This country is beautiful. And huge. In terms of area, it is 42 times the size of Switzerland. When we ask people here about distances, they say things like: "That's not far, about 4 or 5 hours". Then we smile and reply with sentences like: "With us, we'd be at the other end of the country in 4 hours".
So here we really have to make our way from highlight to highlight. Unfortunately, the roads are not really good and the lorry lanes are often bumpy. So we tend to drive on the left, weaving our way through the heavy traffic. And we learn that those who stick to the designated lane are the losers. Gerd now manages to adapt to the rhythm of the road like an elegant dancer. Sometimes overtaking quickly on the right, sometimes on the left via the hard shoulder.
And I notice something else: If Gerd still flashes in the first few days to indicate his destination or a lane change, this becomes less and less the day after day. Over, over, no problem. Flashing? Something for Iran beginners.
Unfortunately, I'm not that relaxed, so instead of looking out of the window I concentrate on my knitting. Knitting as therapy. Also good.
Even the city traffic has it all, everything flows, some accidents only seem to impress me. Here you can easily turn two or three lanes into five or six. And why not? There's room!
The Iranian highlands are a vast region that covers most of the country and averages around 1,200 metres above sea level. But time and again we climb to over 2,000 metres. These plateaus are characterised by a dry climate with low rainfall, which has led to the formation of deserts and semi-deserts in many areas. Despite the climatic challenges, people have developed and preserved cultures in these regions for thousands of years.
The Zagros Mountains, through which we drive for hours, are an impressive mountain range that stretches across most of western and south-western Iran and is one of the country's most significant geographical and cultural landscapes. The mountain range stretches for around 1,500 kilometres from the north-western border with Turkey to the Persian Gulf in the south and reaches heights of over 4,000 metres.
We can hardly get enough of the play of colours in nature, even if the route is otherwise long and somewhat boring. When it gets dark, we simply stop at a service station and spend the night behind the house. Only to drive through the same mountains again the next morning with a marvellous sunrise.
Motorway service areas look a little different here.
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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