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Hello all!

if one year before somebody would have tried to convince me to drive to Iraq I would have surely said ‘never – only over my dead body’!

But as we travelled through Iran we met several other travellers who convinced us that it is safe enough to tried it, surely you better do not go to the north where the IS still is active. So we crossed the border and visited Basra first. We had no expectation about what will happen in Iraq but it sounded exotic to go there. We were a group of 3 vehicles, our travel family got bigger 🙂

The circa 2 weeks in Iraq were very exiting and – again – very enlightening. But it also was stressful because we had to pass so many security checkpoint (where nobody speaks English, …so it always took a while to explain what we – the hack – do in Iraq). ‘You are tourists and want to go to Bagdad?’ They usually could not belief that this really was our plan. But with the help of a new Facebook friend from Iraq (F. from Bagdad) we could make it. It was just impressive to meet so many beautiful people and families. It needed a time to get used to the way they organize the get togethers with us (female and male often strictly separated) but it worked out very well. Even more than the Iranians the Iraqis liked to present themselves to us letting the world know ‘that we are not all terrorists’ (that’s what we heart several times). And again: a brought majority of people are just ordinary people. Too sad that the (jew) bad people make such a loud noise that you easily oversee that the people are just nice. And also it took a while to get used to our ‘security team’ that we got in each city (military that got the order to protect and help us). We felt a bit like superstars when our 3 vehicles were escorted by military cars, even if we were only going out for sightseeing.

It was so good to visit Basra, Bagdad and Karbala!

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

Hello all!

in the South of Iran it was a very special event to drive into the desert ‘Lut’ (the hottest desert on planet earth). We had (brand new) good friends with us, forming a beautiful ‘travel family’ for many weeks, starting with the trip through Lut.

Due to the not ending demonstrations that took place in whole Iran we – unfortunately – were asked by the German government to leave the country. So we had to leave before we finished that part of the trip. Important to say that we were absolutely save the whole time with no negative event. We didn’t even see something from the demonstrations (only heart some shooting noise in one night at Isfahan). The picture in the media was totally different to what we experienced during 8 weeks in the country… Anyway: we had to leave the country… towards Irak :-0
Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

Hello all!

today we have a good bunch of pictures from the central region of Iran for you: Quom, Kashan and Isfahan (‘Medicus’) are the most known cities we visited.

Best wishes from
Heike & Carsten

Hello all!

Visiting Iran maybe was the first decision on our trip where we had a bit an unrelaxed gut feeling. So many negative news about Iran in the media during the last years… How will it really be over there, in Persia?

The clue is: It was wonderful in Iran and also very enlightening in multiple ways: First thing that we experienced during our 2 months in Iran (Persia) is that you have to think about the country in 2 ways: There firstly is ‘the people’ and secondly ‘the regime’ (the government). These are two absolute disconnected perspectives on that country. In the media you mostly here about the regime (that surely is not a pleasant one, absolutely disliked by Iran’s people, …this you hear every day on the street). But what you do not hear often in the media is ‘how gentle the people of Iran are and how beautiful the country and it’s landscape is’. So friendly, open, supportive, interested and hospitable people, wherever you are. It was such a great time to get around with the people of Iran and we are already looking forward to go back to Iran again.

As always when you enter a different culture group there are also things that you (with an European mindset) can hardly understand and that sometimes sound contradictory to what I wrote above. First thing surely is: Wy is there so much trash on the streets (really bad!)? And how is it possible that a criminal like Adolf Hitler is a person that is positively honored in Iran? These are obviously the (few) aspects that we could not really like in Iran. I know that those aspects do not fit easily to what I wrote above. But no (!) doubt that the most aspects about being in Iran are just positive and wonderful.

Very funny is that there is a great way to get in contact with Iranians: you just have to have an issue with your truck :-0 When you are parking at the side of the road, you can bet that it will not take longer than 5 minutes that an Iranian shows up to offer help and to make sure that things get fixed. It worked every time for us (we once had a flat tire, a malfunctioning sensor and a clogged diesel filter…). All issues solved by help of Iranian people who just stopped by, …and helped. And when the job at the truck is done you can be sure that you will be invited for dinner at the home of the person that helped you. …and don’t even think that it could be yourself to offer an invitation for a dinner or so (as a thank you, since they helped you). The Iranians really like to bring visitors (especially Westerners) to their home. Having guests from Europe is exiting for them and surely also a kind of exotic event in their family life. And be sure that every Iranian tells you sooner or later that: ‘please understand that we are the people and not the regime’. It always was of big relevance for them that we took this message with us: ‘the Iranian people are great, the regime is not…’.

So now enjoy some pictures of the north of Iran.
Best wishes from Heike and Carsten

Hello all!

it is more than one year ago when we drove through Armenia. The plan was ‘to take it easy’ since the temperatures in summer can be very hot even in the mountain regions of Armenia. So, we mostly enjoyed the beautiful scenery around us. And as it became too warm, we checked in at ‘3G camping’ in Goght, close to Yerevan. Arrived, we enjoyed the refreshing pool and the relaxing environment.

Best wishes from
Heike & Carsten