Iran Review
Prejudices
Iran is a different place than presented in the media, it is not a place where terrorists are hiding and preparing for war with America. It is furthermore a very hospitable country, people are usually very friendly and helpful, though I had the impression that it differs from North to South.
America’s president is surely not a favorable figure in Iran, though in Kurdistan area of Iran it was heard that they would prefer being bombed and freed by the Americans. On the other hand some people go to military service for two years, in order to get a job and a passport, and mean that they would like to protect Iran against the same powerful man.
I was much more often called into a house in the north and given food than in the hard south of Zagros Mountains or in the desert. More and more people seem to see you as a money source and try to rip you off however possible. Sometimes it was really obvious and you feel even more stupid but there is not much you can do but to call them names and leave.
Women are very much in the background in Iran. Not only that they have to cover almost all of their skin, wearing extra clothes on their head and around their hips, having separated wagons in the train and the bus, have to go swimming with all their clothes on if beach is shared and generally you would see much fewer women on the street. Women usually would never start talking to men and if you want to talk to them and they have male company you should ask them first if it is allowed. If you are called into a house by some men you would await all the women of the family being inside. They are usually more educated and it is said also more trustful in matters of doing a good job, if they talked they would more often understand and reply in English.
They are mostly treated with respect and men would stand up for women in the metro. Stone trowing to death is something that should not more be of existence in this country.
They definitely have plenty of oil, it is even cheaper than water. You could fill a tank with about two dollars, one liter costs 10 Dollar-cent whereas water about 
30
Energy is so cheap due to loads of gas power plants and their not ending resources in the Persian Gulf. So, till there is plenty you can even waste it, air conditioning in open rooms, even Bazaars where effects would just take place in the front of the fan.
There are some new approaches for the winning of pulp and even paper. In the north at the Caspian sea are very many rice plantations, the idea is to decentralize the production and every few kilometers should be one factory to produce pulp from the leftovers from rice cropping. The pulp should be then finished off to paper which would be enough for at least all Iran.
Copies
Iran is a country where copying is not only just legal but is a whole branch that give work to many people. Reverse Engineering is widespread and there is nothing original that wouldn’t exist as a copy or is soon to be made. Cds and DVDs cannot be bought in original, only copies. From all plastic spare parts of cars, children equipment, clothes, sunglasses or even bicycles you can find everything for a percentage of the original price and with a name that almost sounds li
ke the real one 
but maybe one letter is missing, added or scrambled.
Business
Everybody is selling something.
At some times of the day, either in the morning or in the evening certain areas get crowded usually around the bazaar and people trying to sell anything you can imagine. In some areas we were wondering why there were animal corpses without head and we found the heads again on these special markets. There were all this classical products of the region and more things and spare parts you couldn’t even imagine that you might ever need it.
Centralizing of products is very common, if you need one special thing you have to found out in which area of the city you should go and arriving there you would find one of these special shops next to each other. For example there are certain areas for electronic devices, bicycle spare parts, outdoor equipment or for clothes. If the city is big you should take into account traveling for some hours.
Landscape
Landscape varies from north to South. Wet with rice plantations and everyday rain over hot and dry in the vast deserts and hot-humid in the very south. Details can be obtained in the roadblog or in the pages from my company.
Company
I entered Iran together with Sabine and Andi and we spend two very nice weeks together, having fabulous meals or great camping sites. We passed some beautiful scenery in the North of Iran.
Sabine was pretty unlucky recently, she was involved in an accident two times in Iran. The first time mostly the bike was to get fixed and the second time she was injured badly. She was hit on the highway entering Tehran right at the time when leaving a few kilometres outside the house they were staying. She now went back to Switzerland, Andi moving on with Salva till Tashkent and from there they will try there luck again next spring.
In Tabriz we met Salva and Steve. Stephen Lord writes a new edition of a book for bicycle touring even recommended by Lonely Planet. Salva did all the way to Cape Town and back and is now on the Silk Road heading to Japan. We had some great time together for example at stormy camp sites.
Then we stayed at the best couch surfing place in Karaj close to Tehran at Azadeh and Amirs house. When I left I really missed them, but we will see each other again for sure.
After meeting my greek friends from Esfahan to Shiraz at Zagros mountains, Carlos joined us, whom we will maybe meet again in India or somewhere else on the road.
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