Thunderstorm and snow on Damavand (Sept. 1st/2nd)

At 7 a.m. Mahsoud is here again making breakfast. There's fried eggs, pita bread, feta cheese, carrot jam and of course tea. The breakfast of course is not only for me, but for everyone else, working up here. There's the mule-guys, carrying the luggage for the tourists and the food to the base camp III and the trash down again. Also the Jeep driver, who earn good money with transport of luggage and tourists up here to Gusfandsara. Also guides that take tourists (mostly Iranians) to Mount Damavand.

I just see the mountain in clouds today, but it's already impressive how high he is. I'm at 3000 meters already. After breakfast the baggage I don't need goes into Mahsouds metal hut and the bicycle gets a lok. He promises me that he will put it in his metal hut each night, so it can´t get stolen. All my valuables I take with me.

The view of the surrounding mountains from here is just terrific, especially when the sun is still low and the mountains throw long shadows into the valleys.

And then I start walking with my backpack, tent, sleeping bag and mattress. The BaseCamp III and starting point for the summit storm is located at 4200 meters. On the way there, I meet mostly Iranians who at the weekends try to climb Damavand. Most of them don´t succeed. I see a woman who is completely worn out and her husband even has to carry her backpack in addition to his own. She will never make it further than to BaseCamp III. People greet me with the sentence "khaste nabushid", which means "don´t get tired". Everyone asks me, where I am from. One man offers me candy from Esfahan. I've forgotten the name of the candy, but it tastes a bit like Turkish honey with pistachios in it. Somewhat too much rose water is in it.

It takes me about 6 hours to reach BaseCamp III. I actually feel quite good with the height. There are already some tents on the prepared platforms and I choose a place, far away from the other tents, because I don't want to wake up from some snoring neighbor. Unfortunately it does not stay like this, because by night a lot of people arrive. It's getting pretty crowded up here at Persian weekends.

First of all I put up my tent and then walk up to the hut. They offer tea and a tasty soup, everything for around €2.50. From Mahsoud I bought 2 bananas, I have the sweets from Esfahan, 3 packs of nuts I brought from Germany, that's it. I wanted to ask somebody for the toilet, which turns out to be unnecessary because you only need to follow the stench. Wow, I have not seen a worst toilet ever in my life. It is housed in a stone building. There are about 5 toilets, iranian style of course. But that's not the worst. First the stench is almost unbearable, second there is just a hole in the metal plate on the ground and one should look not so closely, because down below there are piles of shit from the people who went there before me. If you have seen the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and are remembering the scene where the boy jumps into the toilet full of shit, you can imagine how it looks here. A pity that I cannot send you the smell by mail. Sink and soap are not existent. Outside there are two large rain barrels with water, where you can wash your hands with a smaller container. From this barrels, you are supposed to the smaller jug, take it to the toilet and somehow clean the hole after you are done. Some people even are not able to hit the hole right and you have to take good care of where you walk. I start rolling up my pants up before entering. You can only lock two toilet stalls. It seems odd to me, that men and women are not separated here. It also seems as if nobody up here cares about scarves and the islamic clothing-regulations anymore.

After having experienced my first visit to the toilet in the mountains it is almost dark. I buy a bottle of water and then go to my tent.

The alarm clock is set to 5:45 a.m., because I want to start the hike before sunrise. Above me there are a lot of clouds and it gets very cold after the sun sets. But my sleeping bag is really warm but I still have to sleep with my softshell pants and a long sport top. Of course everyone keeps talking very loudly until late at night and you are not able to sleep. So I get my earplugs out to get at least a few hours sleep.

In the middle of the night I awake, because there is a lot of wind. I put up my tent without the pegs, because the earth is too hard to get them in. But the tent stays steady, well of course I am in it :-)

But what is this noise? I can not believe it, I am in a country that consists mostly of desert and now I wake up to the sound of rain? It has gotten very cold and when I open the tent to look outside, I know what the sound was. That was no rain at all, it was snow. The sight of Mount Damavand is blocked by big clouds. But since I see some people with headlamps starting to hike, I also make myself ready to go. After a few hundred meters, people meet me again and telling me that there are thunderstorms and a snow storm up there and nobody should go today. It would be too dangerous.

I'm going back to my tent again, trying to sleep some more hours, but in the end it starts to thunder and light down here also and the snowstorm also hits the BaseCamp. When it´s over I go to the hut and have some tea with bread and cheese.

Around noon, the weather has become good enough for me to do a short acclimatization tour up to 5000 meters to a frozen waterfall. I meet 3 Austrians, with whom I had a talk the day before already. The 3 are totally crazy. They have carried their Mountainbikes up to the waterfall yesterday and wanted to climb up with the bikes to the top today to do a nice downhill to the BaseCamp. However, they have decided now that there is too much snow and went up to get their bikes back. So nobody can say now that I am the crazy person here.

Shortly before the waterfall at around 4800 meters, I enter the clouds it starts to be too windy and ice-cold. I don´t desire to go up into the clouds and turn around again. It was a good idea to do this hike as another acclimatization before trying to reach the summit. Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow.

When I get back to the tent, 3 Iranians next to me invite me for tea. That´s what I really need right now, because it has become quite cold. They also offer me the most delicious dates I've ever tasted. They also give me four limes, from which they make a delicious drink and take it for mountain climbing. Just add water and sugar. Totally yummy! From this small limes (similar to the limes we know, but still a little bit smaller and yellow like our lemons with a very soft skin), they make very nice dishes, cooking them or cut them in slices and eat it fresh. A great refreshment for hot days. We talk for a while and also the Austrians join us. One of the Iranians, an elderly man tells me "Sheikh no good, Hedschab no good! " I don´t comment on this.

For dinner, I have a nice and tasty soup in the BaseCamp. A kind of tomato soup with pasta and rice in it. It´s perfect for this cold weather.

I prepare everything for tomorrow then again, fill up my water supply, check out what I take with me to eat and then go to sleep.

Around midnight I'm awakened by thunder and lightning directly over my tent. I really can't believe it, is this actually happening? What is going on here? And then again we go with the snow storm and thunder. Just unbelievable. I dig out my GoPro to film it. Well, not really a movie, because actually it´s only thunder and the crackling of snow on my tent.

That can´t be true at all. What will I do tomorrow? Stay here for one more day doing nothing? I don´t like this idea, but I really want to try reaching the summit. That´s the reason I even flew here in August. Somebody told me today, that the weather will be good tomorrow. I don't know what kind of app he has used.

It remains exciting, stay tuned to find out what happens next.

Why I finally took a cab / Jeep to Damavand (August 31st 2016)

I get up at 7 a.m. and Ramesh provides me with a nice breakfast. We have walnuts, sheepcheese, bread, eggs and cucumber. But I am too excited to eat much. I have packed most of my things yesterday and now I am carrying everything down the stairs. In front of the house I load my bike with all my bags. A woman passing by gives my thumbs-up and says "That´s very cool!" Ramesh looks at me as if I am the craziest person on the planet.

10 kilometers later that´s what I also think. It´s not that I did not already know that I am crazy, but now it´s proved. Even the very first little incline is unbelievable. It´s really just a small incline, but it is almost unbearable with all the luggage. I really need to get rid of some of my things.

A few kilometers out of Tehran I enter the Atesh Highway. It is very hot already and since I am cycling eastward the sun shines in my face directly. In addition the exhaust-clouds of the cars don´t make a very nice mixture, but somehow I make it out of the city. At every single incline I have to get down and push the bike.

At a shop I stop and buy some water. While I am in the shop three young men from a nearby workshop come by and are looking at my bike very curious. But when I get out of the shop they act as if nothing happened, standing next to their workshop door again. Then they watch me from afar while I am pouring the bottles of water into my waterbag inside the backpack.

In another shop I buy peaches and figs. They are super yummy and their peel is yellow, not purple as I know it. A few meters along the road another guy asks me where I am from. He has lived in London and speaks very good English. As always they ask me about my nationality and where I go, from where I come. He wants to give me his mobile number so I can call him if I run into problems. I thank him, but tell him, that I am fine. Meanwhile 4 men standing around my bike and everyone wants to take a picture from this crazy German woman. So I have the opportunity to hand them my camera also, so they can take pictures of me.

I continue through this brutal heat to a lake. If my online map is right, the street will go along the side of the lake. But the fun being on a nice paved even road does not last long. Suddenly I end up at a gate, which is open, but that can not be right way going through this gate. But my map says that´s exactly where I should go.

On the left side an unpaved gravel road leads uphill, so I think that will be the right road. I can not ride this incline at all, so I am down to pushing the bike again. After pushing the bike for 600 meters I notice that the direction the road is taking is not right at all. I decide to turn around and go through the gate. Maybe I am lucky and the road continues.

There is nobody in the wardens´ house that sits at the entrance. Down at the lake, two young men with cowboy hats are busy welding some metalbars. English, no chance. I ask them for the road to Damavand and they tell me it´s indeed the unpaved road I just tried pushing up the bike. Two other men arrive, one of them telling me he speaks english. Well, I think at least HE believes he speaks english, I can not communicate with him.

The older one tells the younger one to come with me and show me the road. Well, I know which road they mean, but they still come with me to show it. Very nice of them, but I really got it. The guy starts to drive up with his motorcycle, while I instead have to push up the bike, because the road is way too steep. Behind the gate a car with a couple in it has stopped. She speaks a little bit english, but well the thing is clear, it is this steep and unpaved road. They say: "Welcome to Iran!" I thank the guys and start pushing my bike.

5 minutes later the guy with the motorcycle comes back with his brother on the back. He speaks a little bit more english and they ask me whether they can help me pushing up the bike. No thank you, I can do it. Well, the whole thing takes me more than an hour, because the bike is so heavy. I even started counting steps (25 steps, then stop - 25 steps, then stop).

A truck driver, apologizing that he is not going in my direction, so he could have taken me with him, passes me. It is really unbelievable how nice everyone is. When I finally made it, I have a nice downhill on the other side down to the river, which runs into the lake. The river is very dirty and there are piles of trash lying around. I don´t want to have picnic here. I can´t understand why people are just leaving their trash wherever they stand, sit or go. I think about making a short break here to eat something, but the area is just too disgusting. I sit down under a tree a few meters away from the trash and eat something. Everyone passing is greeting me.

After half an hour I have to continue pushing the bike up a last part of the road before it enters the mainroad, which is more flat. Stopping every 25 steps, a car stops beside me, the driver indicating that I should hold onto the frame of the window, he will push me up. I am not able to do this, no chance with the left hand anyways. I would fall from my bike as soon as he starts driving. His son offers me to push the bike up the hill. I am really tired, so I say yes. I can not believe it, but he really gets on the bike and starts riding it up the hill, grinning. Arriving up there he had to admit that it really was "kheili sachte" (very heavy). I was sitting in the car with A/C - very nice. His wife pours me some cold water into my waterbottles and we take some pictures. As a thank you I give the boy a mousepad with an BMW i8 on it. My luggage has to get lighter, that´s for sure.

At that point I have to decide whether to go along the super dangerous Haraz-Road or the route I wanted to do through the mountains. I am looking at the route in my App and I am quite sure, that I can not make it over the mountains even in one week. Maybe it is too steep at all for cycling and I have to push it the whole way. Since the Expressway this morning was not that bad I decide to take the Haraz-Road.

The road continues on the other side of the lake and then it winds downhill towards the Haraz-Road. Seeing it, it is cristalclear for me that I will not ride this road, because traffic is crazy and no hard shoulder to ride the bike. When noticing a taxistand, my decision is made. I will go there by cab. I ask the taxidrivers if somebody can take me and the bike to Polour (the starting point for the trip up the Damavand). I have to walk with one of the guys to the taxi-office. They have a long discussion, of which I understand absolut zero. But somehow they decide it can be done, a guy says he will do it. I ask how much it will cost, but he says he can´t say since he does not know how many kilometers it is. They also don´t have a Taxameter.

But right now I really don´t care how much it is. I just don´t want to go on this bike again today and do one more incline in this tremendous heat. Somehow they get my bike on the backseat and all the luggage in the trunk. Then I get up in the codriver seat, which normally you don´t do as a woman, but well there is no other choice now.

When entering the cab I am under the impression, that this guy is smelling of alcohol. But we are in Iran, right, so that can not be the case. I think I mis-smelled it. On our way we have to stop at a gasstation und as we continue the driver takes a totally worn waterbottle, opens it and holds it under my nose. No doubt now, it is some kind of Schnaps, Gin, Wodka something in it. He pours himself something in an old coffeepot, adds coke and offers me the whole thing. No, thank you - I don´t drink alcohol. He admits, yes it´s warm, but he likes it and drinks the cup in one big gulp.

Wonderful, now I am on the very dangerous road with a drunk cabdriver! No wonder, the guy is driving like he wants to escape hell. I am really very adventurous, but right then I am not sure, if we ever will arrive in Polour alive or if we end up as one of the death fatalities that happen here every day. Now I almost regret, hiring this guy. But I would have never been able to do this with the bike, which gets obvious after this one hour drive. Nobody can image how this guy drives - I have never experienced something like that. Unfortunately my GoPro is in the trunk in one of my bags, that would have made the top movies on YouTube. He goes with full speed right and left and in between other cars on the road. And if he´s not able to get through two driving cars from one side, he just tears the steering wheel to the other side and tries it from there. Everything is very, very close, there is not one hand-wide space on the right or left side. The whole ride with him smoking like nothing and with eardrumming music. At some point he asks me, if I like his driving. I am just able to say "kheili khub" (very good).

Being able for you to read this report, everything was o.k and I survived this highway through hell. I hope he has also survived, turning back. I am lucky because at the beginning of the road to Base Camp II somebody speaks english and lets me know about his price. I pay 50€, but I don´t care.

When I see the road going up to Base Camp II it is obvious, that I will not be able to do this with the bike also. So I decide to hire one of the 4x4 cars here to carry me, my luggage and the bike up to 3000 meters. Today I don´t care about much anymore and my decision is made, that right after hiking Damavand I will go to the Caspian Sea and from there send parts of my luggage back home. I really don´t want to torture myself during the next three months.

I knew, that this trip would be strenous sometimes, no problem, but if you are not able to get up the smallest incline, because everything is just too heavy, than the whole thing really is no fun at all.

Arriving at Base Camp II I get invited by one of the guides, his name is Mahsoud, to his metal hut. We have tea with fried eggs and Lavash (very thin bread), salted butter and even sweet carrot marmelade. Very delicious. He speaks very good english and his favorite sentence is: "I am an international man".

I can leave my bike and the rest of my luggage here, when I start my hike up to Basecamp III. We are a nice little community inside his little metal hut and even I don´t understand a lot, we have much fun.

There are tents set up here already and since I don´t want to build mine, I can sleep in one of the tents. My luggage goes inside and then I sort out what I need for the hike and what stays down here.

I get water from one of the tanks and a toilet is also here. Not the nicest one, but it works.  There is also water at Base Camp III so I don´t have to carry all the water up.

Unfortunately the weekend starts today which I really wanted to avoid, but well can´t change that now. Mahsoud offers me to be my guide, but I really don´t think I need one. He really takes good care of me, says goodbye later, because for the night he is going down to Reineh to his family. But he says he will be back tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. to make breakfast for me.

I write my report and want to get up at sunrise tomorrow.

Start of my trip in Iran (August 24th - 30th 2016)

First I want to tell you that nothing here is like you would imagine and again it is, sometimes worse. But I don´t want to put my hosts into trouble, so I don´t write anything critical concerning politics.

After receiving the Visa on time and packing my luggage I started my adventure on August 24th 2016 or on Shahriwar 3rd 1395. My loved one and some of my best friends meet me at the airport in Munich one last time. We have Weißbier and nice bavarian food and then we have to say goodbye.

The box with my bike and the 2 big Ikea-bags are already checked in. For my hosts in Teheran I bought Nutella, but I cannot take it with me, because it´s concerned a liquid, well... Since when is Nutella a liquid? It´s thick and creamy.

The flight leaves with delay and since there is a thunderstorm over Istanbul, we have to circle forever over the city. Boarding time for my flight to Tehran is long over. I hope they will wait for me and hopefully there are other people in this airplane going to Tehran.

When we´re finally landing, I am very happy that the other gate is right around the corner and with "last call" I jump into the bus driving to the plane. At 1.20 a.m. the flight should leave, but at 1.10 a.m. I am still sitting in the bus, together with other people who are late. The plane waits for us - I am not sure if they got the luggage from the other flight into the airplane. This flight to Tehran takes another 3 hours and at 5.15 a.m. we arrive in Tehran. Too bad it is still dark, so I don´t see anything from the Elburz-Mountains.

The passport-control is very quick, they stamp my passport and I am in Iran.

When I come down the escalator to the baggage claim, I already see Sasan and Hamid, his son standing there. Like they told me in a very cool St. Pauli T-Shirt and we wave at each other like old friends.

My first bag appears - I am happy that loading the luggage in Istanbul apparently had worked. Also my bike arrives on the same belt as the other luggage. Also my bundle of the bike-bags arrive.

I put everything on a trolley and want to walk out there. But another security officer who works as a human random-number-generator stands here. Well, of course he has his eyes on me and my strange luggage. All my bags have to go through the X-ray again. The bicycle? No, I need to go over to the customs. I hope I don´t have to unpack the whole thing, because I will never get it back into the box again. But everything is cool, they just ask me, whether the bike is used.
And after one friendly "Welcome to Iran" I have finally arrived.

Meeting Sasan and Hamid for the first time, I feel like we are already friends. Sasan speaks a perfect German, since he lived in Germany a long time. Hamid speaks english almost without accent. How he´d learn that? Playing videogames... Unbelievable!

The transport of the bikebox is no problem at all, Sasan opens the trunk and in the whole thing goes. He closes the trunk with an expander and there we go.

Meanwhile the sun has risen, but it is not yet that hot. A wonderful blue sky greets me and far away I can see the top of the Damavand in the sunshine. What more can you expect?

Traffic is still very slow, well it is quite early. Nobody cares about the lanes, but there is not that much honking like, for example, in India. Going into the roundabouts though is totally crazy. Everybody just drives into the roundabout when arriving and every little gap in the traffic is used to squeeze in. Other than that, everything is fine. But Hamid says I should wait until we get into the city of Tehran.

But we have not planned on that today. The apartment where Sasan, Hamid and Mahnaz, Sasan´s wife live is half an hour drive west of Tehran and is located in the town of Karaj. Since we cannot go onto the highway with the half open trunk, we need 1 hour to get there.

In a park I notice fitness-machines, where even women are doing their workout. Of course, they have to wear a scarf, but that just covers the back of the head and is more an accessoire than covering something. In Tehran it is not handled that strict and why do I wear this thick scarf around my head, they ask me.

Of course in smaller towns in the countryside you should cover up more than in a big city.

Sasan is living in a nice new built area, which is very quiet. His wife Mahnaz, a very nice and warmhearted woman, always has a smile on her face. She welcomes me to Iran and says to remove this scarf and why do I even wear that thing so tight around my face? I am really happy to get rid of this cloth. For the future I need something lighter. I brought a choice of scarves here, because I didn´t know how it would turn out. In Sasans apartment you can run around as you want, shorts, T-shirt, whatever you like.

But first of all, Mahnaz serves me with a very nice breakfast. We have soft bread, warm from the oven, sheepcheese, homemade Marmelade and tea. After that they even offer me a cappuccino with milkfoam. Well, of course if someone opens a Café here, they should now how good coffee tastes. Unfortunately the espressomachine went broke 2 days ago, so the opening of the Café has to wait.

We talk about everything and I notice quite fast, that this country is a country of unbelievable opposites. I really feel at home here, almost like with friends I already know for many years.

I will sleep in Hamid´s room, who instead sleeps on the floor in his parents´ bedroom. I already experience a wonderful hospitality.

After the breakfast I need a nap, the flight was quite long and I couldn´t sleep very well in the airplane.

When I come into the family room at noon, they have prepared lunch. Mahnaz has cooked a wonderful meal. We have salad, peas, potatoes, very tender chicken in a saffron-onion-garlic-sauce and as a special highlight they serve garlic, which is kept in a glass for 8 years until it is black. Looks not nice, but is very delicious!

Then there is a nap after lunch, but since I already slept I write my diary and enjoy my first hours in Iran.

Later we drive to the city and watch what´s going on in the streets. I never expected that so many women are around. You don´t see black that often and nobody´s is totally covered up. The women are dressed very stylish with high heels, tight jeans and blouses. Most of them have long hair and most of the time the hair shows below the scarf or is bound together on the back of their head. This is where the scarf lies. That way you can wear the scarf as far behind on your head as possible. Only seldom you will get reminded by Savak (the secret police) to cover the hair. The women here they just don´t care anymore. People looking at me very curious because they notice my eyecolour and the bandanna I am wearing. Hamid tells me, that everyone loves to see foreigners, because it shows them that people from abroad are interested in their country, which is really important to them.

First of all I need to change some money in one of the exchange shops. Most of the time you can find them in the gold souk in Iran. For 100€ I get 3.9 million Rial, but it´s not as big a bundle I thought. The only problem I will have in the beginning is that most of the pricetags you see in Iran don´t indicate rial, but the second, unofficial currency, the tuman. If salespeople tell you the price it almost always is in tuman. So you had to add a zero and pay that amount of money. If you hear the amount in tuman, divide by 4 and delete three zeros, if the amount is in rial, of course also divide by 4 and delete four zeros. Oh, well - I will get used to it.

We continue walking through the streets and I cannot stop watching everything. You see the most beautiful dresses and lingerie in the shops. In one of the shops they have about 2000 different kind of nailpolish. They sell chicks painted in bright colors to take home as a pet. I ask Hamid, why they paint them with colors and he responds, because the people like it colored. Alright, then?

At one of the small stands we eat Sambuse, a triangular puff-pastry stuffed with different kinds of meat or vegetables. I take one with chicken, very tasty! Then we continue through the streets, which are crowded with a lot of people. Hamid tells me, that in about one hour only young people will be out. Since two years now, people are allowed to sit outside in Cafés. Also it is allowed for men and women to sit together, even if they are not relatives.

Later we drive to the Café, Sasan has rented. It is a small and cozy place with 4-5 tables and a nice chillout-lounge. Their menu looks also good and once they will get the espresso-machine repaired, they will start their business.

Today is Thursday and it is similar to our Saturday, Friday of course is like our Sunday. All the parks are full of families and couples who come here to have picnic. They have barbecue and corn from the fire and have a lot of nice food with them. Also the Kalyan (waterpipe) is quite famous here and once in a while you can even smell marihuana. Yes, you heard that right. Also women cross our path with rollerblades and bicycle und nobody cares if they lose their scarf playing volleyball. Couples walk through the park holding hands, which would have been impossible a few years back. You can even see women smoking cigarettes. They are rewarded with strange looks from other people, but nothing else happens to them.

For me all that is very interesting and Hamid is laughing when I show him how much I have written for just this one day.

The next days I spent at their place and it really seems to me as if I already know them forever. I experience their all-day life and how the average Iranian person lives. I accompany Hamid when he does his college enrollment and go with them to get the espresso-machine from the repair shop in Tehran. On the way back we visit the Azadi-Monument (Monument of freedom) and pass the unofficial BMW-dealer. We only want to take a quick picture of me in front of the gate, but one of the security people shows up and is very happy, that I work for BMW, that we get an exclusive guided tour through the premises.

After my time with them, Sasan drives me to Ramesh. Ramesh is the cousin of Azadeh, who I know in Munich and she already knows, I am coming. She lives in the northeastern part of Tehran, which is perfect for starting from there with the bicycle. On our way to the city we see two cyclists on the highway, packed with a lot of luggage like I will be in the future. Maybe I will meet them again on the road somewhere.

Also at Ramesh´s place I get spoiled with food, a nice room for myself, shower and everything. You really could gain some pounds spending time here. She can not believe that I don´t eat that much for lunch (4 p.m.). No wonder, as I already had lunch at Sasan´s place. But I don´t want to say something to offend her.

On one day I plan to visit the Milad-Tower, but Ramesh tells me, that it´s not worth it, because the windows are very dirty, so you can not enjoy the view from up there. So I decide to go to the citycentre with the metro and visit the souk. If you already have seen the souks of Cairo, Fes or Marrakesh, there is not much new to see. Only how big it is is really amazing. It´s supposed to be one of the biggest souks in the world.

What really is bad in Tehran is the smell of the exhaust pipes - it is unbelievable how thick the smog is. To me it seems even worse then in Delhi, but here you need to add the heat to it. Right now it´s around 34 degrees, but it is a dry heat so it is bearable. I could not imagine living here more than one week. For sure you will get some lung-desease if you stay here longer.

During the next three days Ramesh stuffs me with food. On one day I stroll through Tehran, visit the Golestan Palace and the Nationalmuseum. That really is a very special highlight of the city. On the second day I don´t want to walk around in this heat and stench anymore. So I decide to get up early to hike Mount Tochal. Mount Tochal is the 3964 meter high mountain which rises right behind the city. With the metro you can reach the final destination, take a short drive with the cab and then you can start your hike.

You start at 1900 meters, the path up to 2900 meters is in the shade if you start early. After that the sun is not that bad anymore and I experience nice 22 degrees sunshine. The view over the city is really stunning, what a huge city. In the morning the view is really spectacular, but with the sun rising and getting hotter until noon there again is a lot of smog over the city and you cannot see much anymore. Until the last Biwak at 3300 meters everything is alright. When I reach 3600 meters I really ask myself, if it is a good idea to hike Damavand. I mean, another 2000 meters higher? I cannot imagine that I will be able to make that. But I will try anyway.

The last 200 hight meters are very slow and very strenous. You sit down because you´re exhausted and after a few minutes you think you can go on easily. But after another like 50 meters again you are out of breath, so you need to stop walking again. But somehow I continue and seeing two men behind me - and they really look like the sporty types - and they don´t pass me or even try to pass me, I cannot be that slow.

Finally I see the top, which is really not spectacular. There are two bivouacs there, one made of stone, the other one of metal. Just when I am about to get out of my blouse, because I don´t want to put the fleece-jacket on top of the sweaty thing I am wearing, a guy walks out of the bivouac and invites me inside because it would be much warmer there. Up here a real icy wind is blowing, even though it still is 18 degrees. Nobody is interested if you wear a scarf or your long blouse. Two women were passing me earlier and seeing them I thought, that something is wrong. When I turned I saw what irritated me was that they did not wear a scarf at all.

There are seven other men in the bivouac, one of them with his son. Of course, I am the only woman again. Everybody starts to unpack the food they have with them and we share everything with each other. I still have those yummy pieces of pastry from Mahnaz with me, which everyone likes. I get bread, nuts and dried fruits from the other people. I arrived at 2.30 p.m., the last telecabin will leave here at 3.30 p.m. So I don´t stay long and hike over to the telecabin. A nice man from the bivouac walks with me. I think he wants to guide and help me. We drive down with the telecabin, he is paying for the shuttlebus to the parking lot and takes care, that I find a cab to go back to the metrostation.

The people here are very nice, friendly and helpful. Yesterday a man wanted to pay for my metro-ticket. But he didn´t look like he had a lot of money, so I refused three times - I bet it was Taroof :-)

Later, when I am sitting in the metro - and I am sure, I don´t smell that good - I am sure I would have put some space in between me and this smelly woman. Not here, another woman enters the train and needs a seat, so everyone moves together, so she can also sit down. Arriving at my station and being at the escalator, a woman stands next to me, touches my shoulder and says: "Welcome to my Country!, before disappearing into the crowd.

One time I had to stand in the metro, because it was very crowded, as a woman wearing very traditional clothes looks at me from head to toe. Then she addresses the people standing around her and I think she might talk about me not being dressed properly (bandanna and a blouse which shows some parts of my neck). But I am more than wrong: she tells a woman who is seated to stand up and offer me her seat because I am a foreigner and a guest in her country. For me this is totally embarrassing and I politely decline at least three times.

Those are just a few examples how very nice people are. And also the men are very polite and courteous. Sure, this is the capital of Iran and maybe it will be different in the country. We will see.

I hope that that was not too much informations for you. Tomorrow I will start my biketrip to Damavand and then I want to go along the Caspian Sea to Mashad (doing a small sidestep across the mountains to visit Damghan and then go back again) - maybe some of you want to look that up on a map. Sorry, that I cannot send you any pictures, but Internet is so slow here, that I might never be able to send you the e-mail. And if I send everything up front, nobody of you guys will go to my slideshow :-)

I forgot to tell you something about riding the metro. At the end and the beginning of each train there are wagons just for women. That is really nice, because it is much cooler and not as crowded. The first time I didn´t know about the extra wagons and ended up in the men's section thinking I get a heatstroke.

DAMAVAND

 

I want to make it a bit exciting for you, because even I do not know whether I will really manage to climb this mountain. Therefore, before I start and give you my travel-report,  a few key points for you:

Damavand with its 5604 meters above sealevel is the highest mountain of Iran. Translated it means "Frosty Mountain".

 

It´s a slightly fuming volcanic cone, which is located about 70 km northeast of Tehran. It is also one of the highest freestanding mountains in the world .

Of course there are some myths and legends about this mountain. For example, in Zoroastrian scripts the three-headed dragon Azhi Dahaka was chained to the mountain, where he must remain until the end of time.

Even the famous poet Ferdowsi wrote in his Persian "Book of Kings" about Fereydun which freed Iran of the millennial reign of Zahak and pins him to a rock wall of Damavand
 

Until BaseCamp I (located at 2270 metres) I am sure I can bike, up to BaseCamp II (located at 3040 metres) it might be possible to bike or push the bike :-).

 

Then you need to hike by foot to BaseCamp III (located at 4420 metres). The climb to the summit on 5604 metres has to be in one day, which means 1400 height meter up and 1400 height meter down. 

 

The danger here is not the difficulty of climbing the mountain, because it´s not a technically difficult mountain. The problem is the height of the mountain. I, myself have never been higher than on 3800 meters (Teide).

Be surprised, what will happen next...

THANKS!

the persian word is missing above: xeili mamnun: خیلی ممنون

Today my post is longer than usually, but I need to say all that.

Already at the very beginning of my journey, I want to thank a lot of people: 

Martin, for his understanding that I just HAVE TO make this trip and that it's my dream to travel for such a long time through my favorite countries. I love you!


My mother, who has always encouraged me to do this. I´m doing this trip for the both of us.

My nephew Fabian, who has advised me in a perfect way when it comes to camera equipment.

My whole family, who always supported me and my plans.

Alborz, for his endless patience when learning Farsi, my terrible pronunciation of some Persian words - I just say: the letter "ghain". But we also had a lot of fun!

Anna S., who gave me her old iphone.

Anna R., for the beautiful diary "my little time-out".

Anna and Homayoun, Anna for a lot of fun in our farsi-lessons and Homayoun for his contact details in Kermanshah. I will call you, when I get there.

Antje, for exchanging any information about the ascent of Damavand, gas cartridges, maps and stuff like this. Too bad, that we will not hike the Damavand together. But maybe Oman will work out.

Azadeh, who told me abouth her country and has convinced me to visit Iran. Thanks to her I have now contacts to people all over Iran and I am really looking forward meeting them.

Barbara, who had the best tailoring-skills lengthen my blouses, so they cover, what they should. Thanks for the adaption of the Tchador, which I need for mosques and holy places.

Charly, who always had an open ear to all my concerns and considerations, what I should do and how I should do it and shared my excitement from beginning to end. Thanks for your tips for the offline topographic maps and all the technical stuff. And thank you so much for my sponsoring-gifts, a powerbank, so I always have enough energy :-), a special charging-cable and an USB-stick for transporting some files.

Elisabeth, for the personalized first-aid-bag - there is quite some stuff in it that I have noch bought yet.

Evelyn, who has listened patiently to every single detail of my planning. Thanks for the coffee-breaks! And thank you for the Xperia, I believe that will safe my life - map-wise.  Thank you for the beautiful diaries, which I will fill with all my experiences. Also a big Thank you for the Popcakes you made for my farewell party, that really is a piece of art.

Evelyn, Ana and Markus, thanks for the great T-Shirt, it fits perfectly, that really was a great idea!

Franzi, my friend from childhood-days, who read and corrected my blogs and gave me a lot of help about my homepage.

Gabriele, for all the presents I will give to my hosts. I am sure, that I make some people happy with it.

Ina, for the secret hideout, very cool!

Ina and Rosi, for the "hand of Fatima", a beautiful jewelry and my lucky charm, which I will wear daily from now on. 

Karin, thanks for the nice bike - a great idea!

   

Kerstin, the only one of my friends who has not suffered half a heart attack because I mentioned Iran and has not advised me of all sorts of dangers.

Marc, Christian and Tobi, my IT-guys, which advised me in all questions of technology.

Marion, for the cute booklet and this wonderful Talisman.

Marion, Ana, Steffi, Ina, Rosi, Senay, Annemarie, for listening and your friendship.

Volker, who has set up my website and answered all my IT-questions and never lost patience.

My A-Circle Ladies, thanks a lot for the financial support!

My AF-Circle, my present which I got from them for my farewell is absolutely WOW and it´s something I always wanted: GoPro Kamera Hero4 Silver:

I also love the card with all your good wishes:

It´s also a piece of art and a single-item, handmade by Lola Lorenz. If interested, that´s her webpage: www.go-karte.de

Meine boss, she had to put up with me during 12 years :-), got a beautiful superbig buquet for my farewell and a lucky charm, which I will add to my handlebar bag.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU

to all of you, who helped me made this trip possible and supported me in any way.

I am very lucky to have you as friends!

I pack my bike and take with me...

handlebar bag with camera equipment and technic stuff: 7 kg

cooking gear: 2,7 kg

presents: 3,6 kg (2,4 kg less in Teheran)

books, diaries, maps: 3 kg

shoes: 3 kg

tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag: 5,3 kg

clothes: 5,7 kg

cosmetics & medicine: 2,1 kg

safety utilities: 1,1 kg

water provision (empty) / filter: 1 kg

bike repair / accessoires: 1,5 kg

When everything was lying on my livingroom floor, I cannot believe that all that will fit in my bags.

But voilá, I made it! All together I have 45 kg on my bike, the bike itself weighs 20 kg. Wonderful!

And that is how I will bike around during the next months:

Tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat will be added on top of the red bags

Any questions?

Dear Readers,


all of my posts which I created prior to my trip are published so far. I hope you had a lot of fun reading them.

I hope I have covered all things you are interested in, because now I have no idea what else to say about traveling, sabbaticals and such. 

Please write, if you have any more questions I can answer or if you have a topic for a new post.

All questions you send in can be answered before August 24th. You can send your questions/suggestions to either anja-merk@gmx.net or just use the contact-form on my homepage: http://www.anja-merk.de/page8.html.

It is still very uncertain whether I can post with blogger at all, since blogger is owned by google and that is blocked in Iran. If everything fails I will send you an e-mail with updates to my trip.

I am looking forward to any questions and suggestions you might have and which I have not thought about before.

What´s next - after Iran?

Other than Iran, I will also visit two other countries.

After Iran I will take the ferry from Bandar Abbas on the persian gulf to Dubai, where I can leave my bike at a house of a BMW-expat.
That´s really great, because I don´t want to carry my bike to Thailand, where I don´t need it.

From Dubai I will fly to Thailand, so the time of separation between Martin and me is not that long. 

We will meet in the north of Thailand in Chiang Mai, where I have booked a nice accomodation in an Elephantcamp already.

After that we will fly to Krabi and visit the island of Koh Jum, which is supposed to be a small, heavenly island. In the end we will go climbing in Krabi and the last week of our 4 week holiday we´ll spend on the island of Koh Yao Yai.

After our vacation there I will fly back to Dubai, get my mountainbike and drive to Oman, where I  also want to do some trekking through the mountains and wadis (dry rivers and canyons) and also do a trip to the desert, maybe with a camel for several days. For a long time I want to see the starry sky in the desert again. That´s some real unforgettable experience.

By mid-march I have to go back to Germany, since my starting-day at BMW is on April 1st 2017 (unfortunately not an Aprils´ fool joke). That´s what scares me most. Not the fact, that I will be back at BMW, but due to the fact to be back again in the treadmill of everyday life.

So far, that´s the plan. You will see in my newsletters - I hope I can publish something once a week - if the plan worked out, or if I had or wanted to throw something overboard.

Until then, I wish you a great time and hope you enjoy browsing through my other travel-diaries.

Yours

New Year´s in Iran

In my last post I have informed my dear readers about the persian calendar. Today I want to describe, how the persian New Year´s (Noruz) is celebrated.

 

On the eve of the last Wednesday before Noruz, the Chahar Schanbe Suri is ( "Wednesday fire " - Chahar = 4 , shanbe = day , Suri = fire ) set on fire. This ancient Iranian (Zoroastrian) Ceremony is one of the most important rituals of the Iranian New Year.

On the day of Noruz you need the "haft sin" = 7 "S", which means 7 things, whose names start with an "s". You can choose seven of the following:

- Sabze, a plant e.g. a persian spice: it symbolizes rebirth

- Sib, an apple: it symbolizes the beauty and health
- Samanu, wheat - a meal made from flour: it symbolizes wealth
- Sir, garlic: it symbolizes medicine
- Senjed, haw: it symbolizes love
- Sekke, gold coin: it symbolizes wealth and prosperity
- Somak, Sumach: it symbolizes the color of the sun and with it the symbol of the sunrise,
  another new start
- Serke, vinegar: it symbolizes life´s bitterness
- Sonbol, hycinth: this flower symbolizes nature and beauty

In addition to those seven things, you need to add some more objects:

- a book: the book symbolizes wisdom and knowledge. Many people are using the books of
  their poets Hafez and Ferdowsi instead of the Koran.
- a mirror: the mirror symbolizes the course of life
- (gold-)fish: symbolizing fertility
- candlestick with lit candles: they symbolize the light and stand for banishment of darkness
  and ignorance
- a few colored eggs: they also symbolize fertility
- a bowl filled with water, in which floats an orange. The orange symbolizes the 
  Earth/Universe
- haft mewa (a New Year´s drink, mixed from 7 fruits)

In addition seven meals are prepared, whose names should start with the letter "s". That symbolizes the seven virtues of Zoroastrism. All these things are set on a table.




Quelle: Wikipedia (License)

Message from www.anja=stupido.de

How stupid can I be? That´s what I am asking myself today...

 

I have booked a lot of business trips for my boss and filled in several visa-applications, but I am not able to get it done when it comes to my own stuff.

 

I have the following problem now: this morning (August 11) my return envelope was in my mailbox and I was very happy thinking that my visa has arrived very quick. But it was not my passport with the visa inside, but a note saying, that with my reference-number I have to go to the consulate in Frankfurt, not to the one in Munich.

 

What happened?

 

To apply for a visa you need a reference-number (similar to an invitation letter). If you travel to Iran with a tour operator, your travel agency takes care about the formalities. In my case I had to apply for the reference-number at an online-service. They get the number from the Iranian Department of Interior. On time I had applied for it and a week ago I got the number.

 

The application-form was filled in online, I already had pictures done and so I sent everything to the consulate in Munich. Well, I forgot, that I had applied for a reference-number for the consulate in Frankfurt. What I had in mind that day - I don´t know.

 

This morning I have called the Visa-Service in Munich, but it would take too long to get a new reference-number for Munich. So I have sent all the forms and my passport to the Visa-Service in Frankfurt. With express mail it will arrive tomorrow (Friday, August 12). Luckily there is no  holiday in Frankfurt on monday (in Munich there is). I have submitted an urgent application, so to get the Visum it will take max. 6 days. The whole thing has to get back to me again (you can send it with DHL Overnight carrier), so if I am lucky it should work out. Worst case I have to drive to Frankfurt and pick it up there.

 

Stupid, because I have to bring my rental car back on August 23.

 

Even more stupid, that from August 23 on my mail will be delivered to Martin in Herrsching, which will delay the whole thing for another day. So I have to change that delivery-order to August 25.

 

And who´s fault is all this bullshit? Just my own. I should have just stopped and think about the whole thing for one second and everything would have been fine.

 

I already have enough excitement, and now this! Please keep your fingers crossed, that I get my visa on time.