Etappe 92: From Shiraz to Tehran and flight to Istanbul

On the same evening at 11 o'clock, the bus was supposed to go back towards Tehran. To be on the safe side, I had booked the bus ticket through an agency with the help of a local. I was punctual at the bus station and was allowed to load my bike. Just before departure, the driver noticed that my ticket was issued for the next day... The agency had only printed the Iranian date and I didn't bother to check the date again. In fact, the bus was completely booked and I had to unload everything. Luckily, the bus company was very accommodating, refunded the full ticket price, and helped me find another bus. Unfortunately, there was no other direct connection to Tehran and I had to look for another bus early in the morning in Isfahan. While the super nice bus driver in Shiraz didn't even think of charging an additional fee for my bike, the discussion started again on the journey to Tehran. This time, the driver received one million Rials instead of the requested two million, which was still more than the price of my ticket.

Due to the transfer in Isfahan, I arrived in Tehran much later than planned. There was still a lot to prepare for my first flight with a bike. Fortunately, the large box that Arnaud, a French cyclist, had left for me in the hostel was still there. Gradually, I found everything I needed for transporting the bike on the bazaar: a wrench to remove the pedals, tape, and a few very sturdy plastic bags for my remaining bike bags. The bike was quickly disassembled and packed more or less professionally in the box, together with a bike bag and my sleeping bag, the unusual package weighed exactly 30 kilograms. Four more bike bags ended up in a sturdy plastic bag, adding another 20 kilograms. The last bag was my hand luggage, so in the end I only had to pay extra for transporting the bike. In the evening, I took an unusual taxi to the airport. The first driver wanted to take me in a small car, push the bike box onto the back seat, and simply leave a back door open during the 30-kilometer drive. Even I wouldn't have dared that! On the second attempt, an old pickup arrived, which sounded like it was about to break down at any moment. The driver definitely had fun during the drive and listed all the German football players he could think of. We arrived at Imam Khomeini Airport around midnight, I still had three hours until the departure. At the Turkish Airlines counter, they didn't believe me at first that I had already paid for the bike, but that was quickly clarified. The strange-looking plastic bag was wrapped in foil and then we could go. Even though in the last few days the bike journey felt less and less like a bike journey due to various bus rides and flights, I was full of anticipation for what or who awaited me in Istanbul.