We left our home on the 25th of July. Our mothers brought us to the Amsterdam airport, where luckily our passport with Iranian visa were waiting for us. We flew to Istanbul and there we got our Turkish visa and a taxi to the camping. Of course, the camping didn't exist anymore and the taxi-driver didn't know where he was going. We went sightseeing for a couple of days in Istanbul and went by train and boat via Izmir to the touristic Selcuk. In the nearby Ephesus we marvelled at the remainings of the old city, and stayed at a beautiful camping in a vineyard. From there is was a long ride to Goreme, a small village with beautiful scenery and surroundings. Amazing landscape there. We saw some neighbouring villages and went hiking in the valleys.After a few days we were very sorry to say goodbye to our camping and our friend Salih, with whom we pent many hours talking about Turkey.
It was a very long burside to Sanliurfa or just Urfa, but fortunately Turkish busses are quite comfortable, as far as busses can be comfortable. They even hand out Turkish perfume ! In Kurdistan we visited the towns of
Urfa (very hot), Diyarbakir (very crowded), Van (very noisy), and Dogubeyazit (very boring but peaceful)and had a great time. Here we truly found out what is meant by Turkish hospitality. Innumerous times we were
invited for tea or a meal. Many times we weren't allowed to pay for busrides and similar things. Many Turks spoke some German, which we also speak. Some had relatives in Holland and others, unfortunately, had relatives with a carpet shop. They made not very good company. We found it easier to trust people in the East, because people were more sincere and not just interested in you for your money...
Thanks to Yusuf and Salih : We had a great time !
IRAN
On the 15th of August we crossed the border to Iran by foot and took a bus to Tabriz. For our visa, we had to make a hotel reservation in Iran, and this was in a very luxury hotel in Tabriz. Tabriz itself was not a very
exciting city, we enjoyed our bathroom more, but we participated in one of the most favourite ways to spend those long Iranian evenings: Picknicking. If you go to a park in Iran, you will constantly be invited for a meal.
Mieke was wearing a long black dress which we had made in Turkey, but she kept stepping on it. As it was not necessary to wear such a conservative type of dress, we bought a lighter outfit. From Tabriz we went to Kashan and from there to Esfahan, where we stayed a longer time, for this was a wonderful city, where we met Mustafa and his family who not only showed us his city, but never was tired of talking about Iranian life and differences
of culture, We were surprised by the level of freedom that Iranian women enjoy in social life. We expected things to be much more strict.
After Esfahan we saw only desert. Near Shiraz we visited the ancient city of Persepolis. We visited Yazd and Kerman and finally Bam, city of dates. All Iranian cities started to look similar to us when we met Ali in Kerman who took us for a hike in the mountains where we camped near a small river, with actual water in it. We've seen many rivers in Iran, but all completely dry. We really needed some time there, with the water, peace and quiet. In Yazd we rented a bycicle, that was great fun, even more for the Iranians watching us. Bam was a very nice oasis-city from where we started our long trip to Quetta, the first decent city in Pakistan. 24 hours through the desert with 15 people in a 9-person van.Of course, no airco. We met many enthusiastic young Iranians, with very modern ideas about society, so we are very curious about what Iran will look like in ten years or so.
PAKISTAN
After a 24 hour journey through the Baluchistan desert we arrived in Pakistan. Quite abruptly, the Middle East gave way to the Subcontinent. Quetta was the first Pakistani city, and in fact our first subcontinental city, so this was quite a culture shock.But nevertheless, Quetta was a busy yet relaxed city, and more over, you could get beer and vodka very easily, which was quite welcoming after Iran !
After Quetta we went north to Peshawar, but not after spending a few days in Bahawalpur. It was here where we had cable TV and heard about the attack on America the 11th of september. After this we decided to go to the northern areas of Pakistan first, because of its proximity to Afghanistan. We were already expecting trouble. But it was at Peshawar where our embassy called us and strongly advised us to leave Pakistan. After that we were still in doubt but our inbox in our email-account was full with notes from concerned family and friends, so we decided to leave Pakistan, though we arrived at Peshawar that very morning. We were able to get a night train to Lahore the same day, to go to India. With pain in our hearts we left Pakistan after barely two weeks, and headed for India.
We found Pakistan a very fantastic country, and we will certainly visit again to see the rest of the country. Pakistanis were very friendly, and always in for a good conversation, especially after the attacks on America.
They were never hostile in any way to us or other Westerners, though many people expected that to happen.
Pakistan, we found, was more islamic copnservative than Iran, although you would expect it to be the other way around. For instance, in Pakistan you could see hardly any women on the streets, whereas in Iran, women even
travelled alone. Maybe this had something to do with the obligated character of islam in Iran, and Pakistans free choice. Anyway, although it was not obligated to adapt to Islam in Pakistan, we chose to do so.