The bus ride from Shiraz is about as fun as a 20 hr bus ride can be. I hop off the bus in Tabriz and all of a sudden realise that winter is coming. It is drizzly and cold. My sandal tan had been progressing very well but I think it is as good as it's going to get this year.
I find my couch surfing host and spend the day eating, visiting the museum and bazaar and eating some more. I have the nicest baklava I have ever tasted.
We have dinner at my hosts parents house and eat an amazing meal. I continue to be overwhelmed by the hospitality given to me. Also the food is delicious, my favourite Iranian meal.
The weather is a little better the next day and after buying some food, including bread straight out of the oven I head toward lake Urmyia and the Turkey border.
It is only about 190km to the border but I know that it is uphill so I give myself three days cycling time and one day to spare. I don't want to see what happens if I overstay my Iran visa. It seems a little excessive at the time but it turns out I made the right choice.
The weather is cool with the occasional drizzle of rain. Iran continues to deliver more boring, flat riding, with the occasional head wind for good measure.
I find a pretty nice campsite next to the old, unused highway. There is even a pile of hay for me put my tent on. My tent flaps in the wind all night.
I continue on in the morning, into the head wind and eventually cross lake Urmyia - a salt lake.
After a cup of tea (I love my new thermos) it starts raining. I have lunch in a shelter in the town of Urmyia. Just as I pack up to head out of town I am invited for chai in the office of a trucking company. With the miserable weather It doesn't take much convincing.
I eventually muster up the motivation to head out. A couple of hours later I pitch my tent near a village. I had tried to find somewhere under cover to camp but everyone is hiding inside.
The rain continues and I forfeit a hot meal for a picnic inside my tent. I have a restless sleep and it rains all night. It is also cold.
I lie in my tent and the day slowly grows more bright. As it does I realise that my tent looks as though it is about to collapse. Turns out all that rain last night was actually snow. Outside it is a winter wonderland. This would be great if I wasn't camping in it and my shoes weren't frozen and my gloves soaking wet. It's not nice, dry powdery snow. This is wet snow.
I manage to pack my panniers and take the pegs out of the ground before my hands stop working. I wander up to the village and a very kind man notices me. He has a confused look in his face.
I mange to invite myself/ get invited inside and I defrost my hands and dry my gloves next to the stove. He eventually figures out where I came from and together we finish packing up my tent and move my gear to his house. I am plied with chai and bread and eggs for the next couple of hours.
During this time I am wondering what to do, continue uphill to the border? Go back to Urmyia and take a bus? For the first time during this trip I turn back. The weather is horrendous, my shoes and gloves are soaking wet and I do not want to spend all day riding uphill in the snow.
The ride back to town is horrible. My toes goes numb. It feels like a am continuously having a slushie thrown into my face.
An hour and a half later I stumble back into the office where I had chai the day before. I take off my soaking rain gear, shoes and socks and gloves and I am given a chair in front of the heater. Also countless cups of chai. Amazing.
It turns out there is no bus to Van, my next destination in Turkey, but a truck driver can take me to the Turkey border and from there I can get a bus.
We drive up to the border and I am so glad I am warm and toasty in the truck. The snow is continuing to fall and pile up next to the road. Once at the border town of Serov we park the truck next to about 50 other trucks and head out for my last Iranian kebab.
The Turkey border is closed to trucks so my driver, John, is spending the night in Serov. It is late and I still have one day left on my visa. I spend the night in a bunk in John's truck. It is awesome. And dry. This is the most bizzare place I have slept since leaving home.
The following morning John is still stuck in Iran and unable to cross the border. I load up my bike and thank Mother Nature that the snow has stopped falling. I cycle the last couple of kilometres to the border and leave Iran.
The Turkish customs is in shambles but I manage to get through after about an hour. Two buses and about four hours later I find myself in Van, waiting to meet my warm showers host, Levent
That evening Levent, two of his friends and I sit around drinking beer and eating delicious kebab that Levent cooked. I even indulge in a shower beer. My new Turkish friends have never ears of this concept but promise to give it a go. After nearly a whole month without beer this is bliss.
17/10 Tabriz: rode 17km, ODO 3278km
18/10 Tabriz - lake Urmyia: rode 85km, ODO 3364km
19/10 lake Urmyia - village: rode 84km, ODO 3444km
20/10 village - Urmyia: rode 18km, ODO 3462km
21/10 Serov & Van: rode 6km, ODO 3468km
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