Tag Archives: walk🚶🏻

I decided to take a detour. Instead of sticking to the mountains in the South, I would go westwards to Gonbad Kavus and look at an old tower there. This would cost me one walking day, but I liked old towers. Also, there was a hotel in Gonbad that was called Hotel Ghaboos, which sounded […]

It had been a good night until five thirty in the morning, when a rooster started doing his thing right outside my door. Musa, the father of the family I had been staying with, gave me some bread and some eggs and some tea, and just as I was getting ready to leave, his daughters […]

When I left the small village of Tangrah, the sky was blue and the scenery was green: I passed little villages… …and tracks that led into the forest: But I always stayed on the main road, and sometimes it looked almost as if I was walking through Germany: But behind me, and behind the Caboose, […]

I had some more trouble with my tires, but the dudes from the Red Crescent helped me get it fixed. They were overall nice guys, and they had given me great food and a warm place to spend the night: I was a bit shocked when I noticed that the barbecue stands outside were already […]

I woke up somewhat refreshed and thanked Daniel, the caretaker of the place, for his hospitality: Then I was back on the desert road: I ran into Ali, a cyclist who was on his way to Mashhad: He seemed very happy to have reached the high point of the plateau. I was happy as well, […]

Hadi’s house was simple, but it was cozy: I actually quite enjoyed the simplicity of it: I said goodbye to my host: And then I said goodbye to the fire temple: The land was open, and could see flocks of sheep long before I met them: I had a good time exchanging loud baahs with […]

I left my rented room through the same alley that I had walked down the day before: The village looked like it was still asleep: This was when I discovered that I had a flat tire. Again. My pump had broken down, so I was pretty disappointed. But I decided that the tire wasn’t completely […]

I woke up in the restaurant with a feeling of dread. It was all too clear what lay before me – 13km steep uphill. Maybe rain. I said goodbye to Abolfaz and the restaurant: Luckily, after colossal rains during the night, it had stopped in the morning. I got on the road and ran into […]

The last shop I saw before I hit the country road was a bit underwhelming: And so was the road. It was loud and noisy. But there was hope. Studying the map beforehand had revealed a dirt path that went parallel to the main road. Only when I tried to take it, these two friendly […]

In the morning, I had to say goodbye two times. First to Rasul (who still didn’t smile for photos): And then to Mohsen (who had to go back to the city): Then I continued down the winding mountain roads: Sometimes I saw fields of poppy flowers: And sometimes I saw roads that weren’t mine to […]

When I left Bojnurd this morning, I wasn’t alone. Of course the Caboose was with me, as always. But so was a gentleman called Mohsen. He owned a workshop in Bojnurd. He loved traveling. He was on a mountain bike. “Do you mind if I accompany you a little bit?” he asked me. We walked […]

I woke up in the bliss of what had turned out to be a four star hotel: When I had shown up the night before, coming in from the darkness, out of my mind from exhaustion, the hotel staff had smiled and given me a special price. The hotel seemed much too nice for a […]

I said goodbye to the Red Crescent dudes: Then I was back on the road, which had started to wind around the mountains: Sometimes, in the valleys, I saw fields of rape (or: rapeseed), and somehow there were always people in them who were taking selfies: My back felt better than the day before, and […]

I was told that a Spanish traveler had arrived in my hotel. A Spanish woman? I asked. The answer was no, no, no, a shake of the head. The dude’s name was Raul, and his motorcycle was a bit intimidating, a machine designed to grind the concrete and make dust fly: Reza from the hotel […]

I woke up with the morning light that fell into the room: And I found myself in a good mood. We all had breakfast, then Vahid’s family watched me load up the Caboose: Vahid took my camera and ran off to photograph his dad with his friends repairing the car: Then we posed for a […]

When I left, it was another sunny day, and walking felt easy. These two dudes came running after me until they were out of breath, then they asked for a picture: If you look at the map you can see a dotted line. I crossed it today, stepping into my second Iranian province. But nothing […]

I left Quchan in the sunshine, and everything was swell. Passed a big fat truck: Passed a monument that looked like… me: Somewhere along the way this gentleman stopped his tractor and asked me to take his picture, so I did: There was laughter in the air and much singing of birds, and my forearms […]

The night had seen rain: So I gave the Caboose her orange cover, and then we set out: It was miserable walking next to the highway with the drizzle and the cold and the trucks coming our way like Space Invaders: Remember I told you about the memorials to the fallen soldiers from the Iran-Iraq […]

When I woke up everything was swell, and the village was totally quiet. Only old folks and young children on the street. I ran into this tractor driver and asked him if there was a road to Quchan that led through the villages: He said no. So I walked in the direction of the highway, […]

I wanted to continue on the nice quiet country roads, so I asked the people of the eco-lodge in Radkan to help me come up with a roadmap to Quchan, and they did: It was basically going to be village hopping. The road was so quiet it was mezmerizing: One time I ran into a […]