(Daniel) Another early start, bloody hell, they aren’t even early any more, this is just how it is! 7am is considered a lie in! I got up, woke Rowan and Gabbs, and then had another Niagara shower. When I went through to the other room to meet the others Rowan had shaved his beard off! This was not only very funny, but a bit sad for me too, as we had both been trying so hard to grow them for the journey through Iran and Pakistan, and here we are about to cross the border into Iran, and Rowan gives up at the finish line. I am determined to struggle on, and my efforts are starting to bear hairy fruit!
We drove out of Dogbayazit, underneath the huge volcanoes that overshadowed the town, heading for the border crossing via a short stop to pick up some pastries for breakfast. I hadn’t gone one mile when a Renault Kangoo car passed me, and opened it’s window. I could see that there was a police officer inside, and felt that sinking feeling as he held a stick out of the window that presumably meant pull over. I pulled in to the side of the road trying to remember what speed I was doing, and walked over to his window. He was alone, and after shaking my hand heartily repeated the favourite word, “penalty!” I played dumb and asked him how much. 215 Lira he replied, ($150 approx) I couldn’t believe it, and walked back to the car to buy some time. I returned to his window, and told him that we didn’t have any Lira left, only 20 dollars, 35 he replied instantly, and I repeated our claim, knowing full well that we had nearly $1500 in the truck! He went for it, and I paid up, from my pocket that contained over $380. He seemed happy enough, and went on his way. I got back in the truck and drove very slowly the remaining 20km to the border.
At the border we came to a long cue of trucks trying to get through, but having read about this before, we drove past them all and were waived through to the gate. We pulled up at the Turkish side and passed through customs smoothly. After this we travelled up to the passport control, and a man dressed in civilian clothing walked over and asked for our passports. I handed them over, satisfied that we were safe here in the compound. The man led me out of the vehicle, and into the main building, where the Police men on duty were all watching TV, he passed over our paperwork, and told me to wait.
As I sat, smiling and shaking my head at the various money changers, another man walked over and asked what I was doing, I explained that we were driving around the world. The man was very pleasant, and said. ‘Sir, you are welcome in my country, but I strongly suggest that you do something about those UN signs on your vehicle.’ I panicked, suddenly realising that I had forgotten to remove the huge UN decals from the trailer, and quickly went outside to peel them off, fortunately they came off easily. They would certainly have caused us major problems on the Iran side, with the UN sanctions imposed on Iran after we left, they were more hassle than benefit!
When the officers had completed our paperwork, and the same man ushered me through to another room, where the same money changers were waiting to try and sell me more money. I asked what the rate was, ‘600,000 Real for 100 Dollars’, I checked the numbers against my phone which has every currency in the world loaded on it. The correct amount was 923,000 Real, I explained that his rates would be short lived with the advent of technology that gives you instant exchange rates, he wasn’t amused. The official then gave us back our passports, and stood there looking at me. Thank you I said, and went to get into the truck, he stopped me, “baksheesh” he said. Then I realised what he was doing, he wasn’t an official, he just carried your paperwork, and then expected a tip. I felt bad for not realising earlier, but was annoyed that I had foolishly handed over our passports to him. Somehow I ended up not paying, and returned to the the Wolf, making a mental note not to be so foolish again.
On the other side of the gate separating the two countries, a whole host of people tried to ask for my paperwork, but I ignored them and locked up the car to go inside. Inside, with the officials, the paperwork took no time to process, and Rowan Gabby and I were all outside in 30 minutes with the truck. I had to return to get the carnet application completed however, and watched as the poor man who was typing up the document had his computer crash three times each time he completed the long form. He was really desperate, and his boss came in and shouted at him for wasting our time. The clerk complained to me about his treatment, which was very awkward. I am 27, covered in dirt from driving and fuelling up on the road, these were older men, with respected positions, and wearing suits. After another 30 minutes the problem was fixed, and we were free to go.
On the way out of the door, I saw Rowan coming from the bank, he said that he had got 923 real to the dollar, exactly the rate which I had got on the phone, with no commission. I walked back into the bank, and a man walked over to me at the desk. “Money change?” He asked, and I said I needed to see a cashier, “yes, cashier!” he replied. I told him that I wanted to change $160, and he offered me an amount of money, I worked it back,. And said that my friend had just got 923 and he was offering 900, “no, no.” he said, and I assumed that Rowan had made a mistake. The man quickly changed up the money, and I walked out. When I returned to the car I confirmed with Rowan that he had got 923, and realized that once again I had been tricked. This guy was just hanging around in the bank waiting for someone like me. I tried not to let it affect our introduction to Iran.
Things started to look better as we drove out of the border and into Iran itself. Having become sensitive to such things, the traffic was the first thing that I noticed, very manic driving style, even on these quiet roads. No-one used indicators, and most vehicles are old bangers. I also noticed a lot of classic Land Rovers, although none of these seemed in the least bit an enthusiast.
As we started out towards Tabriz, the first stop on our route, we pulled into a petrol station for fuel. There was a long cue of trucks, but someone waived us past them, and over to another pump. I explained that we needed Diesel, or Gazoil as it is said in Farsi, and got a very puzzled expression, I don’t think that many cars have diesel engines in Iran! The attendant filled up the two tanks, and walked me over to the cashier. “Ten.” He said, I reeled, ten dollars I thought! And started to count out 100,000 real, no 10,000 he said, and gave me back 9 notes. I couldn’t believe it, 1 dollar for a fill up. It was amazing! The three of us had been struggling with the increasing fuel costs, and this place was just the break we needed from weighing out money on fuel everyday.
After taking a breather to recover from the shock of how cheap fuel is here, we pressed on to Tabriz, along the average quality Iranian roads. Arriving at sunset, nothing could have prepared me for Iranian driving, there may have only been one lane, but three lanes of traffic will try and get down it, traffic lights mean nothing, and in the first 45 minutes in the town, we saw six crashes. Imagine the fun that we had negotiating the busiest time with the trailer on the back, and everyone calling and beeping, winding down their windows to say hello! Somehow we managed to find our way to a car park and the main hotel street, where we got a room in the Azerbaijan Hotel. The town itself was industrial and lacked personality, as far as I could see.
After dropping our bags we went for a short walk in the town, and got some food from a pizza place. I wasn’t sure if I could even look at any of the women walking around in black cloaks and veils, and found it quite disconcerting. The men were very friendly, and we certainly didn’t see any other foreigners. After eating we went to a clothes shop and got Gabby a drab shapeless dress that she could wear over her jeans, that way we thought she would fit in better. This shopping completed, we walked back to the Hotel to bed.
Distance driven – 280 miles