Why Iran...?

‘Why Iran? Aren’t there enough ‘normal’ countries where you can ride your bike?’
Well, when I look at the map of Iran then one thing strikes me: There are a lot of mountains. And mountains, for me, are per definition interesting.

Long ago, I was looking at a world map and tried to find countries with mountains. Just because mountains are my passion. Iran drew my attention immediately, but at that time it was a country involved in a war with Iraq. Not the place to be, so I forgot about it. For a long time.

In the meantime, while exploring the Alps on telemark skis, I broke my leg. My left leg being ’emprisoned’ in plaster for a while, cried for exercise, so I started to ride a bike, with the plaster on. I rode 700 km and a friend took me to a hilly region in The Netherlands. This, surprisingly turned out to be fun. Surprisingly, yes, because Martin, my partner, had proposed to spend vacations biking more then once, but I thought that would be annoying. Well, after my broken leg, Martin and I started to explore Italy and later other parts of Europe on our bikes. And biking became our passion. Biking in mountainous regions even more.

A plan(t) started growing from the seed that was planted when I looked at the world map so long ago. What if we would go cycling in Iran…? What are the mountains in Iran like? What is Iran like? What are the neighbouring countries (no, not only Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, also Armenia and next to Armenia is Georgia and, wow, there are the Kaukasus mountains as well). We started reading books about Iran and discovered that Iran is much more than just a bunch of mountains in the desert. It is a country with very friendly, welcoming inhabitants. With one of the oldest cultures in the world, with plenty of natural miracles and an endless row of amazing palaces, mosques, parks and other cultural sights.

The mountain ranges in Iran (the map is a bit stretched compared to reality). Our plan is to cycle through the Northern Zagros Mountains (from Shiraz, via Esfehan to Dezful, then back to Esfehan) and cross the Elburs Mountain range from Turkmenistan/Golestan (east) to Armenia (west). 

We started to share our ideas with friends and visitors from Warm Showers and Couchsurfing. We were amazed how many people knew about Iran and its beauties, had Iranian friends or even visited Iran themselves. And no exception, they all encouraged us to go and have the time of our life.

Karin