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Teheran - Isfahan
So as you have read, we arrived in Tehran earlier then expected due to the riots in Rasht.

The thing we didn't tell you is that Ingrid from Tabriz gave us a nice adress to stay in Tehran. Elham, Ingrids daughter in law picked us up from the west bus terminal. As always we had the dim-witted cab drivers suggesting we should take a cab. Oddly enough they never seem to understand that bicycles are pretty sufficient aswell. So after crossing a pedestrian bridge over a big road, and waiting for Elham who had to pick up her car, the fun started. Fun? Yup fun, we discovered that the best way to their house was via the innercity highways. I have absolutely no clue how it looked, but many people have been frowning that day I guess. After 13 kilometers mostly cycling uphill in the heat of the day we made it to the appartment. Upon our arrival there, our first question was ofcourse: "can we use your shower?". In the end we stayed for almost a week in Tehran and Isfahan.
On wednesday we started our quest for the uzbek visa. Except for the 1 hour search for the consulate everything went really smooth.  It was just a matter of paying, waiting 20 minutes, and tadaa we had our visa! 30 days, no problems! The following 2 days where mostly spend by resting and trying to find a solution for my rear hub/freewheel. We found a good bicycle shop, but they charged 100$!! Just for a new freewheel. Since its basically impossible to withdraw any money in iran for us, it was a no go. This made us decide to simply see how it would go, and solve the problem along the way if it would get worse.
On friday evening we took the night bus to Isfahan. It was too far away to cycle to, considering our schedule etc. But about every person we had met along the way recommended it to us. So this was the best solution we could think of.
Upon arrival in our hostel, we slept for another 3 hours to wake up at 8 in the morning. Luckily Elham had given us a list of what to see. And most of it, we managed to visit in this short time.

So what did we see? We started off with a big square where the former sultan had his people play polo for him, and racing against each other. It was an impressive and big square, with another bazaar hidden around it. Here we met an amazing American Iranian. Apparently he has been living in America for years. His visit to Iran was not only for fun, but also to possibly find a wife for his son. The reason why I am mentioning him is mostly because he shocked us with his opinion about Jews. We were shocked, because in his opinion, Hitler was acting correctly by killing the Jews. Because the Jews apparently have a plan to overtake the world. And first they tried it via Germany, and now they're trying the same in the USA. This man had many more odd ideas about the world, but I won't harras you with that now. Let's just say we split directions as soon as possible in a polite way.
The rest of the day was really nice, we saw some really old bridges, heard where the riots were etc. Also we met some other people. But the biggest surprise was when we returned to the Hostel and met the 2 french guys from Erzurum there! Such an coincidence! So the rest of the evening I spent talking with them, discussing things which happened.
Actually this is one of the best things of the backpacker ho(s)tels everybody goes there and speaks English. This way you can always have a nice chat, get some new information or idea's etc. The next morning we payed a visit to a mosk and bought some extra souvenirs for our beloved ones at home. At the mosk there was actually a guy who's name is Eshan and he showed us around. It gives you a way better view on a mosk then just walking around and looking at the vast size of everything. So we can conclude that even today we learned something new about the Islam and its habits. The little stones they have are actually praying stones and there are many other things to know.

At 12 we had to say goodbye quickly and after that he got us a cab to the bus terminal for half the price we payed! The way back wasn't much different from the way to Isfahan, but now we could see the desert.
Based on these views I was not 100% sure I was looking forward to cycling to Mashhad or through Turkmenistan. Just sandy mountains, sand, sandy hills, more sand and well sand. With some small sand whirlwinds. Upon our arrival in Tehran it was a bit exciting to see how much a meter would make us pay for a cab ride. Luckily this man understood english and we payed even a little less then what we normally bargained.
The rest of the midday was spent relaxing. Monday was Anita's(the daughter of Elham and Adriaan) big day. It was her birthday! Ofcourse we had a present for her. There is one picture with a little child with an orange scarf. That's our responsibility. The morning was all about preparations for Elham, so we went to the centre of Tehran together with Ingrid and had a nice look around there.
That evening we experienced a mixture between a traditional Iranian birthday party and the normal western birthday parties. Seeing those mixes was a really intresting thing. Normally in Iran the kids just play etc, but in western europe they actually wanna do some activities with them. Mixing those, isn't actually that bad. Oh and before I forget to mention it: they got humongous birthday cakes here. 3kg, 5kg, you name it and they seem to make it.

On tuesday we packed our bags, made sure the email regarding our Turkmenistan Visa to Vali in Mashhad had arrived, and left. We hired a blue pickup thing for it, which took us to the south terminal. Terminal? Bus? Again? Yes, due to the riots we didn't want to go to certain places, and thus we had to take the bus to a town beyond those places.

After a long ride we ended up at Sharud.
 
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