Mashhad and Afghan Consulate
Days 47, 48, 49 and 50, 9340 km
Day 47 - I noticed the hood of a white car approaching, just 50 cm left of my leg as we were making our way to Mashhad. Moments later, I spotted … a chocolate bar and her smile. The car accelerated to keep pace with me, and the woman extended her arm to offer me the chocolate while traveling at 90km/h. They both smiled, waved, and sped away. How beautiful was that. Iranians are cool people. A bit later, signs indicated that we were passing through Cheetah territory, luckily we have not intended to camp here. More intimidating than the Cheetahs, however, were again the checkpoints. We had been stopped five times today. The question, “What are you doing in Iran?” was always accompanied by a hand gesture mimicking falling Israeli bombs, a look of surprise, and then a big smile. Passport, visa, papers, open bags. Show GPS. Have a laptop? Show photos. When we arrived in Mashhad, it was already dark, the Iranian anti aircraft batteries were firing here as well, and we faced another tough checkpoint at the city entrance. They confiscated our motorcycle keys. Something new. I needed to open my bag, take out my gear, and laid it out with Swiss precision in front of me. It reminded me of the bag checks I used to conduct during my military service. They felt through the contents, all was well. A soldier handed me his mobile, and I had to explain our entire trip to the officer on the phone. Where we came from, where we had been, and where we were headed. We received our passports back and thought we were finished. “Sorry, we need the passports again.”Not good news. New personnel arrived, some dressed civilian, some where IRGC. Things started to feel a bit more serious. “Sit over there.” An officer was overseeing us. They discussed and made calls. At that moment, my nerves were on edge. After 480 km on the road and already five checkpoints behind us, I started reaching my limits. “No need to worry,” said the IRGC man dressed in black. Easier said than done, I thought. He must have seen the worry on my face. As always, there was Iranian kindness, they showed concern. By this point, we expected to be taken away for interrogation for the night; it was already 9pm. Next step: Show photos on the iPad. Open the “Hidden” folder. Show the “Deleted” folder. They delved into the details; he knew exactly what he was doing. Then, just like that, it’s all finished. We receive our passports, keys, a glass of orange juice, and a few chocolate treats. "We apologize," the officer says. "We get it, you’re keeping your nation safe” we reply, and we meant it. Below photo is during refuelling outside Mashhad, we of course cannot take photo of officials. We check into the hotel, enjoy a chai, and drift off to sleep.
Day 48 and 49 - We were all set to get our Afghan visas today! Or so we thought. But, as usual, we showed up at a bad time. This time it’s Thursday, right at the start of the weekend. The embassy is closed again, so we have to wait until Saturday morning. It’s not the worst situation in the beautiful and holy city of Mashhad, but it’s not exactly the best time for sightseeing either. We feel it’s safer to just stay in the hotel. In the end, we spend the two days in some of Mashhad's beautiful cafes, nestled in the inner courtyards of old Persian houses. It’s peaceful here under the trees, and the days fly by as we read our books and savor delicious coffee and Iranian cuisine. The internet is still down, leaving us completely cut off. No phone, no data. The only updates we get are from the TV. Google works, but only the official Iranian news sites load. So, we can’t exchange any news at all; we’re completely in the dark. We find out that similar blackouts have occurred during past attacks to hinder the guidance and coordination of drones. Our concern is for our loved ones who haven’t heard from us. There are attacks happening tonight in Mashhad. While a large wedding party arrives for dinner around 9:30 PM, I’m in the lobby watching FIFA Club World Cup. I am feeling the ground shake and hear the sounds of bomb impacts. I start to feel uneasy and step outside. “Attack tonight,” says the night guard calmly. They keep on with the wedding inside. The whole situation feels surreal. Gion is on the phone on the 7th floor, calling with a friend who’s with her family just outside Tehran using an Iranian number. We finish our pasta on the rooftop, watching the last salvos from the air defense batteries for the night. The wedding has wrapped up as well downstairs. Tomorrow, we really need to get those visas.
Day 50 - Finally! We made it to the Afghan consulate in Masshad, Iran at 07h00. It took us 6 hours, but we managed to get both our visas and the road permit for our motorcycles. To be honest, we forgot to ask for the road permits and had to go through the whole administrative process twice. Anyway, the staff at the Afghani consulate were fantastic and remained calm despite the hundreds of people rushing for visas. Many are leaving Iran for Herat in Afghanistan, then flying to Kabul, and from there to Istanbul and onto Europe. A lot of people prefer this route over the 2000 km journey through Iran to the Turkish border. For us, entering Afghanistan is the next step in our journey. Now we just have to hope that the border to Afghanistan is still open tomorrow. We still need the regional permits, as Afghanistan requires a permit for every region we pass through. Our contact in Afghanistan, Aryan, will arrange those for us tomorrow. It took us two weeks, including our time in Tehran, to secure these visas. We feel like things are finally progressing, and we deserve to unwind this afternoon with a nice latte and cake. Plus, we’re looking forward to enjoying a hookah on the rooftop tonight. We’ve already packed our gear and are ready to leave early for a long ride to the border tomorrow.
