Resting too long in Esfahan has made me feel so lazy to ride far. Haha. It was the heat. This is Iran and I still have to pass thru another desert to reach another town. With the noon heat that can reach the high 40 degree celcius and at times almost 50, it’s not fun riding during the day.

So I decided to ride at night from Esfahan to Tehran.

sunset ride to Tehran

Some would say it’s far and dangerous to ride at night. But from Esfahan to Tehran the highway is well-lit and there are 4 lanes on each side. So I guess I can run away from the heat while most of them Iranians were in front of their tv watching the football game.

Lesser traffic, cooler ride. Hehe…just to console myself.

The journey was great; 9 hours for 500km ride. Peyman, my Iranian friend was waiting for me at the border of Tehran town to lead the way to his house. We have been friends since BAM earthquake time, about 7 years ago. He is now working with one of the UN agencies here in Tehran. Reached his house about 3am and had a long sleep. It was weekend, could not visit to the embassy anyway.

Here’s a video of the ride:

http://www.youtube.com/v/j4ukcUYg4fQ&hl=en_US&fs=1

On Monday, I visited our mission in Tehran. Was told they were waiting for my news and expecting me since they heard that I was sleeping in the police station coming from Pakistan. Lil G have to wait outside far away because we were shooed away by the security even when I told them I am Malaysian and Lil G is Malaysian bike.

Anyway, I wanted to take pictures of Lil G in front of the gate of the embassy, nobody from the mission came down to take pic with her. Sad to say she was sitting alone in front of the embassy with no one and no Malaysian flag. Ah, small bike with big dream. It wont be as such if I have a big bike and big names behind me for this event.

nobody bothers

What to do, people. This is the real world.

Tehran is a big city that is about 10 times the size of Kuala Lumpur. To take pictures anywhere in Iran you need a permit. Literally, anywhere. Even in the park or bazaar or on the streets. Of course, I have my permits.

Pictures taken from the top of the Iran tower.

Was not an easy place to ride my bike with the traffic and no gps. It will take me a while to master the road here.

Iran National Stadium

Iran’s new-landmark — 4th highest in the world

landmark of Iran

Tehran University

Anyway, I really managed to rest. Prepared the bike again. Went around to get spare parts for the oil leak. Too bad, the seller of the said bike is not giving any information lah. So sombong. Wonder why. So, to sort the problem is to get a stop oil, kinda oil treatment to stop engine leak. Lets hope it will work. It would take at least 1000km to see the results.

adjusting the chain…USD8..mahal gila!

During my visit to the embassy here , I met Puan Zaleha; wonderful and chatty lady. Vast experience abroad and speak few languages fluently. She is going to retire soon anyway. She invited me over to her house for dinner with her family and other fellow Malaysian who is in Tehran. Of course I accepted. Who could resist Malaysian food, sambal belacan and Malaysian-style curry. I brought along Peyman with me. He is my moving map around here in Tehran and also my translator.

Few days here and I have to move on to the next town and head for the border. I managed to gain back 1 kg after losing 10kg and 6 inches off my waist. And so, I got myself new pants and old ones have to be posted home.

me…

Tehran railway station

While I was going through my stuff and papers, I remember that my temporary import permit for customs was missing on the day I arrived here. Those security police and soldiers that was suppose to protect me, lost my passport and my papers. They only managed to find my passport. Nobody speaks English and ignored my questions when I asked for the import permit. So I went again to embassy on Thursday morning to report the matter and seek for assistant. It was half day, Friday is off day, Saturday is public holiday. And the best part, that night the government declared Sunday and Monday as holiday due to the heat wave. So basically I am stuck here till Thursday to get the answers about my import permit.

Over the long weekend with the courtesy and help from Peyman, I managed to edit pictures,videos and even uploaded them. You guys will or may be have seen all of them. Internet is kinda restricted here in Iran. No FB, youtube, flickr and so on. Blackberry is sold here but it just act like a normal phone. No data services for it.

Talking about editing pictures and videos…Lenovo Malaysia has been keeping my laptop in their office till Monday before sending it to me. That’s more than 10 days. The best part was that they asked me for prompt reply in their e-mail, but they would reply 2 days later at right about the end of office hours. Or at times, 4 days later. They really think I can get internet access within a snap of my fingers? Within a blink of my eyes? This is Iran lah, brader. Who will pay ur bill to go online 24/7? So easy ka to use other people’s pc to simply to use internet? Reason being they couldn’t send it as they can’t confirm the arrival date of the laptop. This has been going back and forth, they keep giving reasons and excuses that the laptop can’t be shipped and they can’t confirm how long the shipment will take. And guess what? They sent it out on Monday afternoon and I was advised that the laptop will arrive on Wednesday. Only 2 days shipping time. Wonder why the waste of my time LENOVO? After I have extended my visa, wasting my time and money waiting for ur we-can’t-confirmed-the-shipment-time,  it really sound like you did it intentionally. Since India, you been giving excuses and wasting my time and money on cyber cafe. Is that how an international brand company works in Malaysia? It’s a big logo on F1 car but on Malaysian standard: F9. That’s a fail in case you don’t know.

What an attitude.

Are you a Malaysian?