Day 44-50 Iran I

We crossed the border to Iran on 20th of December at Bazargan. We finished all papers to leave turkey and waited in front of an iron gate. The gate opened and gave view on a yard with a building to the left. From a poster on the wall, Ayathollah Khomeni looked at us with a grim face. But this shall be the only bad impression in the first days in Iran. Instead, we experienced an outstanding hospitality towards strangers.
We passed the gate and a soldier appeared  He checked my passport, smiled, shaked my hand and said "Welcome to Iran". What a great start so far! Of course, to get the final entrance permission and all stamps costed us more time and 5$ for an "adviser" but in the end, it was easier than expected.
Anyway, we spend half a day at the border and after three hours of driving, we stopped in a little village called "Hacilar". As there was no restaurant, i decided to heat up some canned food. While preparing my gas cooker, two cars stopped and asked us me in Farsi if we need a place to stay or food. With hand and feet, I told them that we will stay in the car but a restaurant would be nice. The man did not hesitate and drove with me to the next city. There he ordered takeaway-food for me, refused any money, payed for me and even showed me the way back.

Unbelievable!

Me just being happy about the great welcome in Iran

But it got even better. Back in Hacilar, we ate our dinner, when the owner of the house we parked in front approached to us. I expected him to want us to leave. But instead, he said it is way too cold outside and invited us to stay in his house for the night. As it was -14°C, we accepted his offer. The Iranian people celebrated "Yalda" this night. It is a celebration of the days getting longer and the dark gets defeats by the light.
Also because of Yalda, a lot of relatives were called and soon, we sat among a huge family, enjoying sweets and tried to make some conversations. Its was just an great night, and in the morning, they helped us changing money and buying food and SIM-Cards for our phones.

Having a great Yalda

Getting ready for bed

We drove on to Tabriz, where we met Hardi from Couchsurfing and his Cousin Ali. The next day we visited the bazaar of Tabriz. As the bazaar of Aleppo has been destroyed, the one in Tabriz is said to be the biggest in the world. It shall have more than 5000 shops on 25km of ways. I could not determine whether this is right or wrong as I lost orientation pretty quick. Our friend Ali owns a shop for used nomadic products and he teached us a lot about carpets and carpet making. I really enjoyed the time with him as he is an amazing  person: kind and decent towards everyone without any prejudges.

The carpet market of the bazaar

Hardi, Ali and Ben (from the left to the right) in Alis shop

Spices and fruits everywhere

Sorrily, i got a little ill. Maybe I ate something wrong. My stomach made some troubles and continued to do so until second day of Christmas. Ali took cared for me heartwarming.
Two days later, we left Tabriz for Kandovan. The city resembles Göreme in Turkey but the people really life in their rock-/stonehouses up to the present day.

Kandovans rock cut houses

The same day, we reached Urmia. We spent Christmas in a hotel and i could recover and get well. Thank you for your patience, Ben.

Christmas dinner: I was still a little sick, but at least well dressed

After one week in Iran, first things can be stated... the Iranians are usually very good educated. Way more people speak english compared to Turkey. And the traffic is even worse than Albania.  Therefore, the hospitality is better then i ever experienced. Absolutely amazing.