From the Medevial Capital to the Caspian Sea

The blue mosque of Tabriz

Tabriz was chosen few times as an official capital of Iran, by the several rulers in different historical periods. The city was even a residence of an Iranian crowned prince until first part of 20th century. Today, it's a capital of East Azerbaijan, and home of 2 million people. The city's turbulent history and geographical position, which caused numerous earthquakes, destroyed most of the historical monuments. However, being one of the most historic Persian cities, Tabriz and its streets can still give you few surprises.

We were still in one piece, although our drivers from the previous day wouldn't expect us to be. Our new friends, Hamed and Arman, were quite enthusiastic to be our guides through the authentic bazaar, blue mosque, local cuisine, and the city streets. After we finished our tour of Tabriz, they drove us to the end of the city, and even hitched a truck for us.

Hamed and Arman stopped the truck... and rain started falling

Following the ancient silk road to the east, our next 200 kilometers we spent in a truck, going to the direction of Caspian Sea. Our truck stopped in the town one hour away from the coast, so Ilaria and me needed to get out of sight from the all curious people whose eyes were following us, and use combination of our hands once again to stop our next car. Two older men, sharing a small car, chose us for their company, and the ride through the hills started. Despite all the differences between them, they were dressed like brothers. The driver was Iranian Turk. Cartoon like character, he was a short man with a gray hair combined with Groucho Marx mustaches. The talker was Azeri man, his younger friend with a golden smile. Many people from the Ex-Soviet countries, are followers of the golden fashion which they like to put in their mouth. His breath was smelly, his stories were dirty and his voice was changing tones, as he probably did something he shouldn't do in Iran - drank forbidden drink. His sexual imagination mixed with alcohol inspired dirty words from his golden mouth, after he found out that Ilaria and me were not married. He didn't stop until she declared herself as a strict Christian, and his mind didn't have inspiration anymore.

Iranian Groucho Marx and golden Azeri man

Finally, we reached Astara, a small town on the coastal border with Azerbaijan. As we waited for our host to come, random men in front of us couldn't wait to satisfy their curiosity and offer us food from their stores...