Steven Raucher's World Tour

2000-11-20 in Tabriz, Iran
Arriving in Iran (not quite paradise)

Leaving the border post with our newly acquired 3rd party insurance seemed easy enough. Until of course something had to happen:

the unthinkable happened � I ran out of petrol in a country where petrol is cheaper than cola and I have a 41-litre tank! While waiting on the side of the road for Robert to find the last station we passed and get some gas I met a very nice Shepard and his son (who turned out to be very handy indeed when the 3 sheepdogs recognized their old friend the motorcyclist. It is amazing how effective rocks can be in dispersing snarling rabid dogs). On the way into Tabriz we overtook some other overlanders who turned out to be someone I had met on the bulletin board of horizonsunlimited.com. Simon Kennedy and his girl friend had met up with a French couple, Joe and Nadine and were all on their way to India. Joe and Nadine have some Enfield bullets waiting for them there and Simon and his girlfriend are on a Honda transalp but were bumming a lift in the French camper van with a bike trailer attached, very handy indeed. The following day we spent the morning running errands etc when we met a very nice kid called Sahied Habil. He is learning English and spent the day translating for us, in return we were asked to make a guest appearance at his English class where girls and boys can sit together! Funny how being on the road makes that exciting. Anyway after English we were taken back to Sahied�s house to meet the family and spent the remainder of the evening listening to Persian love songs only briefly interrupted by my introduction of the Blues into Persian culture. We had arranged to meet Simon and his girlfriend (anyone noticed that I have forgotten her name?) The following day in a town called Takab. This town is near the Throne of Solomon (a ruin of sorts) and is a little off the beaten track. The day started as it meant to continue. We received our laundry that we had sent in the previous day and hour and a half late and sopping wet. When checking out we refused to pay the ridiculous amount of USD20 (twice as much as the room had cost) The hotel then called the police who then kindly informed us that it would be better for us if we pay for the laundry at a discounted rate (I guess both the women and the threats are veiled here J - as an aside, if you are ever traveling to Tabriz, avoid the Hotel Azerbaijan like the plague!).