On the VELo cycling for and around gAIA
I will leave Mashad this night and continue my journey to the Turkmenistan border. I think it won’t be easy to connect to the internet in the comming country but I’ll give my best to keep you updated! Have a nice time and get on your bike and ride 
 
My
Esfahan itself is the center of cycling in
One evening I went to a fast food restaurant and met a Malaysian guy working for Ericsson here in
 
And again I met the Italian cyclist from the
 As a conclusion I have to say that I am happy not to have spent the time on the internet or in Tehran - the visa extension process was quite easy even though it took a day, the cyclists and people I met here in Esfahan were just great and the walks along the river in the evening were so relaxed and atmospheric - a wonderful time!
A friend of mine who is doing a similar route right now, Georg Gotzler, the Overlander, has met other friends, namely Olly and Ting from Beijing to Paris 2007 Carfree in Kyrgystan just a few days ago. I have been too slow (mainly due to this damn stupid visa complications) and have therefore not been able to meet them as I had planed - am quite sorry for that but I try to keep my mind free of anger and annoyance (as they are useful for nothing) and just enjoy the hospitality here in Iran and the cyclists in Esfahan where I will go tonight by bus to extend my Iran visa without problems tomorrow (according to the LonelyPlanet guide it is most easy in Esfahan but a nightmare here in Tehran). Here a picture of the meeting of my friends:
Yes, yes, yes! I finally found a way to leave this big, loud and congested city in the night! I have had a wonderful time with Saber, his family and many friends and want to thank them all, especially Saber, very much! You are great!
So I rode through tens of kilometers of suburbs into the direction of Semnan. The traffic was hard and there were many interested car and truck drivers who often undertook some very dangerous maneuvers to get a video or photo of the recumbent cyclist.
At 3am I paused for 2 hours in the middle of a long uphill and continued for another 10km in the morning when I was woken up by the sunshine on my skin.
Because of the tremendous heat in this dessert like area I stopped and slept during the daytime, communicating with Iranian families who also used the lawn of this resting area from time to time. From one man I even got some rice to eat and he offered me a melon which I denied due to the high risk of stomach problems caused by the combination of fruits and heat.
One hour before sunset I started again into the warm evening. There were most of the time half to one meter broad security lanes next to the street that were even respected by the fossil fuel powered drivers except motorcycles. The scenery consisted of red and brown striped mountains with deep short valleys and it looked totally dry like the surface of Mars on recent NASA photos.
I came through Garmsar at night and was happy to read that there were only 108km left to Semnan where I would meet Majid, a friend and former student colleague of Saber on the next morning.
But that morning was still a long night away and I was really happy to see the distances on the street signs go down: 95 … 85 …. …. 65 … And so on. In Majid’s home I could get some sleep in the cool guest room, got my cloths washed and a very good vegetarian meal while watching a Pavarotti DVD. Then in the evening I had to leave again but not without a present for my birthday on the next day - thanks a lot Majid!
Even though Majid had told me that the way to Damghan was mainly flat I found myself in a 4 hour lasting 800meters uphill through a sometime bizarre moonlit landscape to a 2000 meters pass. And from there it went down for over 30 km on a really good paved street always with a security lane attached.
It was in this downhill that I found one of the “King of the roads” lying next to the street and the driver quite frustrated next to it.
When I entered Damghan or Damqan I was stolen my sun hat during riding by a duo on a motorcycle - the bad thing is that I had the key for my lock inside the hat and therefore I can’t lock the bike now any more - have to find a replacement.
In the noon I enjoyed the cold of a small water channel under some small trees in a secure distance to the road and read some poems from the “60 Lyrics of Molana” book by Jalal al-Din Rumi which I got from Majid.
Having rested enough my journey continued in the evening to Sharud and from there by bus to
Hey, after a bit over 200km I have arrived in Semnan this morning and got picked up by a friend of Saber. I have been sleeping for about 6 hours, got a fine meal and am ready to continue this night. The travel agency said I could maybe get the visa on Sunday so that I will take a bus back to Tehran then, leaving my bike locked somewhere and returning as fast as possible. I will certainly even have to take another bus to Mashad after that because I am running out of time (concerning the Iran visa and the fixed dates on the Uzbekistan visa).
Hopefully I won’t have so much trouble getting the Kyrgystan and China visa!
I am leaving Tehran tonight. Have only a few days left here in Iran. With the travel agency I had some communication problems so that I will leave the capital without visa for Uzbekistan and therefore also without transit visa for Turkmenistan 
If I get to Mashad before next Tuesday and manage to get the Uzbekistan visa until then I will hopefully get a transit visa for Turkmenistan within one day (for $51) - but I have to arrive on Tuesday because the consulate of Turkmenistan has only open Tue, Wed, and Sat I think.
Wish me good luck!
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