kermanshah

9 hours after almost missing the bus, we arrived at the small kermanshah bus terminal. getting a taxi was a real quest, but eventually we made it to the hostel hidden away in a dodgy looking alley, where we were welcomed the exact moment nowruz (the iranian new year) happened.

luckily, we still found an open convenience store, where i was the happiest person in the world because i thought i had found pre-made lasagna when really, i just bought 2 kilos of pasta plates. devastating. at least we found out that the products in iran are not, in fact, unmarked, instead, if you look closely enough, you'll find a little stamp with persian numbers somewhere on the packages. after lunch, we took a walk exploring some of kermanshahs back alleys. also bought a new usb c aux adapter for my phone, replacing the one i had kept taped to the back of my phone at the right angle to keep it working for the last couple of weeks.

just after sunset, we bumped into a chap who promptly invited us to his brothers wedding the next day. we were super pumped and exchanged numbers, but after a couple of messages his number stopped working. we couldn't figure out how to get back in touch with him, so there goes the persian wedding :(

while we were waiting for our snapp (iranian uber) the next day, a car pulled up next to us and offered to drive us. inside was a doctor couple taking their grandma carpet shopping. they drove us to taq-e-bostan, the local landmark. there, we became the main attraction for the first of many times. since it's a holiday in iran, there were tons of domestic tourists that are even more eager than normal locals to talk to you. as soon as someone worked up the courage to strike up a convo or ask for a picture, half the crowd wanted one. smile and wave.

we then went on a little walk into the mountainside, where i saw some rock climbers and struck up a conversation. 5 minutes later, i was already roped up and ascending some 7A. no idea in what grading system this is, but after half a year of zero exercise, the crux beat me. still a super fun experience.

back at the hostel, we had a new dorm mate from iraq. he was a super chill guy and together with an iraqi girl i would meet in isfahan a week later, he opened my eyes to the very real possibility (and relative safety) of travelling to iraq. according to them, the living standards there were better or equal to the ones in iran. there's some kind of a pilgrimage event every year where people from the whole country walk to a specific city, and apparently the security during that time is very good, so i hope i get to parttake in this journey sometime in the future.

the next day, we booked a bus to our next destination, shushtar, for which we had to wait several hours, so we decided to go somewhere else. i found a nice looking spot in nature on google maps, and as soon as we got close, we were picked up by a car and invited to join the drivers young friend group for a picnick.

as we were driving up to the spot, i thought we had accidentally run into a festival. there were hundreds of cars parked on this meadow, with tons of people spread out around the place sitting on carpets, barbecuing or smoking hookah. me and julia met the rest of our new crew, none of which could really speak english, but who cares at this point. the vibes were great, it felt like any other get-together of a german uni friend group.

we hiked up the hillside to some caves tucked away in a small valley, where we weren't going to be bothered by the masses down below, especially since i had carried two bottles of mystery water up the mountain. tents were set up, music boxes turned on, shots poured. we partied up there just until sunset, when we had to leave the group in order not to miss the bus. great times though. and we didn't go blind.Read more