A crazy idea?
*KLICKE HIER FÜR DIE DEUTSCHE VERSION*
At least not too crazy for me.
Don’t ask me why, but since the Middle East – especially the invasions and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – was in the daily focus of the western media, I became fascinated.
Perhaps after my Latin teacher told me that he and his boyfriend went by bike and train to Greece during summer holidays (in 2006 or so) or it was another incident, however the idea of going to Istanbul by train was born. During the research for information I search the website of the Turkish Railways and discovered the Trans-Asia-Express going directly from Istanbul to Tehran. There is (was) even a service running from Tehran to Damaskus.
Anyway the wish to travel to Iran became concrete and I searched the web for further information on the Islamic Republic having a very bad reputation in our mass media.
Nevertheless I decided to go. Besides the information and travel experiences I found were totally positive.
And I didn’t regret a second of this journey.
It was the first time, that I travelled on my own, only with a backpack and without knowing what was waiting for me.
I left Berlin the 15th July and returned 33 days later. Except from the flight back home from Tehran via Istanbul, I used trains and buses. The covered distance was about 10 000km and I slept in hotels that weren’t more expensive than 12,50€ and on night buses and night trains. An exception were Ölündeniz and the harbour of Tatvan, where I slept in my tent.
It was no problem to get the Iranian visa and I spent around 1300€.
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I created this blog especially for those who are thinking about such journeys, too and want to get some information. So don’t hesitate to contact me: blog[ät]johannes-nickel.de
I want to apologize for any mistakes I made. If you find any, it’ll be nice if you let me know.
The route:
A – Berlin
B – Prague
C – Budapest
D – Belgrade
E – Sofia
F – Istanbul
H – Ölündeniz
I – Pamukkale
K – Cappadocia
L – Tatvan
M – Van
N – Urmia
O – Tabriz
P – Esfahan
Q – Shiraz
R – Bandar Abbas
S – Yazd
T – Tehran
U – Sari
I Just Wanted To Go To Iran 