Salt of the Earth

Urmia salt lake

After we woke up in his mansion-like house, Yassin drove us to the east end of the city. In front of us there was a large salt lake, divided by a long causeway in the middle. That was the road to Tabriz, and the provincial border between East and West Azerbaijan. We decided to change our hitchhiking strategy this time, so we used our hands and waved up and down, hoping that cars will stop. Cars would stop anyway, as everybody who saw us, became extremely curious who we are, what are we doing on the road, what are we doing in life and what are we doing in Iran. We tried many times to escape from their curiosity, but even if we thought we did, there was another surprise. One of the surprises was waiting for us in Tabriz, after we crossed the lake.

Our driver at the salt lake

Urmia lake is the third largest salt lake in the world, and the largest lake in the Middle East. It is a home to many endangered animal species, and therefore it's being protected by the UNESCO. Unfortunately, protection couldn't do much, as Iranian government built a huge causeway across the lake, dividing it to the north and south. A big gap between two sides, almost doesn't provide mixing of water, and therefore the lake shrunk for 60% in the past decade, being in danger it will completely disappear. This caused big protests in 2010 and 2011, but as all protests in past couple of years in Iran, nothing could be done. Many protesters ended up in jail, and some people said, that protests even caused few deaths in these clashes. With all inner political conflicts in Iran, many people don't trust each other nowadays.

Yassin was worried for us, so he kept us company until the car going to Tabriz stopped. Telling to the driver to keep us safe, he put responsibility on his back, much bigger than we thought. The driver and his father felt a big pressure, like they are driving a royal family members on their back seats. Once we crossed the shrinking lake, we felt "royal" as we arrived in Tabriz. Naturally, they brought us to their home, where we met all the other family members, who wished us welcome with a delicious lunch that we shared together. The problem appeared as we called our couchsurfing hosts to come and pick us up. Our drivers felt that we are in danger, they called the police, and all of us ended up being interrogated one more time. What can I say... it was just another "normal" day in Iran...

Having a lunch with a family of our drivers