When I leave the hostel in Aqbolagh-e Humeh there is a strong wind and as soon as I have left the mountains and hills behind to go to Qazvin it even gets stormy. The sky is dark gray, not from the clouds, because there are hardly any, but from the sand. A sandstorm may be an exaggeration, but it's so bleak and dusty that I'm stepping away from my principles and onto the highway.
The only difference between the highway and the larger connecting roads is 1 or 2 more lanes. I do say lanes, but actually it is a large strip of asphalt where you can drive with 3 but also with 5 next to each other. Road markings are usually not there and the quality of the asphalt is no better than other roads. It just remains to always be on the lookout for cracks, holes and traces. And for traffic that diverts from it.
One luck with that storm wind from the side is that I don't have to bite into soot clouds, but after a few hours my neck also starts to hurt. Time to pause. I got a tip from Iranians at the hostel to visit the ‘mausoleum of Oljeitu' in Sultaniyeh.
Yep, also a world heritage site and it is just on my route and I can even see it from far away. This huge brick building has the oldest known double-vaulted dome in Iran, which is 50 meters in diameter and beautifully colored in turquoise. Unfortunately, the entire inside is in scaffolding and as far as I'm concerned it could use some TLC.
My motorcycle is, at the request of some employees, right at the entrance and when I return from my viewing, they insist that I have a photo and tea. So a little later I'm sitting with 3 employees in a cozy office with hands and feet telling my stories, because unfortunately the translation app also lets us down for a while due to the lack of internet.
When I'm back on the bike, the sky seems to clear as I get closer to my final destination for the day. It is unexpectedly 30 degrees and stuffy.
In the city it is of course very busy and the traffic quite chaotic, but I found the hotel fairly quickly. I am really so happy that my Garmin GPS navigation is working! It just gives me a lot of confidence to know where I am, what I'm going to encounter and that I have a final destination. Googlemaps also works fine, but too often the internet connection is lost and that is downright difficult.
The hotel is a real oasis in the busy town of Qazvin. Beautifully authentic, with a beautiful courtyard, pond and seating areas. I will definitely stick with this for a while. Explore the city right now and head out at your leisure tomorrow.
Pfffff I find it bizarre that you are in Iran now! Exciting and what an experience. Can you still process all those impressions?
I didn't see anything happening anymore via polarsteps and even though we don't know each other, I found it exciting myself: how would it go where would he be? 🙂 Until I saw that there was another post on globalsmile, Beautiful pictures again and nice to read that they are so friendly and helpful in Iran. Have a good journey ahead. Towels
Hi Martine, it sucks that all that social media is blocked here! But otherwise it is great here and indeed a lot of impressions. I even have to stick to a schedule now, otherwise I won't make it to the border with Pakistan on time. Iran is really huge and there is so much to see. If I have Iran and Pakistan behind me it will be a blow out I think! grs!