7 Dec 2009

After five days of travelling with our bikes we finally arrived in Yazd today. It was a nice journey with a lot of things to report. We met a lot of nice hospitabel polite and interesting people and had a nice time on the road, in nature and in some villages and towns. Weather was sunny but very cold, especially during the nights in the tent. Within the next days you will find a more detailled report and some very nice photos!

after a long time working and being away of traveling with my bike, I decided to start a short jounrey in winter time,  Gerald is my German friend and I will cycle the road between Esfahan and Yazd for a few days. we will try to keep up date our report during the trip. 

About 10 km to Ardebil on the left was a road which goes to a famous city of different variety of mineral water called Sareyn, there is famous for the Hydrotherapy. You will see many tourists from different cities in Iran and some Foreigners as well,

I stayed there for a night and I went to one of the Hydrotherapy complex for an hour I really enjoyed of my time there. I left the town to a village called Viladareh on the north to Ardebil from Sareyn, there was a kind of cold mineral water with Gas, it was really amazing for me. I spent 2 hours there and then I went to Ardebil through other way.

Ardebil is one of the old cities in Azerbaijan region but for a few years it gets independence, I stayed there for a few days to get improve, the weather was awesome in Summer, it was cold in the evening till early in the morning and always breezy I really enjoyed, I visited some mausoleums there which the most famous was Sheikh Safieddin Ardebili I met a German architecture who works in this old monument to help for rebuilding, we had a short chat then I left there for having lunch in a local restaurant nearby the sheikh Safi foods and fruits are not very expensive in this city, I could find everything with the good price.

I think it was one of the most cheapest cities in Iran . From Sarab city I got so tired to reach Ardebil as all the time the road was windy in the opposite, so awful, that’s why I needed recovery, anyway.

Cycling to Astara was also hard in some part for about 30 km, in fact the breezy weather always is not interested for cyclists in opposite, but on the back is the best and helpful when you have a hug of luggage . On the way I visited Namin city and after this small town I had to cycle through a short tunnel, less than a KM. it was a bit downhill tunnel. But in the other side of tunnel I found a great and beautiful scenery, the road was downhill about 18 km and many rotates it was one of the most beautiful roads that I’ve cycled on in this journey, completely covered by forest.

At noon time I arrived in Astara city port, the weather was humidity and very hot, this city is on the border with Azerbaijan country, I stayed there for a day and then I went to Azerbaijan country as I’ve gotten the visa via its council while I was in Tabriz city, I didn’t tell you about just to surprise you guys but most of you knew about it if you’ve got my last Email, .

I start cycling after having the breakfast in the tent to Bostan Abad; this small town was about 15 kms in ahead from the lake.

There was a nice hot mineral water pool which I preferred to spend a couple hours there. I met some Turkish people who were coming from around the town just for swimming in the pool.

They believe this hot water will cure some illnesses like bone pain and so on, but in my opinion I guess, one time swimming have no any positive effect on those who were swimming for healthiness, it needs to use it for several times in a week, anyway. It was great for me to feel relax after few months cycling even I used shower every 2 days, Anyway.

After taking shower, I felt hungry and I went to one of the restaurant to have a great meal. And then I started cycling again to Sarab city on the way to Ardebil, the road was mostly flat but the asphalt was damaged on the sides which caused my rear tire got explosion: – ((it was just about 10 km to Sarab city) I had to stay for about 2 hours till someone stopped for me to help, he was a nice man who could take me to the center of bike sellers in the town, I could changed the tire and tube with a local shop keepers, he was a nice guy who was really interested to talk to me as an adventurer, he offered me a cup of tea and some cookies too, I enjoyed my time there even if I had to wait for about 2 hours on the road for help

After saying goodbye to my friends in the train I cycled to the downtown to find a place to stay for a few days as Tabriz has some good places to visit and also a big bazaar which is the biggest one in the Middle-east you will find everything there and all different products has its own bazaar there.

I went to one of the guest houses named Masood in Amin St. I stayed there for about 2 nights but as I found there is a nosy place I left the guest house and called to a friend of my friend Ingrid one of my website visitor’s friends (Ingrid) in Tabriz, in fact Marc is a nice guy from Netherlands who cycled in Iran before and he met this nice family, anyway.

Ingrid was busy but she invited me for having lunch together in their garden 25 Km outside of the town, we made an appointment to meet each other somewhere around her home, then I went there, it was close to the EL GULI garden(it is one of the famous places in Tabriz with a really good atmosphere), in the lunch party I met their friends as well and I had my favorite food which I didn’t eat it since I started my journey, it was a really time there with those guys, at the night time I went to her home for having a cup of tea but her son Yasha and me were talked a lot until midnight then I slept there, I got up around 7:00am,

I gave water to the garden and flowers till they got up, we had a good breakfast it was very delicious, then I went to the bazaar again to see more and find out more about the good sights for visiting in the city. I stayed for 2 days longer in Tabriz but I put my tent in EL GULI garden which was really nice place but something was bothered early in the morning around 5:00, it was nothing just the Crows sound it was too much annoying early in the morning and I couldn’t sleep well anyway.

After 2 days I left Tabriz to Bostanabad in the evening late around 4:00. The road was mostly hilly and windy, I couldn’t reach the town in daytime as it was about 55KM far from Tabriz and I was started so late, I stayed in a small village on the way near the Quory Gueol Lake (Quory gueol Lake is one of the most beautiful leisure places of the province, and one of the natural shelters for many migrant birds) but I had a really bad experience on that night, the weather was cloudy and too much wind, hardly I could find a place to put the tent and no one helped me to direct a place to stay in that village, I was so sad about this because I was in my homeland and I had different expectation from the people from my country, anyway.

The weather got rainy and too stormy at midnight and I got worry about the rain if it doesn’t stop, because it was too hard rain, but fortunately, I fixed the tent so strong on the ground and the rain drops didn’t come to the tent, I’m always appreciate the staffs of Wechsel-tents they are so detail about outdoor tents. The rain stopped around 3:00am and after that I could sleep for a while until 7:00 am. Then I stayed a bit longer for the tent to get dry. I went to the bakery to buy some fresh bread for my breakfast; in the morning the weather was nice even I had a bad night before that.