Cycling Overview
| Route | Astara, Talesh, Bandar Anzali, Rasht, Qazvín, Saveh, Delijan, Meymeh, Murchehkhort, Isfahan |
| Km's | 842 km |
| Best months to visit | June - November |
| Highlights | Gilan province Food, Hospitality |
| Lowlights | Truck highway b/n Rasht and Quazvin |
| Important bicycle touring equipment | Long pants for Matt (muslim dresscode) |
| Long cycling 3/4 leggings for Jasi (muslim dresscode) | |
| Buff for Jasmin, used as headscarf | |
| MSR Whisperlite Universal stove (No canned gas bottles) |
Link to Iran Part 2
Our Story
We entered Iran with mixed feelings. On one hand, I was remembering all the scared looks my friends gave me when I mentioned Iran in our travel plans. On the other hand, I had all the positive blog entries about the Iranian hospitality in mind, that I have read over the last few months. After hearing so much about this country we were excited to go out and explore and develop our own opinion on question, is it Safe to travel Iran by bicycle?
On the day of the border crossing Matt and I were so excited that we forgot about an important detail: Money. Due to American sanctions, it is not possible to withdraw money with an international card in Iran. No VISA, no Mastercard, no PayPal, nothing. We knew that before we crossed the border, but we simply forgot. Thank God, we had some spare US-Dollars at the bottom of one of our panniers. Matt did the math and tried to sound optimistic when he told me that our daily budget is 3 US-Dollars between us. I put the biscuit that I just took a bite from back into the packet. We were on rations for the first time on our trip.
We thought we are probably going to eat rice for brekky, lunch and dinner for the next 55 days until we get out of Iran. But then we found out about the Iranian hospitality.
We got offered to stay at people’s homes multiple times every single day. At every house we have stayed our hosts cooked us breakfast, lunch and dinner. One Lady in Talesh even precooked lunch for our next day on the road. Car drivers stopped at the side of the road and gave us fruit, biscuits, pistachios, juice, pomegranates, chips and dates. Some Iranians even told us to wait for a minute in front of a shop, and came back with some snacks for us. One night we had a coffee in a little café as we really needed wifi. When you are on a 3 US-Dollar budget, going to a café is lashing out. When we wanted to pay the waiter said, “be my guest” and gestured that we don’t have to pay anything. None of these people knew that we must be a bit tight with our money. We haven’t told anyone about our little 3 Dollar-problem and still, everyone acted as if they knew.
One night we told our host that we would prefer not to go out to a restaurant and cook our own dinner because we must save some money. He asked us about our situation and we told him our embarrassing story. In the next morning he handed us a prepaid credit card charged with over 200 US-Dollars and said we can pay him back later. We told him that we can’t accept that. It is just too much, and we are not sure we will ever be able to pay him back with the transaction situation in Iran. He insisted that we take the card with the words “I want your mind to be free of worries when you travel through our country”. This man only knew us for one day and he offered to lend us such a big amount of money without being sure he will ever get it back. I still can’t believe it. We accepted and will do anything to make sure we can transfer the money back to him when we get to Dubai and our cards finally work again. Thank you again so much for your trust Mostafa. With the Iranian credit card our budget is now luxurious 8 US-Dollar per day between us.
The way people treat us in Iran baffles Matt and me. This country has a hospitality and a kindness towards strangers that I have never experienced before. Of course, we got curious why Iranians are so hospitable. The reason is simple: The Koran says that “Guests are Friends of God”. And this is how people treat us here. As if we were sent by God.
Beside the delicious food, the hospitality and the kindness of the people of this country there are aspects that seem strange to us. There are a lot of rules in the public life of Iran. Men and Women should not associate with the opposite sex before they get married. Male and female do not shake hands in public. Boys and girls are not allowed to have girlfriends and boyfriends. Girls and boys don’t go to school together. In public buses men sit in the front and women sit in the back. I asked a girl my age why and she told me men and women feel more comfortable in the bus this way.
Women must wear the hijab (headscarf, dress or skirt and long sleeve) in public. Some girls told me that they would never wear that if it wasn’t in the law. In some towns women are not allowed to ride a bike or a motorcycle. Also women are not allowed to study engineering in some universities. A boy explained to me that it doesn’t matter because girls are not interested in those kinds of things anyway. He also told me that only men can be judges because women are too sensitive. A 15-year-old girl asked Matt about his job. After he answered she looked at me and asked: “And you are a housewife?”. I said no and she returned “what are you then?”. It would have annoyed me if it was an old man who asked this but it broke my heart that these words came from a 15-year-old girl.
In our first two weeks in Iran we had already visited two private English institutes as we were hosted by two different English teachers. In public school children learn very basic, non-conversational English. To have a chance to really learn English, children must visit private English classes in the evening after public school. The students (10 – 25 years old) were extremely interested in us foreigners as they do not often get to use their well-practiced English. After talking to the students there was always one common question: “Selfie?”. We must have taken about 70 selfies with students in the 14 classes that we visited, no joke.
Although Iran has some rules that are hard to comprehend for Matt and me, we love this country already. Iranian food and tea is amazing, and the people are by far the most hospitable we have encountered on our journey so far. To sum it up, we can’t wait for more.
-> Onwards to our next Adevntures in Iran
Talk to you soon,
Matt and Jasi
Amazing! What an interesting perspective on a country I know very little about. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Do you think that an American/Canadian would have the same experience?
Brian, i can give you a precise answer, despite the fact that there are lots of issues between Iran and US, i believe.. oh no better say that i am sure Americans are warmly welcome by Iranians. anyway you need to try it 🙂
Hey Brian:)
I was also very curious how an American would be received here. So, I asked the question… twice. On both occasions the Iranian people responded that it is not the American people that have imposed sanctions and created tension between our countries, its the governments. They told me quite sternly, ‘do not automatically associate the people of any country with their government”. They said they would treat Americans alike any other. Was great to hear this on two separate occasions.
Also, Mostafa was our wonderful host in Bandar e Anzali. Thanks again Mostafa.
Yes
Im Iranian
We love all people of the world.
Im living in Yazd city.
If you come to Iran & Yazd im ready for hospitality
This is my phone cell number +989139531660( whatsap)
Msmgharehchahi@gmail.com
Thats so nice!
Happiness becomes real when it is shared!
Thank you for sharing your experiences! It’s really interesting. Are you using the couchsurfer community?
Yes, we are using WarmShowers (like Couch Surfing but for cyclists). Liebe Gruesse
Visa ok for UK passport holders?
As far as we know it is quite difficult for UK passport holders. Good luck!
dear jasi, ice cream in a bread? thank you very much for your iran-report. to be sent by god opens almost every door? wow!
YES! Vielen Dank und liebe Gruesse:)
Hello Matt & Jasi. I am very happy you like Iran, I just return from there few weeks ago. Currently I am writing articles on my blog, but I guess it would be difficult to read it for you, as it is in Slovakian language. Nevermind… Just few useful things for you:
– you CAN use your credit card for getting cash (Rials, of course), if you know, how to do it. In some bazaars in biggers cities like Esfahan, Yazd, Mashhab, Tabriz etc. you ask shopkeeper and they can charge your credit card for “sell” something, but they will give you Rials. Present exchange course is around 40k Rials for 1USD. Non offical, of course.
– did you ever heard of taarof? That’s the most part of iranian hospitality and civility and that’s why they offering you things, which are beyond common hospitality. In short story – due tarof custom in their culture, they are obliged to offer you “anything”, especially because you are foreigners, but you are oblige to refuse. Usually it take 3 round of offer-rejection. Also shopkeepers often refuse quote price and you think they are sooooo nice they want to give you something for free. Not truth. You should reject and start negotiate for price, which will lead to quote final price, that would satisfy you and shopkeeper. It’s quite complicated and if you don’t want to sunk yourself into such thing, and you feel that somebody offering you something beyond normal kindness, or something that would cause significant change in your plans (please stay in our home today, sleep here, eat with us and so on…), you have to be assertive and politely, but strongly reject such offer, most likely you will need to repeat that rejection. Or say “Taarof nakonid” which mean “no negotiation in taarof” and they should not continue in that. More about taarof you can read on wiki.
I hope it help. 🙂
btw, I guess you have tent and sleep outside… the safest place for that is around mosque. Also look for caravanserai or any old building (even in ruin) which could protect you from wind and sights. In case you will travel through Yazd, I can definitely recommend hostel Badgir. It’s cheap (35k T per night for two) and it is include breakfast. The staff is incredible friendly and there is some bonus, I cannot describe here… 🙂
Good luck!
Ah wow, that helps us a lot! We will do some more research on “Taarof”. Thank you so much for writing this comment and also for the camping tips:) All the best for you! Matt and Jasi
Hi Matt and Jasi great to see the world through your eyes and how wrong people can be and judgemental as.the hospitality on all of your trip has been sensational looking forward to reading all your posts safe travels Clint
Thank you so much for your support Clint! Love, Matt and Jasi
Interested in how this prepaid credit card works and if foreigners can purchase it in Iran. Plan to go there and don’t fancy carry too much cash with me and as you said our american friends made sure we cannot use our credit cards….. 🙁 By the way, what about Traveller Checques, possible to use, even if they are from American Express?
Only Iranians can purchase Iranian credit cards, no foreigners. We don’t know how it is with Traveller Checques. Good luck!
Ignore traveler’s check !
the best and convenient solution is to have the required cash (in $ or €) before you enter Iran.. and then when you cross the border, change to Rial and finally to avoid carrying Rials, you may ask your host ( or you try yourself ) to get prepaid credit cards ( nameless cards, mostly known as gift cards that can only be used for shopping ) from bank .
changing directly from $ or € to prepaid credit cards may be possible in the banks but remember that the bank rates are lower than private exchange shops.
Good Luck.
Thank you for sharing your experience. The way how you wrote this article is really nice. I’m feeling warm
We cycled the last year for five weeks through Iran and we were also so surprised about the hospitality. We red about it too but we never expect it in this intensity.
Enjoy your trip 🙂
It is unbelievable, isn’t it! We love it here so much. All the best for you:)
Nice write up. Biking in Iran is a must do and the experience of such a trip is unique. Iranian people are amazing and friendly. I am guiding MTB groups there for some years and have some videos showing how iranian mountains are here : https://www.exoride.net/fr/sejours-vtt/sejours-vtt/iran/iran-duro.html
Enjoy Iran and hope to read more about!!
Thank you so much, great videos:) Enjoy!
So no singlets and short cycle shorts allowed but that’s what we were told about Oman but no problems there just a few in Arab Emirates. I guess we need NZ passports as UK ones are a problem?
Hey Robert, we do not know about the situation with an NZ passport. But we know that American, Canadian and UK passport holders have problems getting one. Good luck!
Matty and Jasi, keep the blogs coming. We love reading your stories about the wonderful people you have met on your journey. It gives me faith in humanity. What a truly lovely man lending you some money too. Stay safe. Love Sar
Thank you Sarah! Lots of Love, Matt and Jasi
Hey guys (we met on bikes last month just outside Tbilisi) – I’m using your post to convince my wife Eve to visit Iran with me 🙂
Love your blog, thoughts and photos. Stay safe, strongly hoping that you haven’t been affected by the earthquake this morning….
Hello Taylor and Eve,
Hey thankyou so much for that camping gas!
Iran is amazing, so great!
We are very safe, we were in Central Iran when the earthquake hit.
Thanks for the wishes, and Eve you will have no regrets (jasi)
Looking forward to reading about your tales on wheels soon
Matt and Jasi
Hi every one
Im from iran and im so happy that u guys had such a good time in our country hope u come back someday:) iranian people are really warm and peacful people (and pls dont mistake iranian stupid goverment and politicians by iranian people they are TOTALLY different things. the hollywood version of iran ISNT also true.
the taroof is a complicated tradition that somtimes even iranians themselves get confused its usually like this: when u buy something or want to pay taxi etc.. they say:no need to pay.. it was nothing pls…! But u actually Should pay them! Atleast most of the time u have to just say dont taroof please or taroof nakonid(persian version) and they will take the money its weird i know but its our way of life its somehow showing that you are polite and generous