Tehran, Iran
My visa application process for Central Asia turned a bit into a nightmare despite all the months of research and preparation. I was glad to share the pain with my new friends, Bert and Florian.
I was unexpectedly asked to show an invitation to Uzbekistan, which I did not have, Taliban occupied a region of Turkmenistan causing Turkmens to rejects majority of transit visa applications, (however I didn’t even had a chance to obtain it as I didn’t have the Uz visa!) and corrupted Tajik official tried to make me to pay a 70€ bribe for a 45 day visa (thanks for the Finnish consul for solving this!). Additionally the Chinese happened to change their visa policies very recently in their Tehran Consulate as well and they let me know that they can give only 1-month visas with 1-month validity.
My original plan for this year was to get to India via The Stans, China and Pakistan. Because of the issues with Uzbek and Turkmen visas, I am forced to make a 2500 km detour. I will ride back to Caucasus, then take a cargo ship across the Caspian Sea before riding across the deserts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to the start of the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.
The detour causes around one month delay to my original schedule. I had planned to stop for three weeks in Kyrgyzstan, to get my Pakistani visa sorted back in Finland. The Karakoram Highway from China to Pakistan closes annually in November for snow. According to my original plan I would have just made it to Pakistan on time. With the delay, the road would be closed for sure.
There are two ways to get overland to South East Asia. One of them just got closed to me. Instead of riding across Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar, I will ride across China. Two months of cycling. 7000km. In the heart of the winter. Wish me luck. Buy me a Dumpling.
#biketouring #businessasusual #Iran #Tehran #July2015
