India Review
People
India is a multi talented country, it is rich in colours and people. You can find the poorest and the wealthiest, beggars and bogglers. The new generation is on the move and computerisation striking. Some of the best computer engineers are Indian being needed by many industrialised countries.
Big technical schools are everywhere, bookshops full with proper lecture and courses offered. Education generally here is not to bad as most children in rural areas finish at least primary school, mostly even secondary. Helping programmes introduced by NGOs or missionaries start to be all over, whereas funds are raised in Europe. One big issue is helping women to empower themselves to produce either clothes or baskets or other handmade valuables; child marriage is also still an issue where awareness needs to be established in whole villages. Organic farming is one more big thing on this list. Financial aid from the state is poor.
I got to know many fascinating people who are assured and devotional to do the best thing and they help the community to be better once.
It was the first time for me that it got difficult to express myself with body language and vice versa the understanding of their way of expressing, our bodies seem to speak different languages.
Whenever we stopped with the bicycle to buy food or even to change tire for one of this uncountable flats I had there in the middle of nowhere we could be sure that within minutes we would be crowded with people staring at us and touching our things. When we camped and people found us they came over to watch us doing our usual preparations and would not be able to chat nor trying to but to be around and stare… At some part we almost got used to it after more than one month.
We were in every local newspaper and sometimes people just asked for autographs or pictures with us which was much friendlier.
Religion
You can still fell the distance between Muslims and Hindus; they can be both fanatic which often leads to bombing attacks or other violent. Some acts are saying a lot, for example when masses of people come together to tear a big mosque down, claiming this area being only Hindu. There is also this beautiful and divine prayer to one of their many gods; watching after holy cows and receiving blessings.
I got to know the amazing way of spreading religion or better to say of singing wisdoms, manifesting god into oneself and feeling love with an open heart. The sounds of Kabir, one of 99 names of Allah.
Ecology
Usually in any settled area you can find garbage next to every road, the problem is that India is overpopulated, many people almost everywhere and garbage is a side effect with no proper disposal areas nor recycling systems. Only a few fancy areas try to claim a plastic free zone, where things are wrapped in paper or leaves. In poor areas canalisation is also rare and bad smells absolutely normal. Cows, goats and many other animals eat whatever they can find and die of intestinal obstruction or carry one of many illnesses. Often dead corpses are thrown into rivers which do not make any things better; sometimes they are even halfway burned. Some rivers are so polluted that if you still don’t be chased away of the bad smell, bathing or worse drinking it may end fatal or with diseases, even for inhabitants..
On the other hand NGO movements won’t stop here. There is awareness establishing for the next generation and big efforts are being made in means of biodiversity protection with botanical sanctuaries or sustainable organic farming with protecting some area of the property for a biodivers triangle. After some years one would see the effort, natural protection of the own crops would be a side effect.
Friends
A plenty of people I got to know are very interesting for friendship and important enough to meet again somewhere, anytime. It is possible that future projects will happen in good cooperation.
I got one new real friend on this part of my journey, my companion was very important for me. Without him I guess India would be my last station but having someone who you can share your thoughts with, helping you out of difficulties, being there waiting for you and your works being done and even to learn more about yourself. I got to know that it is not always easy to travel together since everybody has different needs and imaginations. Angelos is not so far after all, we may meet again on this journey.
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.
Turkey Review
The people
I met all different kinds of people and maybe also peoples. This is one point which is difficult to say, because I understood a difference in Turkish people and the Kurds or let’s say Kurd-friendly living in this East Anatolian part. I got to know some old generation Turks that went abroad, usually to Germany and came back to Turkey where live is more convenient nowadays in budgetary terms. In the eastern part there is also no heavy industry which means on the one hand cleaner air but on the other hand fewer workstations.
People here themselves say that they are rich in culture but poor in money.
I understood a new movement in young generation Turks. They go back to old manners, being more “islamic” and also more nationalistic using more flags being proud of the power of their strong army and mean that everybody who lives in Turkey is turkish, which is by the way a law in Turkey.
The real “European minded” people are very roughly speaking just the one generation of around 30 to 40 year old. Of course I also met a lot of turkish young people for example from Istanbul or Ankara who are open minded enough to understand that living together with minorities protecting and nourishing them is something which makes a country just richer in all its aspects.
So the “unity” the government claims to want for all Turkey is I think not possible this way building dams and dislodging whole peoples letting them live in other buildings according to the urban transportation program where they have to pay 1200% (!!) of their income. Maybe this does not fit to all the government programs but this is what I heard from serious journalists.
There where some real outstanding people I got to know, who were extraordinarily friendly giving me loads os information and connecting me to a lot new places. Filled with idealistic activism they are probably the exception of the standards but I was lucky enough to meet this persons. There will be further contact in future and maybe even sometimes working schedules together..
Ecological aspects
Very difficult theme here in Turkey. There are so many aspects they could probably profitate from rules in European Union.
Starting with exhaust fumes from cars. They never heard of Katalysator or fine particle filter blowing dark heavy fumes out of their plate pigs.
Driving is cruel, just honking without cutting speed and everybody who is weaker (me for example) has to make way then passing fast and almost overbalancing you. Honking is something which I don’t like anyway, it’s affrighting me, though they don’t mean it, it’s their way of greeting. This won’t get better arriving in more eastern countries.
Waste management, what? never heard of it here. Çöp even if collected, of course not separated is thrown on a place, in the best case pressed and burned or just right away. Of course there is waste all next to the driveways and beautiful places loose a lot of their beauty when you don’t know where to sit down because of cullet all over. For them it is normal just to leave the packages or the things you consumed on this place where you consumed it. This means a long learning procedure possible starting only with the very young generation and mostly in wealthier places, in poor places their are other priorities, like where to get the next meal. Doğa Derneği is dealing also with this aspect and that’s one more reason why they are so likable to me.
About dams I already talked a lot, I just want to add that Turkey would be predestined for using the sun as energy resource. They have water heating systems on very many houses.
Landscape
Entering Turkey from Greece landscape didn’t change a lot. Just the vehicles produced even darker fumes that the view seemed to be under some curtain of smoke but generally hilly, dry on mainland areas except next to the streams and still green at the coast.
Istanbul was normal like you imagine a 16million metropolis. There were some poor parts with eastern atmosphere and garages with bogglers and the normal European parts with bars and alternative shops and of course the real fancy ones with expensive cars, villas and neat surroundings.
Kurdistan is mostly a very mountainous region, where even if flat you are not under 1000 metres above sea level. In this valleys it’s usually dry except again next to streams or watering systems, as I mentioned already. At some mountains climate is wet enough to be green all over.
Equipment
My bicycle had some severe problems I was trying to solve along the way but I was just able to find some short term solutions. So I put my third rim right now in Tehran and will finally find the hopefully final solution in Bangkok.
I will hopefully find a change for the outworn screw to fix the crank levers inside the bottom bracket, doesn’t make it loosen every half day.
28 inches is nice for making kilometres but spare parts are not so easy to find, I knew this from the beginning, but usually with good equipment you also can be lucky enough.
I thought of a lot changes on my bike that would be more suitable for a trip like this, but that’s it for taking hastened semi-sponsored solutions where I changed anyway more than half the parts. Anyway, I really got used to it now and like the view after almost 3000 km in the saddle.
