+ 12 - 1 | § ¶Bam to Zahedan, a jolly procession through the Dasht e Lut desert

It is a hot dry day as we wave goodbye to our new friends at Akbar's guesthouse.

This time, Peter and I are not alone as Stephan and Anita, our friends from www.ohnegrenzen.at had waited for us in Bam, with their Tandem.

People continue to warn us of the dangers ahead.

Baluchistan not being the safest place on earth, we decide to cycle this stretch together with Stephan and Anita: Strength in numbers.

As we slowly make our way out of the city of Bam, a strange procession of two recumbent bicycles and one tandem, hordes of mopeds, motorbikes, cars and even cyclists hoot, scream and shout around us in excitement.

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+ 6 - 9 | § ¶Back on the bikes from Kerman to Bam

I’m writing this from Akbar’s Tourist Guesthouse in Bam, south-east Iran.

We arrived yesterday (19th) afternoon after three days out in the wildenerness as we at last got back to what we are meant to be doing. And it felt very good!

Following a series of meetings in Teheran, Esfahan and Shiraz, on the 15th we got to Kerman, a city of some 500 people. We simply spent our time visiting the bazaar and making the most of the kitchen at our ‘deluxe’ hotel.

We met Alessandro, an Italian Indo-hindu-phile who uncovered many of our blind spots on India whilst evaluating the pasta cooking techniques we learnt in his country. At this point we need to start preparing our itinerary in India to know how we get through Pakistan (north or south) so the timing was perfect and no doubt we’ll be meeting more and more backpackers with the precious travel tips. Read more...

+ 6 - 6 | § ¶“Hafiz, perfect man or perfect husband, and what’s the difference ?”

Quote from Pooya, our friend and guide from Tehran to Shiraz where we visited “Hafiz”’s, or Shams-ud din Muhammad’s grave. He was Persia’s most beloved poet.

Lived in Shiraz about 100 years after Rumi, another famous Sufi poet. Hafiz became a famous Sufi master, he wrote some 5000 poems during his life and as Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Indian teacher that was credited with bringing Sufism to the West, proclaimed, “the words of Hafiz have won every heart that listens”.

His collection of poems is called “The Divan of Hafiz”, here are a few short ones (translated from Persian:

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+ 6 - 6 | § ¶Iran, beyond expectations.

It has been over a month now since our arrival in Iran. During this time, we:

- Went skiing in the mountains north of Tehran
- Got snowed in by avalanches
- Met many good people in Tehran, and discovered the nightlife
- Got lost in the Bazaars of Esfahan
- Read poetry at Hafez’s tomb in Shiraz
- Did not meet any terrorists

Still last night, we camped under the stars, somewhere near Persepolis. Indeed, this last month has been an eye opening experience. An insight into Iranian everyday life. A taste of what Iran really is. Peter’s broken wrist has meant no cycling. We did not, however, let this get in the way of having a good time.

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+ 7 - 6 | § ¶Iranian mountains, and the art of getting snowed in.

Nine months ago, Peter and I waved goodbye to our friends and family.

With our high hopes, our new bicycles, and our bags full of all the equipment we thought we would need, we hit the road. First we cycled south through France and its vineyards, then east through Italy, north through Austria, then Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and now Iran.

Since our departure, we have slept in many different places, ranging from a luxury villa in Cannes to abandoned houses in Serbia.

As we left in June, the summer sun followed us well into Hungary. In Hungary the rain started, and became more regular as we slowly made our way through to Turkey. With time and wear, I noticed the rain increasingly making its way through the fabric of my tent and into my sleeping bag...

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