The day started quite normal for Iran, with a nice breakfast and fruits and nuts for my trip. First exception was, that Hamid and his father went to the Sasand palace with me, they by car, I by bike. I left earlier and tried to be fast but after 20min they caught up and then, for the last 3km, we went together (video will follow in November).
In the beginning, we had been the only visitors and the Guard/guide showed us virtual pictures of the original palace and beautiful night photos.
Then Hamid and his father went back and I went on.
The road was quite straight and the surroundings dry as usual, but after a time you could see more and more olive trees. I decided to sit under one to eat what Shoreh had prepared but I so far had had no chance to eat it. It was chicken with vegetables and I was glad and surprised that it still was good after a day in the sun, were the water in my bottles had become nearly hot.
Later, I saw something looking like apples (sometimes farmers throw away lots of fruits and vegetables, some still good) but it was something looking like cucumber or pumkin and then I realized it is something wild growing there, without any visual source of water.
On the map, Arash and I had seen a part, when the komoot route went off the main road and he said I should stay on the main road and I also wanted to do that. But in the last moment, I decided to follow the way Mr.G showed. And I didn’t regret as I came through a green beautiful valley, Maybe called Khavaran and after all that dry area like paradice.
In the afternoon, it was a bit harder to go as the wind was stronger and I made a break in the small shadow of a traffic signal. Acs (=a car stopped), two man started talking to me, and I tried to find an apple and refill my active drinking bottle (active = the one I can reach during cycling). When they went away, I also took a picture along the road and went on.
After maybe 10min a police car arrived and reduced speed. A smiling officer said hello and only when I asked, it was clear that they wanted me to stop cycling. The officer came to me and asked for my phone. He wanted to see the pictures but was not satisfied. Then he pointed at to high buildings behind us and said that I had been taking a picture of them. I thought it is better to be cooperative to make it short and showed him my camera. He checked the last photos and didn’t see those buildings, because they were only small spots. I showed them to him and he said I should delete the pic.
the official alternative to the top-secret photo
Later, I saw that he had taken a picture by himself. Not the best or most interesting one, but a souvenir 😀
Then he took some loooong looks at my passport but didn’t find what he was looking for (Before, he had asked me if I am Russian). And I thought that I can go on now. But instead they began to lift my bike on the car and even asked me for help. The bike was too long but with police force, the officer tried to make it shorter or in other way fit in. It was not nice to look at that!
Then they offered me a backseat and drove to Jahrom. So, in the end I cannot say it was a trip made only by bike and ship, because 20km were made by police car.
At the police station, they made a protocol and handed me over to another officer, who also studied passport and also my information paper from Negin, making a selfie with me (without asking, but ok) and even told me to turn off my phone. We sat for a while. Then the next officer came. He was the first who could speak a little English. I was not really afraid or so, just nervous, because I had tried to be fast in Jahrom for meeting Jamal who wanted to show me some places. However, the officer said to me that it is no big problem, if I am only tourist and nothing else. And he looked deeply, earnest and searchingly in my eyes, so that I became a little bit unsecure whether I am really only tourist and my eyes would bespeak it. He told me we would have to wait 2 hours, but he allowed me to contact Jamal, Arash’s friend in Jahrom whom I wanted to meet at 4. And he allowed Jamal to come. Meanwhile he showed how slow and intense you can read each and every page of a passport, even the empty ones. He did it twice from front to back and back to front and again. By that, he could fill 15min or so. Then he read slowly and apparently concentrated the information letter but after that asked me questions about things he should have found there. As a good teacher, I showed him the according passage on the paper, but as a good person in police custody, I also answered his questions. Next, they saw the gopro and I explained that it is a camera but doesn’t work anymore (yes, since today I cannot know if it is on or off and it doesn’t react properly) But they were totally satisfied to know by me that it doesn’t work anymore ?
After a while we went into the office to meet another man who made the second report. It started with my name but after “Martin”, the writer just wrote something similar to what he had heard (but he couldn’t repeat it, so it will be something interesting but not my name) Jamal and his son Ali arrived, Ali could translate, and Jamal could talk to the officer which made the friendly but clumsy conversation a bit more fluent. They looked at every picture on my camera and then wanted Ali to ask me what I have in my bags. I didn’t want to mention my PC to make things not longer than necessary, so first asked if they want to know everything. I started with clothes and food and then said, “some technical equipment, but at this point they were tired enough of my enumeration and stopped it, before I could say “Computer”. Then, Jamal and I should sign the writing and for them it was ok, that I didn’t know what is written in it. For me, in that situation and its funny details it was also ok to sign that paper and then I was set free. Jamal asked me to change my clothes, because of the places we would visit and so I was allowed to go to the back office of the police station to do that.
Again a free man, I followed Jamal’s car to his school (he is the manager and once also was teacher of his own son, Ali)
There we met Muhammed, a teacher for tennis and English and Rahim Khodajoo, ex-football professional (once making a goal vs South-Korea at the WM) and now manager of Jahrom sport department. Our first visit was the man-made cave at the near mountain, the biggest of the world. Its purpose was to gain stones for building the houses, but by that creating a cave with chambers and columns over ~200 years is a unique project!
please turn the camera horizontal (fits into the blog)
I would have imagined that the people would have also created a tradition of cave-bound festivities but only at New Year they use it for gatherings.
From the cave, you could see a mixture of mountain and palace, a system being destroyed by conquering Arabs.
We went on to a Zarathustrian Fireplace that had not been destroyed but islamized.
Next stop was the old Bazaar.
Jamal, Rahim, Martin, Mohammed
It was a very strange situation when those local authorities were greeted by so many shop keepers and passers-by and I got my share of this importance as it suggested I also would be some personality. In the dark, we then went uphill to the “Roof of Jahrom” with a memorial for soldiers of the Iraq-war from 1980-88.
Then we had dinner in a very nice restaurant. It first was crowded by groups of girls busy with hookahs but around 8 or so they apparently had to go home.
Before we did they same, we had to go back to school for my bike. And there, the tortured bike-stand broke. The next bike shop was very close, and I got a new one.
In the Bazaar, I had bought salty dried shrimps and thought that I still have enough money in my purse, but now I saw that I would have to look for my reserve in the bike bags. Jamal helped me also in this situation with the rest of the money.
These photos, I got later by whatsapp. You see the bicycle repairman and some boys who also took lots of selfies 😉
First, I had thought I would stay at school overnight, then I guessed it would be with the family, but in no case, I would have had the idea that I would stay at that place we now were going to. According to my new hobby, I followed a car (Jamal’s) with now the complete family. This was funny in the beginning, because after a short time of following, I got the feeling it was the wrong car, as not Ali but his mother was sitting on the front seat. Jamal had told me that I would stay with another family in a house that is also a kind of resort. In fact, it is a kind of museum in fairy-tale castle -style, and they also call it Bazarkan museum
All rooms were designed with love for the detail. Besides the family, there also was a young French tourist who would share the room with me. It had been late before and I had been tired since afternoon, but I was delayed with my blog anyway, so I tried to write for a while, but at 1:15a.m. I had to give up.