Tag Archives: Iran ๐ฎ๐ท
a motel on Chamran street
The motel was located right next to the beach. And I mean literally right next to it. It was even closer to the Caspian Sea than the sanatorium in Kaji-Say had been to lake Issyk-kul one year earlier. When I wanted to go down to the beach, I would step out of my room and […]
hype
Babolsar was one of the prime tourist destinations in this part of the country. So it was crowded. In fact it swarmed with people, and I was told that many of them were from the area of Mashhad, where I had been just a few months earlier. It felt only logical that people from a […]
why you should have long hair
First things first: having long hair sucks, and it sucks hard. Depending on your hair’s texture, you have to use a conditioner when you shower, and you have to brush after. It takes ages for your hair to dry, too. And it gets everywhere. It’s really just annoying. But, if you have long hair, and […]
Ebrahim’s Angels
There was a shrine right next to where I was staying: Imamzadeh Ebrahim. Word had it that he was a brother of Imam Reza, the gentleman to whom the huge shrine in Mashhad was dedicated. I decided to go check it out. It was a medium-sized shrine: Behind it (in fact, all around it) was […]
bamboo torture
Turns out Juybar, this inconspicuous little town between the mountains and the Caspian Sea, is the center of Iranian wrestling. And since Iran as a nation is pretty good at wrestling, Juybar is arguably also one of the main centers of wrestling in the world. There are monuments and posters dedicated to wrestling all over […]
let’s take a snail
When I left my hotel this morning and the owner asked for a photo of us together, I decided to post it along with all other photos I was going to take with people along the way: But first it was just easy walking through the quiet parts of Sari: Here’s selfie number 2 with […]
super healthy cookie
I remember telling you about the awesome apricots I bought on the way yesterday. But I didn’t show you what they looked like: Or were they peaches? Either way it was: omnomnomnom. Why always apricots, though? Turns out the eternal question of apricots or peaches is actually quite simple: if you have a place to […]
Iranians love chandeliers
I felt like moving, but just within the city. I didn’t want to leave Sari, and neither did I want to leave my friends. However, I felt like it was time I gave them and me some space and stopped my occupation of their living room. So I packed up the Caboose and stepped out […]
PUNKS not DEAD
Another slow day. A day of friendly banter, of food and of drink. One thing you realize rather early in Iran is that the people here like to eat rather late. I have had many “lunches” that were at three in the afternoon (or even at four or five), and dinner is often at nine […]
the (not so silent) silent place
I was going to rest up in Sari for a few days. So today my friends took me to an historical madrasa in a village outside of the city: It was apparently from the Safavid period, which would make it a few hundred years old. Either way I loved it. It was beautiful and quiet: […]
where cars come to die
When I woke up and left Neka, it was already noon. But I didn’t have to walk very far today. Maybe twenty or twenty-five kilometers, I figured. So I was going to take it easy. Especially since I still hated the highway. I was somewhat happy when I passed a place where a few cars […]
cakes
After a great night of laughter and music, I left my friends and the little village of Gorji Mahalle. The sky looked like it didn’t want me to leave: The highway was roaring as usual, but there was the occasional roadside clothes stand: And there were people who stopped to take pictures… …or to have […]
where are all the Ali Babas?
Said goodbye to my friend Borzoo today: Then I walked through the sunshine in Behshahr: Passed a toy store: And a propaganda mural that warned seemed to warn of evil forces grabbing girls by their school uniforms: When I took a closer look, it seemed to be more of an advertisement than a warning: I […]
silly boats in the shapes of swans
My friends took me back to Abbas Abad today, so that I would be able to see it in the light of day. They were very patient with me while I was wandering around looking for an angle to shoot: It turned out that I was fascinated by these silly boats in the lake: They […]
the photographer
A while back – I think it was last year – someone on Instagram told me to look up an Iranian photographer. They said something along the lines of: “if you’re interested in the real Iran, check this out!” The photographer’s name was Masoomeh Bahramii, and I clicked follow on her Instagram account. I ended […]
wary hungry angry
The night had been shitty. Went to sleep at two. Woke up at three and saw a pig, a wild boar, going through the trash next to me. Went back to sleep, then woke up again at five thirty because a pack of street dogs was going through the rest of the trash. Then the […]
the Caspian Sea
Finally, this morning I said fudge it and left the motherfudging highway. There was a little dirt path and then a secondary road a little bit to the north, so I was going to go there. Come what may. There were orchards: And there was silence: Sometimes there were little villages: And often there were […]
apricot to the rescue
Today was going to be another short walking day. Kordkuy, the town where I wanted to spend the night, was less than 20km away. However, walking along the highway didn’t feel very easy at all. Rarely was there a moment like this one where there were no cars or trucks or motorcycles roaring through my […]
a pool for me(n)
When I finally left Gorgan this morning, I knew that I would end up missing the place: the winding alleys of the old town, the bazaar, the people. Gorgan said good bye with a sunny sky and a rather peculiar looking little tower: Then we were on the open road, the Caboose and I. There’s […]
how to take a selfie
I still maintain the tradition of taking a selfie every single day of my trip. Otherwise I wouldn’t have this ridiculous beard and hair, you know. Anyway, I was going to take one with the mausoleum and the little tower in the background today: So I went there, and I found it a bit challenging […]