09 September 2019
Bisotun mountain - Taghe Bustan - Palangan
BLUE line is the planned route
RED line is the actual route we drove
Diesel in Iran is very very cheap, only 5cent, but the quality for our car is not sufficient. When we drive up the mountains BlueBird is suffering a lot. We still have 2 jerry cans with 40l pure Austrian diesel , so we mix up half/half with Iranian diesel to give him more power.
Ready to explore the mountains of Kurdistan
Before we drive to Kurdistan province we want to visit the historical site of Taghe Bustan in Kermanshah town. A must see, but today is Aschurah (the day of Imam Hussain death), and everything closed...
... even Taghe Bustan is closed...
... so we have a good lunch instead
Disappointed that we couldn't visit Taghe Bustan, but full after a rich lunch we drive further on to Palangan.
At the checkpoint to Kurdistan province we are told by Pastarans ( revolution guards) to stop. We show all our papers, but nevertheless Hosain has to get out of the car and follow the officer into his office, where he is interviewed. They ask him several times the same questions about everything, my background, his occupation and family,....
Meanwhile I and our friends wait outside, nervous not knowing what's going on . After half an hour I phone Hosain and he assures me, that everything is fine, they are very polite and they will finish soon. After another half an hour we get our papers back with lots of apologies from the officers and safety tips.
I don't feel good and would have preferred not to travel any further through Kurdistan, but our friends and Hosain assure me, that everything is ok. Looking back, I am happy that we visited Kurdistan with its breathtaking nature and friendly people, as we have experienced everywhere in Iran.
Palangan embedded between the mountains
We find a nice camp site overlooking the valley of Palangan
Thanks for posting about your experience. We are 2 Australians in a Nissan Campervan with English plates. We've been travelling and living in the van for almost 3 years in Europe /Asia. We are currently in Turkey planning to come to Iran via Kurdish Iraq with our camper. If that is not possible we must find another way out of Turkey! We are reading about problems with border crossings and checkpoints and don't want to get stuck anywhere because we don't have the correct documents. Did you need to do anything special for the car? (for example; insurance, import tax or special permit or anything else?) If you can spare a moment to share any advice or information we would be very grateful. Thank you, Tara and Shane teej29@yahoo.com.au
ReplyDeleteHi Tara and Shane
ReplyDeleteHope everything is well on your side. Sounds very exciting to travel for 3 years.
Iran is a lovely country to visit. The people are extremely friendly specially to foreigners.
The border crossing to Iran was ok, but of course it takes it time. The only thing you will need is the Carnet de passage for the car.
I wish you both all the best and safe travels.