On The Road

By the time I get my legal matters squared away it is well past 3pm and I have to hurry to make it to Zanjan. There are dark clouds everywhere and I ride through quick showers on the way to Qazvin. I get gas in Qazvin and take the old road to the North. At the first chance I switch to the forbidden Autobahn. I drive past the toll booth and I’m greeted with “Welcome to Iran”. Nobody is trying to stop me. So far so good. There is very little traffic and I make good time. I ride through heavy rain showers on and off. I used to have waterproof boots. At least it is warm and when the rain stops I dry quickly. I see a few police stations but don’t get pulled over. I try to hide behind a trucks whenever I see a police station.

I get off the Autobahn in Soltaniyeh, the old 14th century capital of Mongolian Persia. Oljeitu Mausoleum, the tallest brick dome in the world, is one of few buildings remaining from that period.

Restoration is ongoing and the inside is full of scaffolding.

The walls are covered with beautiful mosaics

and ornate bricks.

The terraces have faulted ceilings

and balustrades.

I arrive in Zanjan right and sunset

and discover John Wane tailor.

I spent a day in Zanjan. First thing in the morning I try to exchange my remaining Rials into Euros. I try the bank next door and helpful employees explains that I’ll need a receipt from when I bought Rials from a bank, which I don’t have. I explain my situation and show the piece of paper from the court. They suggest I use a money changer in the Bazaar instead and are about to call one for the rate when they change their minds. I fill out some forms and deposit the money and leave with my hard currency.

The news on the internet is not good. There are protests in the bigger cities after Ahmadinejad claimed to have won the election with more than 60%. The riot police is out in the streets of Zanjan in a show of force. I see no protests or clashes with the police though.

Realizing that my time in Iran will come to an end very soon I walk around in town to soak up the atmosphere.

Zanjan: Women in the back, men in the front

Zanjan: You can have a smile like this too

At 6am I sneak out of Zanjan. I go around the toll both onto the Autobahn. I’ve learned from my time with the Iranian police force that a) they don’t get going before 10am, and b) they can’t or don’t want to trace a license plate number. I hope to be off the Autobahn before 10am. I’m not sure how far the Autobahn will actually take me. It’s marked as “under construction” on my map. I fly along the empty Bahn

and at some point I realize that I should have filled up the tank. There are no gas stations on the Autobahn and I ride faster than usual and thus use more fuel than usual. After 408km my tank is empty. I roll as far as I can down the hill. I have another half liter left in the fuel bottle for my stove. I pour that in the tank and luckily there are only 2km of Autobahn left and there is a gas station 1km after the exit. That was a close call. I take the Northern bypass road around Tabriz. Near the airport I see this sign.

Who would have thunk? Iran of all places.

North of Tabriz the landscape gets greener again.

On the way to Maku I stop at Qareh Kalisa. It’s a beautiful Armenian church with rich stone carvings, built with light and dark stone.

Just outside the church is an old mill.

On the road to Maku I pass another Golden Boys roundabout statue.