Tomorrow I will drive the last of the 2500 kilometers in Iran because my visa for Pakistan has arrived! A good opportunity to tell something about traffic in Iran, because that is really different than in the Netherlands.
Most cars in Iran are white and of the same type. The largest share is for the Peugeot 405, model year 1987. Due to the embargo, it is of course no longer allowed to be supplied by Peugeot to Iran, but they cleverly avoided that by making this model in Iran themselves under the model name Peugeot Parse (Persia). . If you don't want a Peugeot 405 or 205, you can still go for a Saba Saipa, also an Iranian product. Looks a bit like a Susuki Swift with trunk and of course also in white. That white color is chosen by everyone because of its color fastness. Other colors can't handle the intense heat and 350 days of sunshine a year and will fade or flake. But I also see gray sometimes.
Yellow is also possible, but then you have a taxi. Stand on every street corner and are also widely used by local residents. It is also cheap for tourists to move for 15-20 cents per kilometer.
Blue is for the typical rural pack mule: the Nissan Zamyad Z24. This is the means of transport in the countryside and the means of transporting goods to the city. Usually seen with an open loading platform but there are numerous variations. The example in the photo is very nice, usually they look badly battered.
It seems that this pickup truck can handle all loads: from sheep to people and from fruit to carpets. I even saw one on the highway with 4 full 1 cubic meters of water tanks and that is almost 4000 kg. But they are also used along the motorway and along the roads in the city to supply and display all fruit or vegetable products.
The light 125 cc engine is also widely used in the city. To my chagrin, because they drive everywhere and make a lot of noise. Even in an overcrowded and busy bazaar or on squares, they simply navigate between people. And nobody cares.
In traffic it is mainly good to look and listen. There are actually no rules and the horn is used to indicate that you are coming and therefore have to watch out. Before an intersection or traffic light, everything piles up bumper to bumper and every hole is used, regardless of the number of lanes. Police often stand by and watch. They seem to have no authority at all. Lights on cars and motorcycles don't come on when it gets dark, but only when it's really dark. In terms of lighting, anything is possible: strobe lighting, blue LEDs, red circles, white taillights, it doesn't matter, as long as something burns, it seems.
I'm lucky that I stand out in traffic and people look a bit better around me. There is a lot of honking and waving at me and that sometimes makes it difficult; should I step aside or do they greet? However, it is usually the latter.ツ
Hi Ivo, has the route changed? As I saw, you would first go to Pakistan via the STANS? Are you going straight to Pakistan now?
Hi Leon, the route is indeed not like the original plan A from 3 years ago. The Stans still have all land borders closed to tourists. Afganisthan (of which I only had to cross the northern tip) was still open then and now completely closed. The route I am taking now is the only overland route that is possible to get to south-east Asia. Myanmar, which is on my route, is still closed. I hope it still opens in a few months, otherwise I'll need another route change. But we'll see