When we first read about Bandar Abbas, we thought what a beautiful, exotic name. Until I read about Bandar X and Bandar Y everywhere. It actually took a while before we both realised that Bandar actually just meant harbour and that the name was the most important thing after that. So I didn't get very far with my memory of Bandar X or Y. You just had to remember the names behind them. Which, even after weeks in Iran and with the Persian language Farsi, we just don't want to do so well.
Well, we're travelling along the coast and almost every little village is called Bandar somehow. I'm really sorry, but we can't remember the names very well.
So we are working in some bandar, and Abolfazl speaks to us in another bandar. Would we like to go for a drive along the coast with him? Sure, we did. He is young, speaks perfect English and is very well read. So we learn from each other. We sit in our van and tell each other about our countries. About our currencies, about car and health insurance, about campsites that you have to pay for and about traffic rules that you should observe. And not just as a recommendation, as in Iran.
In return, he talks about Iranian history, and Persian history too. Now we are close to the border with Iraq, and here too he has a lot to tell: The Iran-Iraq war was a long time ago, but the pictures of the fallen still colourfully adorn the roadsides here. People honour and remember the young, yes, mostly young men. And the war is deeply embedded in everyone's memory. Many fathers of our new acquaintances were in the war, some unfortunately never came back.
We cook together and have breakfast together. Abolfazl is surprised that we can eat without bread. I had cooked chilli sin carne with rice, so you don't really need bread to roll up the chilli. It's funny how everyone seems to be caught up in their own way of life. Abolfazl makes us a delicious breakfast, he fetches fresh bread and cooks a typical Iranian omelette, which here is always with tomatoes! Mega delicious.
We visit a Bandar village and are surprised at how easy people always make things for themselves: Hotel? Not a chance. Restaurants? Rarely. You just drive somewhere, put your tent between the cars, roll out the colourful plastic carpet in front of it, take out the cooker and you're on holiday. I can just imagine what people would say if I did that up on the Simplon or the Gotthard. Or even on Lake Thun. Oh, there would be a lot of shouting! Parking fees! The use of two car parks! Nothing is consumed for a fee. Wow, that's how different cultures are. And we have to admit, even if the rubbish lying around everywhere would bother us, we find the simplicity here much more pleasant than the over-regulation in some places in our countries.
We spend the evening alone in Bushehr, a well-known harbour town without Bandar in its name. Many Iranians rave about the town, we actually stroll along a kind of promenade, and later in the evening through the old town. We drink several teas in a cute café (by the way, tea is much lighter here than in Turkey, you can easily have several glasses in the evening) and get talking to nice people. There is actually live music here every evening, but not today. Today is another public holiday, they are commemorating an imam who died so many years ago today. And that's why no live music is allowed today.
Fine, then we won't. Just as we're about to go to bed, we suddenly realise that it's always far too loud for us in the city. So let's get out into nature! We set off in the middle of the night and find a nice spot where we can sleep in peace and plan our route. Finally, with a heavy heart, we leave the coast and head north, into the mountains (yay!) and actually towards home, although that will probably take a while yet.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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