshements (Pentax k10d)

We will hopefully get back to this country one day. The people are amazing, so friendly! We have so many new friends that hopefully will visit us in Sweden.

Turkey, Dogubayazit/Diyadin

Tuvalie and Luka inspecting stones outside the Ishak Pasa palace, Dogubayazit. /Pentax

After staying a few days in Erzerum to pick up our visas for Iran, we continued to Dogubayazit - a town about 35 km from the Iranian border. This is said to be a popular place for overlanders to meet, passing to or from Iran but we did not manage to meet anyone...

The nearby Ishak Pasa Palace is one of the most famous landmarks of eastern Turkey. The day we decided to go and visit it it was closed. Instead, as we arrive we are welcomed by a film team busy making a couple of kurdish music videos. They immediately wanted to film the children and, later on, Pia and Lina were dressed up in kurdish folk dresses and filmed. Who knows, in a couple of months we might all appear on TV in a kurdish music video..? We ended this perfect daytrip with some kurdish folk dance in the sunset.

Admiring the view. /Pentax

The film crew made use of our Land Rovers! /Pentax

The recording of a music video with the Ishak Pasa as a backdrop. /Pentax

Pia and Lina in Kurdish folkdress, and sandals... /Pentax

Milan and friends dancing in the sunset. /Pentax

After a couple of nights camping in Dogubayazit we went in search for somewhere nice to spend a couple of days waiting for a package from Sweden. We ended up in Diyadin, the highest situated town in Turkey about 70 km west of Dogubayazit. Diyadin, which is mainly a kurdish town, is known for its thermal springs (rich in sulphate which gives an interesting smell to the whole town). It also used to have quite strong connections with the PKK, but this is apparently changing.

We never managed to solve the problem with the package but after one week in a former hotel (now a pension for teachers and nurses) we have made some real good friends and been given a unique opportunity to really get to know Turkey. We´ve experienced late evening barbeque with newly made friends, dancing to live turkish music at the Diaydin/Agri annual police party, a personal sightseeing tour of Agri, endless hot baths and an unforgettable amount of hospitality and friendliness.

Sad to leave Turkey, but convinced we will return, tomorrow we pack ourselves back into the Land Rovers and head for Iran...

Tanja contemplating the 65 degrees hot water in our hotel pool. /Pentax