Caspian Sea & Tabriz

28th July
The Caspian Sea s is one of those areas below sea level, 30 metres approximately. We reached it yesterday after crossing the mountain range that separates it from Tehran. Luckily we were able to bypass the capital but the road over the pass came as a surprise: from the turnoff where we began to climb was a traffic jam that continued for about 10kms culminating in a bottle neck where 8 rows of cars had to reduce to just the one. We got through eventually but the rest of the 140kms over the mountains was a continuous row of cars and all along the way vehicles were peeling off to find camp sites along the flowing river. It was a Friday and we found out afterwards it was the start of a 3 day public holiday in the country. On the coast we managed to find a camp site occupied by well over 2,000 campers. We found a space and set up late in the afternoon and still they poured in. The next morning where we had had our table & chairs was now occupied by people sleeping. It was quite an experience.
30th July
On the 29th we travelled along the coast until finding a pleasant place near a beach where we spent the afternoon and night. These Irani women have it tough as far as what they wear goes; on the beach, here they were in their thick coats and head scarves in the heat while the men striped off to swim. If they wanted to take a dip and not many did, they had to still wear their heavy garb. See photo. On the other hand, apart from their dress restrictions, they have all the opportunities jobwise and in all other aspects as the men. We have spoken to quite a few women who are happy with their lot apart from the dress code but feel hard done by in how the west are treating Iran. Compared to Pakistan where the women are treated like chattels. In the 3 weeks we spent in Pakistan we only saw three lots of women working in an office. We would go through a whole city and not see one adult woman on the street.If Iran was to get another president and some more flexible mullahs, it would be a great country.
Yesterday we once more crossed over the mountains and made it to Tabriz, not far from the Turkish border. It was a pleasant drive with interesting scenery. Heavily wooded mountains on the Caspian sea side giving way to rolling hills where wheat had been harvested. Men were in fields scything the long grass and villages of adobe houses blended into the landscape. Along the way we encountered the worst road we have been on in Iran. Nothing like the Paki ones but we have become used to 4 lane highways for most of the journey. Because of the roads a lot of the time lost in Pakistan and India has been made up and we will be crossing into Turkey almost the day I thought we would be.
We ave decided to stay another night here, I am quite weary and there are some interesting villages 50kms out of Tabriz we would like to see. I also want to try and get this blog up to date even if it means sitting in front of the computer for a few hours. Iran only has dial up and is dreadfully slow. A haircut is necessary, cut off this full beard I grew to keep the mullahs happy.