Switching worlds

Back in my hometown Groningen for a while now, here my last 2 days of my silk trip.
On wednesday the 20th of August I wondered through Tehran on my last day (for now) in Iran. I finally found a music store where they sold Tombaks (Iranian drum) for about 50 euro but after finding another store I found a better Tombak for about 30 euro with a good leather bag.

It was already late in the day and after rushing to the bazaar to find some gifts for my friends, I noticed that many shops were closed and with some help from strangers I bought a couple of Iranian flags and some waterpipe tabaco.

I shared my last pistachios with 2 Slowakien backpackers who's photo camera got stolen on the street the day before with more then 1500 photos on it. Really f#$*ed up for them and I promised that I would send them some of my photos.
In the hotel where I stayed I met Jens again, a funny Danish dude who I met in Esfahan, he was taking the bus back to Istanbul and from there fly back to Denmark. I really love trains but really don't like long distance busses, Jens was taking a 36 hours bus !! It reminded me of the 57 hour bus ride in South America but back then I had valiums and Jens didn't want to take those of me. My flight with Emirates will be so much more comfortable.


The next day I got up before 6 and with my last rials I hired the same taxi driver who picked up and brought my dad, and went to the airport. The streets of Tehran are around this time completely empty, strange side as in the daytime these are one of the busiest in the world.


I had to wait before I could check in at around 9 and I managed to stay under the 20 kilo luggae limit.
My last Iranian money was almost gone but as I bought a last thea at a small cafe on the airport I was invited to join a table where 3 employees were having breakfast and I was asked to have some nice bread with eggs as well.
The hospitality here is amazing!!! Even here at the airport. My first flight went to Dubai and was just 2 hours. But a very pleasant 2 hours, flying Emirates Air is great, food is good and the onboard movie and music system is huge.

Arriving an hour late in Dubai I was brought to a counter where a steward told me that my flight to Frankfurt already left and that my flight was rescheduled to tomorrow morning.
I have flown quit abit in my life and I knew that one day I would get in such a situation. The young lady said to me that Emirates booked a room in a hotel and that they would provide food and I could even go into the city!! SWEEETTT.

Got a nice room (double bed and bath) in a 4 star hotel just near the airport, 4 coupons for lunch, breakfast, dinner and snack at a buffet. This is the most luxurious accomodation I have ever had and all employees greet you with "hello sir How are you".
After enjoying a great lunch and a nice bath I got a free airport shuttle to one of the biggest malls in the world and strolled around. Dubai is very hot and humid but the mall is nice and cool. Allot of men wear arab clothes and quit some women wear a full covering burka (haven't seen that in Iran at all) I saw female hair again after 4 weeks in Iran which was quit nice but seeing girls wearing scarfs does has something mysterious.

My flight the next morning was at 8 oclock, so after a good breakfast the Emirates shuttle bus brought me to the airport and my 6 hours of movie entertainment pleasureride started with my flight back to Europe after travelling for more then 7 weeks. I rejected all the free beer offers on the plane as I wanted to drink this holy drink in Groningen

I arrived around 14:00 in Frankfurt and my first experience with German hospitality was not a good one. Standing in line for passport control, I yawnded for a second without even noticing it and suddenly the airport asshole cop started shouting at me in german because he thought I yawned on purpose. Cause it was late I decided to take the train to Holland instead of hitchhiking as friends of me were waiting at my place.

Bought a ticket for almost € 100,- !!! 3 hours of train ride € 100,-!! just sick. I had to wait at Frankfurt trainstation for almost 2 hours and as I sat at a coffee place, the german manager asked me in an angry german way to leave if I was not planning to buy anything. Fair enough but nobody asked me to get my order but the waitress did help other people.
WELCOME BACK TO THE REAL WESTERN WORLD, WHERE HOSPITALITY HAS LOST HIS MEANING! I went back to the owner and ordered a coke and complained about his rudeness, he gave in and appologized to me.
I had a smooth trainride back and arrived in my Greenroom before 22:00 that night after travelling for 15 hours. Seeing my friends again ,who waited for me in my room, was very nice and it was good to see them again.
This last week before school starts I want to spend with my friends before I leave home again in May for 6 months to Africa.

I will miss Iran allot and the people who I have met and I liked travelling with my dad allot. It is an amazing country with great people maybe the friendliest I have ever met. Iran is not dangerous and moslims are one of the most generous kind of people you will meet (and I am not talking about the small % of extremists, who ruin it for the rest) My advice is just go and explore Iran and the Middle East, you won't regret it.

Hope you all like my long posts, in 7 months I will be back to tell you about my adventours in Africa.
I attached a movie of me smoking a waterpipe and some photo's of the friendly staff of the airport, the plane and my favourite drink Rani.

Khoda Hafez

Joost.

Saying goodbye to one of the world's friendliest countries

Today is my last day in Iran after travelling for more then 7 weeks of which spending almost 4 weeks in Persia.

Well I will continue from where I left of in my previous post. Last thursday my dad and I got a busride to Busher at the Persian Gulf. We left our big bagage at the hotel in Shiraz which included 2 carpets we bought the day before and some souvenirs of Persepolis.

Busher is not really a place tourists would visit and it is mainly known for the build of one of the nuclearreactors and as a harbour for takeing the boat to Dubai or Oman.

As I looked up the weather forecast for busher it only showed a cold 42 degrees celsius but later we found out this must have been measured in the shade. As the bus measured a temperature outside of .... 56 degrees celsius !!! for my american readers that is 133 degrees fahrenheit. Which is just sick-ass hot!! Walking on the street in the heat of the day is really not recomendable as the humidity is also very high but fun to experience it for a change.

The water in the Persian Gulf is really cristal blue and as we saw, people do have to swim with their clothes on. The next day my dad went for a swim in the morning and I regreted that I forgot my swimshorts in the hostel as if there are no cops around men could swim in their shorts.

We flew back saturday morning from Shiraz to Tehran with an old Russian plane makeing it to the capital in 1,5 hours.

As we still had the whole day to see some museums we missed before, the National museum being the most important as it was recomended to see it after visiting Persepolis. Also we had a guided tour in Farsi through the Ebrat museum which was a former prison in the time of the Shah Reza (a dictator some 30 years ago). This I can describe as being the Madame Tussauds/museum of wax statues of Iran as many wax prisoners are being shown in the most horrible torture positions.

Our last Gheylan we shared in a nice theahouse in a park where we sat down 2 weeks ago doing the same. I really enjoyed travelling with my dad, and it is good to experience the things with someone you known so you can talk about it when you're back home. Rough plans are being sketched for next year when my parents can come and visit me in .......

The Azadi tower, Tehran's Arc the Triomph was our last attraction we saw with an amazing light show and fireworks as one of the Imams its birthday was celebrated. A nice ending of our trip together.

On sunday he flew very early to Frankfurt and I made my way to Hamedan in the West of Iran with an Iranian friend I met before.

Hamedan is known for a huge cave, a big iranian tourist attraction but as my money was running low and my friend Amir didn't bring any money, we visited some attractions in the city while staying at his family.

My last day in Tehran I will spend looking for souvenirs and gifts and maybe a Tombak an Iranian drum instrument. Tomorrow I have an early flight to Dubai and then Frankfurt where I will spend a night at a classmate his place as I will arrive in the nighttime.

On friday I will hitchhike back to Holland as this was my way of travelling I started with so I like to finish with it as well.

I will miss hospitable Iran and its amazing food, of which I haven't told you about, an indication.. every 3 or 4 days I bought half a kilo of pistachios and once in a while baklava, pashmak (a sort of cottoncandy/suikerspin), nougat, cookies, kebab etc etc.

But I will definetly enjoy the first alcohol containing beer in Europe I will drink as that is what they do not have in Iran. And I am looking forward to see my friends and family again.

See you all soon.

Joost

Jewels of Persia

Dear readers,

So at the moment i am already travelling for more then a week with my old man and I like it. We are currently in Shiraz in the south of Iran and tomorrow we are going to see the Persian Gulf.

I don't know if it's a smart decision because at the moment the temperature can reach well above 50 degrees!!! Some say it's 55 degrees and that is 20 degrees hotter then in shiraz at the moment. but hearing nice stories about the clear sea at the gulf makes us enthousiastic how it's like.

A small overview of what we saw the last week. On sunday the 4th of August I picked up my dad from Tehran Airport at 4 o'clock at night, spending a few days in Tehran and showing him the Iranian customs I learned from my stay in the north.

The night before I was invited to the home of one of the guys I met in Jawerdeh and I was welcomed by the whole family as you can see on one of the photos in my last post. They invited me and my dad to come and have dinner with them and we will after returning to Tehran in 2 weeks. We took the nighttrain to Esfahan where we hangout for a couple of days.

Esfahan or Half of the World, as the name litterly means can be seen as the Paris of the Middle East. Its architecture is amazing... The blue mosques, the palaces and the huge Imam square (being the 2nd largest square in the world) I hanged out with 2 backpackers (Suni and Michei) at night playing frisbee and smoking gheylan (waterpipe) in some theahouses.

In Yazd a city more to the south we shared with the 4 of us a taxi to some very old villages some dating back thousands of years. Yazd is one of the oldest cities in the world and you notice that when walking around. Cause of the heat we didn't do much between 12 and 16:00 and relaxed in our hotel with other travellers. A few days ago we went to an indoor swimming pool with only men, as swimming mixed with women is forbidden in Iran.

The day before yesterday we arrived in Shiraz (hotter but still do-able as the hummidity is ok) and yesterday we saw magnificient Persepolis. An ancient ruine site dating back 2500 years when the Persian Empire was one of the most powerfull in the world. A photo of me standing at the gate can be seen in this post.

My dad and I have developed a game when travelling in Iran, actually more of a competition. As we handsome western men, when we walk across the city many iranians want to talk to us and often ask where we are from and welcome us to Iran. Also many Iranians want to have a photo taken with us, our competition is who can get as many iranians on the photo as possible. Yesterday I held the record of 20 boys from a school (see the photo) today my dad beat the record by more then 30 iranians and himself.

Also when crossing the street we classify its complexity of crossing it on a scale between 1 and 5.

Well as I mentioned it before, tomorrow we are going to the Gulf for a day as we will try to do some swimming or even snorkelling making our way back to Shiraz the day after to fly back to Tehran on Saturday. My dad is flying back the day after to Germany. I will spend a few days after he left with some friends in Tehran and in the west of Iran.

I still enjoy Iran a lot, meeting so many nice people random on the street and learning much of how people think and live here. This is trully an amazing country unregarding of what its government does or of how strict the Islam law is here. Its people, the beauty of the cities and villages, the environment and traditions are amazing. But I will tell you that inperson when I'm back.

greets joost.

Photo's of Iran

Kandovan Village, North of Iran
Above the clouds in the mountains

At the home of Iranian friends
6 person cabin in the train from Tehran to Esfahan, in the upper beds; me and my old man
At the magnificient Khomeini Square, Esfahan

Redefining Hospitality

First of all I want to thank everybody for their nice remarks on my posts and by email. Good to hear that you appreciate my effort for posting my experiences on this blog. Second I am really trying to post some photo's on my blog but the connection here is as shitty as it can be, so I will try to send them by email.

Tehran, Tehran want a noisy and crowded city but as many people said that it is an awfull place I don't hate it yet after being here for a day.
So as I described in my last post my plans were to spend a few days in the mountains in a village called Masouleh some 1000 meter up. After a day seeing the village with 3 polish travellers a got settled in a nice cheap room with a nice view as the polish left for Theran.
Sitting and reading while smoking a Gheylan (waterpipe) a young guy came up to me and started talking to me (believe me not uncommon as many people do that here) and he invited me to sit with his family at their table. His brother and parents spoke pretty good english as well and before I knew it I was invited to their vacation home at the Caspian sea coast and spend the next 4 days with Sourena their son in a far nicer village at 4000 meter high, let me re-phrase that; chilling in a nice village overlooking the clouds (as we where above the clouds and sometimes in)

The family also took me on a boatride through an bird protected area and we enjoyed a marvelous sunset. I learned allot from them regarding the government, country and religion in Iran. As they were making jokes about their president as we in holland would make jokes about the hair of mr Wilders. The Caspian sea coast as it sounds maybe amazing it is actually quite dirty as Iran has a serious garbage problem. At night at the coast and the days spending in Jawerdeh (the cloud village) I met many Iranians together with sourena who helped me translate allot. Many people here know Holland from the flowers and football (van nistelrooy, van basten, robben etc) and I get to answer allot of questions about how life is in Holland and how I like Iran and why I am not married yet.
Iran really is a country you could see in two ways; 1 being the strict islamic country as many people picture it from tv (burning flags, women in burkas or public death sentences) or the other way that actually many young people are not muslim, listen to ''forbidden'' western music and have seen all the latest holywood movies and don't agree with their government and many do drink alcohol. Actually the homemade redwine and whisky is not bad.
My main dish what I had the last 5 days were chicken, chicken and more chicken and a little bread as my room mates in Jawerdeh made the best chicken on the bbq for me everynight.

My Farsi is getting better and people here like it allot that I try to study it. I have so many more experiences I want to share with you but maybe it's better to tell it in person.

Today I wondered through Tehran and visited the big bazar, traffic is terrible here and crossing the street for the first time looks like a death wish but now I really enjoy it and I compare it with a free adrenaline rollercoaster ride when the themepark is closed. ;) I actually get used to the almost 40 degrees in the daytime.
Last night I slept in a shitty guesthouse but it was nice to meet some fellow-travellers, and as my dad is arriving in Tehran tonight I found a better one.
The next 2 weeks I travel with him which will be a different experience for a change.

Also I booked my flight back home and the date is ........ the 21st of August flying to Frankfurt, which was the only one available in europe till the 25th of August. My original plan was to stay a week longer but besides the lack of available flights, I also want to enjoy the last week of the summer vacation back home with my friends as from September I will be busy with school and work again.
And as many Iranians really live the day as it comes with friends and family, I experienced and know that besides my passion of travelling, my friends and family I have back home are of great importance to me. But first another 2,5 weeks seeing all the jewels of Iran in the middle and south.

Hope you have a little idea of how Iran is but actually you should come to this great nation to experience it your self.

Hope everything is well.
greets joost

p.s. Yo makkers hoe was het Festival Reggea Geel dit weekend?

Black must be the fashion this summer

I promise... A small post this time.
Well here I am in Tabriz, Iran after a long train ride from Istanbul. What can I say about this nation in the 2 days I have been here... well first I will start with describing my trainride.
The last (and only) day in Istanbul when I was updating my blog it took me some time like it always does and cause of this I left to late to catch the cheap 1,40 lira tram and ferry to the trainstation. So had to get an expensive 20 euro taxi but eventually made it to the train.
My cabin in the train I shared with Edwin also a dutch guy who was travelling through Iran, Pakistan to get to the Olympics in China. In the train I met quite some western travellers but not the same people you would meet on a interrail train between Amsterdam and Praque but travellers who travelled before to far away destinations and with the same age as I. Had a great time meeting all of them.
My bed on the train was comfy and the first day I slept allot, hitchhiking takes his toll, but the second day when experiencing the beautifull mountains of Turkey and Kurdistan we crossed a big lake by ferry to continue it afterwards by train to Iran. The border crossing was no problem and they didn't even check our luggage. Most of the travellers on board went straight to Tehran but Meghan (Italian/English girl) and I got of at Tabriz.
The train was suppose to arrive at 6 in the morning but during a delay we arrived at 13:00. That day we wondered through one of the longest bazars in the world and met some nice Iranian english speaking people who showed us around town and around the El Goli park at night. With a pleasant 30 degrees temperature its nice here compared to the 40 + in Tehran.
To describe Iran ... well all women where a scarf or chador/burka (allot colloured black) but you see that allot of girls were make-up and hair is visible. Many people ask where you are from and say hello, and I try to speak their language Farsi and you see that they appreciate it so I will study more the next days. Every thing is really cheap few euros for a room, food very cheap and transportation even cheaper.
Well tonight I will have a long busride of 12 hours to rasht where I will continue to a nice mountain village where I plan to stay a few days to experience the village life and practice my Farsi. In my next post I will tell more about Iran and my experiences so far which are quite some.
Khoda Hafez
Joost.

Packing for the Islamic Republic of Iran

The last week in Europe has gone fast and now the countdown begins to my train ride east to IRAN!!! ''OOh I am so excited, I just can't hide it, I know.. I know.. I know... I know... I know I want ...." oh sorry I got a little carried away with the Pointer Sisters.

Back in Istanbul at the moment just made it hitchhiking from Zagreb, Croatia in more then 2 days with a little luck and bad luck.

Croatia has been really nice as me and Jorine stayed there for 5 days after we arrived in Reijka last wednesday.

Stayed for a day on the biggest island Krk on an campsite packed with hundreds of dutch and german families. The day after we try to charter a boat to a nicer island called Rab. Got on a boat doing a round trip across the islands and got of when we arrived on Rab. Hitched a ride to the other side of the island the a nice sandy beach where we crashed for 3 days on a campsite.

Croatia's islands are beautifull and the sea cristal blue; at first side the islands look very rocky and without any trees but the other side is far nicer to the eye.

Getting a taint was not that hard those days. On saturday my plan was to meet up with Sabine a friend from Groningen as she was travelling through Croatia as well, unfortunatly we didn't catch up as she was heading to the south of Croatia. Saturday I found a couple on the camping that could bring us the next day all the way to Zagreb in 3 hours. So on Sunday we arrived pretty early in the capital of Croatia at a good hostel. Good to be in the hostel atmosphere with other backpackers and that day explored the city a bit with 2 americans and Cordie a funny Irish dude.

The following day I was on the road again, on my own as Jorine stayed in the hostel to travel further by her self.

My mission Zagreb - Istanbul in 2 days 1300 km. First day after 4 hours I got 100 km out of Zagreb before I got a ride from on older belgium\ french speaking woman, well actually she got a ride from me (not that way you dirty minded bastards) of the 600 km we drove I!! drove 400 km in the 5 day old Citroen car, speeding my way to Serbia cause she was tired of driving.

Slept in a hotel near the road as it was raining heavenly. the next day was not day fortunate. after 12 hours of hitchhiking and 2 rides I got stranded 300 km further of the city of Nis where my hotel was in Bulgaria. I was not going to make it to Istanbul that day.

Thanks to a person working at the gasstation I got on a bus that night at midnight and arrived this morning at 8 oclock in a hostel i stayed last year in Istanbul. Slept for a few hours and walked through the city with Tom an Irish bloke I met on the bus.

Today picked up my trainticket for tonight 23;55, got more then 600 euro in cash (cause in Iran the ATMs don't work with foreign cards), bought some long trousers (Iran strict rules) and enjoyed my last beer for the next month, smoking a shisha on the roof of my hostel with Tom.

Yes yes Iran here I come.

So the next 57 hours I will be in a train crossing Turkey, and I will enjoy every minute of it. My ticket goes to Tehran but I will get of at Tabriz to explore the north of Iran before meeting up with my dad a week later in Tehran.

The photo is trimming my beard in a park in Istanbul. My plan was to let it grow for 8 weeks but I have been reading about Iran and I learned that without a beard I will get eassier in contact with normal people, as a beard reminds the young people of people of the stricy ismalic government.

For some photos look at my facebook http://www.facebook.com/ search for joost copray ... more will follow.

Have to go.

greets joost

Hitchhiking is getting easier and easier

Hello hello,

A week has passed and at the moment I am in Croatia´s Reijka, just passed the border with Slovenia. The last week has been about relaxing and hitchhiking. I will try to keep it short this time...........................................not!
Monday the 7th I left my Greenroom in Groningen (of course 2 hours later then planned) around 10 oclock and within an hour I had a ride to Germany and after that a slow ride to Bremen. Some of you will know that Bremen is not exactly located south but well I got myself on the right autobahn to Dortmund, Frankfurt and finally stranded near Karlruhe after almost 12 hours nonstop hitchhiking. A night at the motel near the gasstation costed a scandelous 50 freaking euro! so I found a nice spot behind the motel under a balcony (as it was raining) where I layed down my sleeping bag.
That night I slept quite good on the rocks as Joost did not bring a mat of some sort or a tent. Some 500 km remained till my destination near Geneva where Jorine was staying with her family. The 3th car I asked (an expensive french Peugeot decorated with leather , god must be good to these guys, with 2 monks (when I say monks I mean bold guys with old school dresscode with hoodies) inside) with my few words French I got a ride across the border ,skipping Swiss, to France where they dropped me of near Dijon before going to their 12th century monastery. In the afternoon I arrived in Crusseilles near Annecy in France where the parents of Jorine picked me up. The following two days were about chilling in their nice family vacation home on a hill with a beautiful sight and swimming pool. Jorine was staying there with 11 of her family members for the last 2 weeks and I was kindly invited to stay for a few days.
On thursday Jorine and I made our way to the Garda Lake in Italy where my good friend Jelke was working at the moment. In one ride (and the first car I asked) 6 hours from near Geneva to Garda lake; sweeett! After a busride we arrived at a campsite full with dutch families and stayed there for 5 days. The Garda lake region is amazing with beautiful mountains and clear blue water. Spending the days chilling at the lake, jumping from 6 meter cliffs, helping Jelke a bit with his group and frisbeeing ofcourse. Jelke was guiding a group of 12 people and he had and still has the best time in doing what he does it was good to see him again. One afternoon I helped Jelke with a mountainbike trip which I thought would be easy, but going uphill was a bitch. 30 degrees and hardly any food in my stomach and having a small hangover from the night before didn´t make it any easier. But downhill was big fun.
Planning to leave on monday but after obtaining a frisbee injury from falling and twisting my food, we left a day later on thuesday the 15th to Croatia.
Getting to the right freeway was kind of hard but eventually had a good ride all across the border to Slovenia. Jorine and I got stuck in a small village called Kozina and finally took a train to Pivka at night cause we heard that a train would depart from there to Reijka in Croatia.
Last night we camped somewhere close to the village of Pivka ,in a very forest and mountain rich area, after a very cheap pizza meal in a restaurant. The waitress did not recommend to camp outside campsites as there were bears and wolfs around but well we wanted to save some money and stayed near some houses. This morning we took a cheap train to the center of Reijka where I am now at the moment. From here we will decide to which Island we will go to to chill for a few days before I leave to Iran.

The weather here is great and the Kuna (croatia´s currency) is looking good in relation to the Euro. Hope everything is well with you all.
Greets joost

Got Silk??

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen,
It is good to start writing this blog again cause this means that I will be travelling again soon. Very soon .... as in the sense of less then 18 hours. YEEAAHH Finally after 10 months of not-travelling.
So you might want to know, where will the wind take Joost the following weeks. Well here my sort of "planned" itinerary;
From of tomorrow early I will hitch my way to Geneva (swiss) near France in 2 days (hopefully), here I will pick up my travell buddy Jorine where I will travel with for about 2 weeks. We will make our way through the north of Italy to visit my good friend Jelke and spend some cultural days in the Balkan area. Visit Croatia or Bosnia or ... we will see what's hip in the region.
Jorine will travel back by herself and I will catch the Trans-Asia-Express train from Istanbul to Tehran on the 23th of July. After 70 hours of following this ancient Silk route I will spend a month in Iran of which 2 weeks travelling with my oldman, as he will be flying in in the beginning of August.
So why Iran?? This question I have answered many times the last months. I heard many people's perception and vision of what they think Iran is like.
Some friends or relatives have an idea of Iran of being a warzone, axis of evil, a dangerous muslim country where they will hang western people and that I have a deathwish that I would like to go there.
Well if you still think so, read about the experiences I had in Syria last year.
Here some facts!!; Iran/Persia is a dictatorship, and it lacks allot of freedom issues which we find normal having in the NL or Europe. fact. Persia is one of the culturally richest and oldest civilications in this world. fact. Iran is a country travellers and tourists go to, even backpackers like myself. fact. The people of Persia are one of the most hospitable and friendly in the world. "perceived" fact by many people who have been.

But I will give you my vision on that in a few weeks.
I am so excited to finally go..... to experience this secluded country, I have my 31 days visa ready in my passport and no one will stop me from entering this other world.

People let me know if you're in the region of Croatia the next 2 weeks, we could maybe catch up somewhere.

Post you soon,
enjoy your summer, I know I will.

Greets