Stage 83: From Tehran to Hoz-e-Sultan Salt Lake

Said and done. The next morning, Gabriel and I got ready to leave (including stretching exercises) while the lazy backpackers were still having breakfast. Three guys from Germany who had arrived in Tehran the day before without any major plans spontaneously joined us.

The drive out of Tehran was more relaxed than expected, but main roads could not be avoided. In the early afternoon, the meeting point with the five backpackers was confirmed to be Hoz-e-Sultan Salt Lake, about 100 km south of Tehran. The landscape, as almost everywhere in Iran, consisted of desert, but there were no mountains in sight yet. Overall, time in the company went by so fast and we could always take breaks for fruit and ice cream. The lake turned out to be bigger than expected, and thanks to our meeting point at the southern tip, it ended up being 120 kilometers. When we finally met the others at dusk on an almost invisible path, the action was already in full swing. An Iranian family had managed to get stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere with their car. They probably wanted to picnic near the lake and had to drive around a barrier, which turned out to be not very clever. Our five backpackers were already busy pushing the car out. Gabriel and I couldn't imagine anything better after the bike tour. The whole action took about two hours with a dinner break. When it finally worked out in the end, everyone was overjoyed! Thousands of photos had to be taken and the whole family joined us in the tent camp to celebrate with us. Although it is advised not to drink homemade liquor in Iran, if the 12-year-old boy of the family drinks it, it can't be bad for us! We cuddled at night. The three German backpackers were divided among our tents, so I hosted Fynn. Thanks to the booze, I could sleep deeply and soundly.