FURTHER INTO IRAN

From Shiraz, we changed the program slightly to give us more time to recover from the flogging we copped riding across the Baluchistan desert. We decided not to go to Yazd, & spent the extra time in Esfahan, which we both liked. It is a tidy & well maintained city, with tree lined streets, & lots of parks. The highlight was Imam Square, which is a huge open square, surrounded by a bazaar, and with a huge mosque at one end, (& another in the middle). Really very impressive. On the Friday night, we noticed that a favourite local pastime was to take a picnic tea down along the riverbank at dusk. There were thousands of family groups involved. Not a drunken yobbo in sight to spoil the family atmosphere. Maybe thats our problem! And next morning, no mess along the riverbanks. We then moved up to Tehran, we had been warned about the traffic, and it is pretty crazy, but not as bad as India.

We took the bikes in to the BMW dealership for some TLC. You should have seen the colour of the old oil, I reckon we must have cooked it properly!! Anyway the dealership is run by the legendary Mr Ali Nouriani, a man whose reputation precedes him amongst overland bikers. Mr Nouriani is a most kind & generous man, & he graciously extended many courtesies to us, for which we are very grateful, almost to the point of embarrassment. Tomorrow we leave for Tabriz, & then into Turkey. It will be reassuring to have insurance cover for the bikes again. Iran was the only country where no one would cover us. Mr Nouriani offered to sort that for us, but we figured that we just need to be ultra careful for another few days.

Have to say afew words about the Iranian monetary system. Its confusing. For a start, the exchange rate is 9,300 rials to the dollar. So you change $100 and have a roll of notes that would choke a camel. All the notes have oodles of zeros on them, and a small purchase sees you forking over notes for about a minute. On a large bill, like a hotel, we have broken the million rial mark.
To make matters worse, everyone just drops a zero, so when someone says a thing costs a hundred, they really mean a thousand. Got it? I have been here a week & I still haven't.
Petrol costs 4,000 rials a litre. Sounds expensive, doesnt it? Well its only40 cents. We will get our come uppance in Turkey where we hear its about $6/litre. That is real pain at the pump!
Photos and further commentary to follow asap.