1.10.09 Turkey to Iran / Turkiet til Iran

Got up in our shitty hotel, where I refused to even have a bath, because it was the crappiest toilet I have ever been in. To Daniels and my good luck, we both had bad stomachs from the food we had the day before. Daniel woke up with a fever, and after giving him a few tablets, we decided to hit the border to Iran. Reached the border at about 9.30 am and this is where all the fun started. The Turkish part was easy with no problems. Drove across to the Iranian side, where touts were hassling us all the time, about changing money etc. On the Iranian side they were only letting a few cars coming through, and luckily we squeezed through. Gave our passports to the police, had them stamped, then had to sit with a police tourist officer, who explained how wonderful Iran is, bla, bla, bla. Then they gave our passports back. Next came checking the car though customs, this was a major hassle. First the carnet was checked, and with some small problems, we got it stamped. Since none of these officers speak English, they asked one of the local touts to help us. Just when we thought everything was over, we were sent back to get another exit stamp. I had to sit in an office, where they explained to me that I had to pay 500 Euro to drive the car through Iran. After major discussions, and even calling up my friend who works for the government in Tehran, we paid the money, then paid for our insurance which costed another 74 Euro, and then we could cross the border. This got me in such a bad mood, that I wanted to leave Iran immediately, and just go home. As we were driving from the border to Tabriz, we could see that Iran is the poorest country in the Middle East. These guys drive Hillman cars from the 70’s, and even their trucks are worse than Indian standards. We were only interested in rushing to a hotel since Daniel was sick. Reached Tabriz and stayed in one of their better hotels. Went out and bought a few fruits for Daniel and had dinner in a small café. Shitty, shitty day.


Daniel vågnede op med dårlig mave og feber i dag, men vi besluttede os alligevel for at krydse grænsen til Iran, da vores hotel bare var for dårligt til, at vi kunne klare en dag mere. Da vi nåede frem til grænsen, brugte Michael den første ½ time på, at få os ud af Tyrkiet. Så fulgte den Iranske grænse, Michael brugte igen lang tid, først med at få stemplet vores Carnet, derefter skulle passene stemples, så vekslede vi penge. Efter det, troede vi at alt var ok., men så viste de sig, at vi manglede endnu et stempel og for at få det, skulle vi betale 504 Euro, vej skat/rationerings kort til diesel, øv nogle sure penge, så skulle vi også tegne forsikring, 75 Euro for 1 måned. Derefter kunne vi endelig køre ind i Iran. Så havde vi også brugt 3½ time på hele forløbet. Jeg sad under hele forløbet i bilen godt tildækket og svedte. Fra grænsen fortsatte vi direkte til Tabriz, vi fandt rimelig let et hotel, ikke fantastik, men o.k. Daniel var fortsat dårlig, så han hvilede sig, imens Michael og jeg gik ud for at køb sim kort og frugt. Det blev til en længere vandre tur, men vi fik da det hele. Vi havde ikke spist siden morgenmaden, så efter at have afleveret frugten til Daniel, gik vi hen og fik en sandwich. Mad er utroligt billig i Iran, så endelig kan vi måske overholde vores budget. Iran er godt nok fattige i forhold til Tyrkiet, de små landsbyer har lerklinede huse, og hele bilparken er meget gammel. Vejene er gode nok, men bilisterne kører næste værre end i Indien. Michael var så træt af alle de penge han skulle betale ved grænsen, at han var klar til at rejse hjem med det samme.