Etappe 84: From Hoz-e-Sultan Lake to Jannat Abad

In the night, we had planned to meet Gisi and Flo in Kashan the next evening, while the three boys wanted to continue to Isfahan. But that was still 140 kilometers away, and of course we didn't leave early the next morning. In addition, Gabriel complained of slight knee pain, maybe we overdid it yesterday. After a cozy breakfast with the backpackers, we drove forward towards the main road. Today too, there were only slight uphill gradients. Unfortunately, despite extensive stretching exercises, Gabriel's knee did not improve, quite the opposite. We still managed to reach the conservative city of Qom. The owner of a snack bar wanted to charge us way too much for our lunch. Luckily, there was a huge price list hanging on his wall, which we were able to decipher with the help of some locals. Nevertheless, the owner showed no remorse. Although most people in Iran are incredibly nice and helpful, some already have dollar signs in their eyes when they see tourists (more on that later). However, this is more the exception than the rule! Nevertheless, this did not exactly improve our mood for sightseeing in Qom, which is why we left the holy shrine aside. Instead, we had a discussion about the further treatment of Gabriel's knee. We decided to head to a caravanserai about 20 km to the east, which was marked as abandoned online. However, it turned out to be one of the most surprising accommodations on my trip. On site, we were actually faced with locked doors, but the facility looked well-maintained. At that moment, two locals passed by us. It was enough to ask them if the caravanserai was open, and they immediately took care of the matter. A few phone calls later with their English-speaking daughter (while taking selfies), the owner of the caravanserai showed up. He explained to us that it was unfortunately under renovation, but he had an alternative. We walked to a large metal globe, Saeed needed a few strong attempts to open a hidden door. We were amazed to find out that this was supposed to be our free accommodation for the night. Jules Verne was right, the interior of the earth is actually habitable. Downstairs, our bikes and luggage had space, a staircase led up to the sleeping area. Although it was a bit dusty inside, we were able to sleep well in the globe!