The day I have always felt uneasy about has finally arrived. Today we are crossing border with Iran where we shall stay for three nights. Mattia has never been to Iran before while I have travelled there once before back in 1995 while I was attempting to go around the world on a motorcycle. I had crossed the border from Turkey at Bazargan (where we shall make our exit on this trip) and quickly perceived a sombre atmosphere which never changed or softened during that trip. The country was beautiful, the sights incredible and the people kind and hospitable but always weary to speak to a foreigner. I was very curious about what had changed in the last 15 years.
We set off for the short journey to the border but not before having a last quick tour of Ashgabad’s mad buildings. The road to the border was a 40Km steep climb up a mountain that severely tested our engine’s cooling system. When we finally got to the top it was another case of hurry up and wait. The formalities for co-drivers were simple and straight forward while for drivers and cars it was again quite complicated. In the end though, we managed to finish off the formalities in About One hour. Things were not moving as fast however on the Iranian side. By 1pm we pulled out our gas burner and started preparing lunch and espresso which we offered to all the other crews that were stuck with us between Turkmenistan and Iran. Finally at two we were invited into Iran and into the border building. It was utter chaos there and many crews had been waiting for up to 5 hours. Apparently it was a religious holiday and the border guard were taking it easy. To speed things up, though, the head of the Iranian Classic Car Club got in touch with the Vice-President of Iran who apparently intervened with the border post and finally things started moving. It took us less than an hour to get our passport stamped and back on the road. At the border exit we were welcomed by a number of members of the classic car club who had been waiting for our arrival since the previous night. After a few minutes of handshakes and pictures we set off for our 600Km drive to Gorgan where we did not expect to arrive before midnight.
The first few miles were essentially a continuation of the Turkmenistan landscape until we finally came down from the hills and onto a main road going North towards the Caspian sea. We passed through a town where we stopped to buy some dried fruit and nuts from one of the innumerable shops on the main road.
Traffic there was quite heavy and, much to our surprise, the people along the roads and through a first town cheered and screamed while taking pictures with their camera phones as we drove by.
We moved our watches back by 1 1/2 hours to Iranian time. This meant the sun set quite early and by 5:30 it started getting dark. The enthusiasm of the people did not diminish though. In fact all those who were returning from a long weekend were jockeying for position to drive by our car, asking us where we were from, welcoming us to Iran and continuing to take pictures, blinding us us with their flashes. It felt almost like being at a premiere with us being the movie stars! We were also very surprised about how many women smiled and waved at us. At a certain point we stopped to get petrol and were showered with flowers by a group of young women who had been waiting near a petrol station for the rally cars to refuel. Later kids on motorcycles challenged us to race against them zigzagging around us to capture our attention. The asked us to use our horn and got all frenzied upon hearing the 20s style sound. It was a very very different atmosphere from my first trip to Iran. Sometimes, however, you can get too much of a good thing. Driving at night on an old car is a chore. Having to respond politely and wave at everybody as you cross every town and village only made more tiring. By midnight, when we reached the hotel in Gorgan, we were really exhausted. We were approached by Heidi, one of the senior staff members, with the following: “do you want the bad news or the terrible news?”. As the President of Iran was visiting the town the following day, all rooms in the hotels where we were supposed to stay in had been requisitioned for his staff, body guards etc. In addition we were advised to leave town the next morning as early as possible because otherwise we could be stuck by roadblocks. WELCOME TO IRAN! We had two options: a single star establishment a couple of miles away or to get our tents out and pitch them in the parking lot of this hotel, the only one that had not been requisitioned. We chose the first option as we were too tired to pull out our camping equipment and were in desperate need of a shower. In the end it was not as bad as we feared (better than in Semey) and we also had secure parking for our car. We had stopped for a bite at a truck stop on the way so we immediately turned in for a few (very few) hours’ sleep.
