Cycling in Iran – One of the best routes in the world

Cycling In Iran

If you are not aware, then it is time for you to know that one of the best cycling routes in the entire world is in Iran. This is one big country in the Asian continent that I have explored with my bicycle. It was a 7 weeks of adventurous cycling expedition in Iran. The route takes you through Khoy from the Turkish border and brings you to Iranian Kurdistan, then to Kashan, Abyaneh, Isfahan, Naïn, Yazd, Abarkuh, Surmaq, and then to Shiraz. You can also go home through the same route or decide to do your return journey through the Zahedan, Bam, Bandar Abbas, Bandar E Bushehr, Shiraz route. You get to Tabriz with a bus and terminating the journey in Turkey.

Setting Out

Of course before I set out for the trip, I had to get my Iranian visa. You cannot undertake the journey without obtaining a valid visa, as Iran is not one of those countries you get your visa on entry. So, I used Turkey, which is also the best way to get the visa. I got the Iranian visa at Trabzon, Turkey. From there I got into Iran where I applied and got the Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan visas. I later got the Turkem visa in Mashad after I made the application a week before in Teheran. Now that you know about the visa, the next important thing is preparations for finances. 

Finances

This is one of the areas that will baffle you. In this country, a single dollar amounts to up to 30,000 Rial. So, when you are coming here, you wouldn’t need to carry so much of dollars, but something that will take you through the 2 months in question. I made use of the exchange boots in the towns and cities, and not the bank. This is because the bureau de changes offered more value. The banks will always stick to the official rates and they are lesser. The most used denomination here is Tumen, which means 10 Rial. You have to be read to read Arabic because the price and specification of everything is written in Arabic here.

This country is very cheap, just like I’ve said earlier. The life is cheap and food is cheaper than what is obtainable in turkey and the neighboring countries. Accommodation is cheap, in such a way that less than $10 can get you a night in a cheap hotel. You can get a decent one for $5. I stayed in one of $5 in Sanandaj, and I enjoyed it.

People

In Iran, you have very warm and welcoming people everywhere you go. Make friends here and you will see them helping you out with everything. Those that can communicate in English will automatically become your translator. They enjoy this part so much. Here, you will meet a kind of backward people, but yet they are more liberal than the people of eastern Turkey.

Food

One of the areas I felt disappointed when on the tour is in their food.  When you move away from the major tourist areas, you may not find any restaurants. So, for someone cycling into the suburbs, you will find it difficult to feed, unless you have your own meals. Decent restaurants abound in Esfahan and Shiraz tourist havens, but since eating out is not something for the natives, you won’t find them outside these areas. The major meals here are rice, fried tomatoes, and kebabs. The time you should expect to have exotic meals of vegetables, spinach, and local yogurt is when you get a lunch invite by any of the families around. For the meats, you will enjoy lamb and chicken, and not pork, as Muslims don’t eat it. You will also enjoy apples here because there are lots of apple gardens. You may even get some as free gifts.

When it comes to alcohol, I only had a few bottles when in the foreign restaurants and when I get into some of the Armenian quarters. They are allowed to enjoy this because they are Christians.

Maps

If you don’t have another way of knowing your route, maybe due to lack of good internet, you should come with your paper map. Maps are scarce here, and when I found one, I couldn’t read the Arabic signs and inscriptions. You can only get English maps in the big cities.

Mobile Internet

Internet network is available. The entire social media is banned here. But that is formality, since almost all the people I met use their VPN networks to access these social media sites. There are also cafes around, but I didn’t use any. When I succeeded in getting a SIM card that will work and tried connecting to internet on my phone, the speed was not encouraging, so I gave up.

Leisure

There are several places you can enjoy their views as a tourist here. But since I was on my bicycle almost all the time, I did not have much time to get down and mingle. However, I rode through the Tabriz bazaar when the market was closed and everybody had gone home, and I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed viewing the amazing Soltaniyeh dome, the very long desert that covers miles in Teheran and the Old Caravan-Sarais.

Road Condition

One thing I cannot deny is the fact that during my trip, cycling in Iran was somewhat easy and smooth for me. This is because even when you get to the mountainous areas of the northwestern region, you will still discover that steeps were not existent. So the condition could be described as excellent. One more thing that makes things easy here is the respect the Iranian motorists and passersby accord cyclists here, even though they don’t cycle much. The condition of the roads is generally good.

The Routes I Took

When I got into the country, it took me four weeks to cover 1100 kilometers from Kashan to Shiraz. While the journey was not an Eldorado (of course, none has ever been), there were many positives that comfortably swallowed the negatives. While heavy traffic and deserts actually made things a bit difficult, the hospitality, affordability of things, and the attractions made it worthwhile. The major route was Kashan, to Isfahan, Yazd and Shiraz.

Kashan – Abyaneh

I set out at Kashan, through the old Isfahan route and moved past beautiful mountains on my way to Abyaneh. The route is a bit free, with only a couple of traffic. It was on this route that I encountered the military police that checked my passport, took images of my face and looked through the images I had on my camera.

Abyaneh – Isfahan

I eventually got to the village of Abyaneh, which is full of mountains. There are lots of trees there and the road was not dusty, rather, green fields lined the entire routes. I set out to Isfahan from Abyaneh, passing through the town of Natanz, which has a lot of shops. This is where I got to refill all my supplies for the journey ahead. This place has many fruit orchards, and therefore there are many fences that make camping difficult.

I encountered nice cycling sessions as I moved away from Natanz. But when I got to Murchenkort, the story changed. There were many trucks on the town that leads to the highway 65. The number of trucks coming and going made me to hitchhike instead of riding. I started enjoying the cycling again when I got into the Isfahan city center.

Isfahan – Naïn – Yazd

The next route took me from Isfahan to Nain and Yazd. I bypassed the bus highway in the bid to get to Nain and used the Varzaneh route. Through the Zayandeh River’s southern bank, I enjoyed the cycling and was privileged to have some tracks ready for me to use. This leads to the quiet lane that leads to Ziar and Varzaneh.

From here, going towards north will take you across the desert.  I followed this till the highway 62 again and cycled 30 kilometers downhill to get to Nain. From Nain to Yazd, I had to follow the highway and the trucks were passing in their numbers again. But I followed the shoulder that is available all through the road till I got to Yazd. Here, I searched hard before I could find a place to camp. But there are recreated forests close to the huge factories, and they are very good for camping. So I chose one of these. When the journey commenced again, I crossed the cities of Ardakan and Meybod easily, because the roads are good, and the traffic is not much.

Yazd – Abarkuh

I followed the busy two lane highway and got to Taft, and gradually climbed over to Deshir, where I faced the desert again. I passed through the 2-lane highway with no shoulder for about 15 kms till I got to the desert that led to Abarkuh, where I camped.

When I got up, I got news from the police that the road south was not good. So, I had to turn and get back to Surmaq, from where I continued the journey to Shiraz.

Surmaq to Shiraz

From the southern part of Surmaq, I climbed about 40kms using the good shoulder the ever busy highway provided.  From there, it was a 5kms steep, and then the 15 kms downhill that led to Safashar. The hospitality here was great with the Saadi Park of green lawns and shady trees.

I rode for 20kms towards the southern part of the town and then turned towards the less busy Qaderabad. When I got to the town through that road, I connected to the highway by riding towards the northern angle of the archaeological site. Going south, I came across the tunnel and cycled through it using the old road. I connected to the highway after this, and later found myself in Sadatshar after a few kms. Through the highway, I got to the Persepois. I covered a few miles towards the southern part of this town and got to Marvdasht. Crossing the town, I joined the highway 65 again and rode till I got to the much anticipated Shiraz.

It was an eventful adventure and I learnt a lot about the Asian culture of the god people of Iran through the tour. Everything about it is memorable, and there were fewer dangers.

About the author: William Benetton is a blogger, traveler and writer. He writes on a wide range of sports and tourism. He has recently launched his own project, vuelta.club, a site dedicated to all things Vuelta de Espana.