Luggage has arrived
Today, my luggage has finally been delivered by Qatar Airways, so I went to the airport and prepared the bike for today’s ride towards the antique ruins of Persepolis. The bike survived the transport without problems, only the power cables for the lamp had to be reattached.
The first ride
As predicted yesterday, it was still raining heavily until the afternoon, so I had the chance to test my rain equipment on my very first ride here in Iran. And it passed the test, even after two hours I was still dry underneath. But of course, I was glad when after the lunch break the sun showed up and the sky cleared within an hour.
Big parts of the ride were on the emergency lane of a 3-lane highway because there is no other street available. This sounds scarier than it was, because the street was very wide and we had basically a lane to ourselves. Nevertheless, it was quite noisy and there was a lot of pollution. Only shortly before Persepolis we could ride on some normal roads.
The negative highlight of the day was something else however. Shortly after our lunch break I rode in some glass parts which resulted in 10 holes in the tube and also the tire got damaged. I was lucky I insisted on taking 2 replacement tubes and a replacement tire with me. I wouldn’t have thought that I will need it on my first day though. While the tube is probably done, the tire can probably be fixed.
Accommodation at a local family
Tonight we will stay at a private home of a very friendly Iranian family who offered us to stay at their place when we arrived in Seydan at Sunset. We had a very nice evening together and tried to communicate with hands, feet and Google Translate. It is now already the second time where we were offered to stay at a local family. The Iranian hospitality is at least as good as its reputation!
Detailed Track
Max elevation: 1787 m
Min elevation: 1492 m
Total climbing: 1106 m
Total descent: -952 m
Total time: 09:05:02
