Stage 87: From Abyazan to Isfahan

The annoying dogs apparently accepted me as one of them overnight. When I got out of the tent in the morning, one of the dogs was sleeping five meters away from me, another one watched me from a safe distance while I was making coffee and eventually left. I had already covered a large part of the altitude meters to Isfahan the day before, but the first 40 kilometers still took a while due to a slight incline and a strong headwind. There were no shopping opportunities on this stretch at all, but luckily I had enough water from Natanz. After 30 kilometers of relaxed downhill riding, I treated myself to an ice cream. In the afternoon, I met Saeed and Amin, two crazy older gentlemen who had many questions and invited me to have watermelon. They didn't let me go for 45 minutes, of course not without exchanging numbers and taking many photos. Saeed also insisted on visiting me in Isfahan the next day. When I arrived at the hostel, I naturally met Gisi, Flo, and Gabriel again. We spent the evening together in the hostel, and it was also laundry day for me.

The next morning, I went with Flo and Gisi to exchange money and visit the grand bazaar at the famous Naqsh-e-Jahan Square. This square is one of the largest in the world and is surrounded by important buildings, especially the Royal Mosque, the High Gate (Ali Qapu) with a large palace complex, and the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, which are simply impressive. The bazaar, located in the arcades of the square, is especially known for its beautiful porcelain and carpets.

Later, Saeed actually came to visit me, entertaining the entire hostel. We couldn't break away until late in the afternoon and visited a few other parts of the city with Ane, a Spanish girl from the hostel. We walked to the river, past the Khayoo Bridge, and along the bank to the famous Si-o-se-pol Bridge, where we could enjoy the sunset. The riverbed is dry for 11 months of the year and is only flooded for the Nowruz holidays, so we were quite lucky. Saeed had many exciting stories to tell all day long and despite some setbacks, he is full of joy for life. We had dinner with the others and a few more French cyclists in the city center before I went back to the hostel with Saeed to order him a taxi for the ride home.

I decided to stay in Isfahan for another day to give Gabriel a break and continue exploring the city. We went to Imam Ali Square with the Jame'a Mosque, the second most important mosque in Isfahan after the Royal Mosque. Later, I absolutely had to enter the Royal Mosque, which I had only seen from the outside so far. In the evening, I took a walk through the city with Gabriel and a Polish backpacker in search of something to eat. Flo and Gisi had already headed to Varzaneh, which would also be Gabriel's and my next stop.