backgammon

I'm in Örmeli close to Mardin. With my host, Osman, & another surfer, Michael, we're siting in a small cafe what takes a role of a town's youth club. I just learnt how to play backgammon & I feel I gonna play this game for a long time :)

my backpack

I have an impression that my backpack is bigger & heavier each time I pack it... I have no idea how I will survive with it the following month... :(

still in Diyarbakir

Well... I'm still in Daiyarbakir - playing guitar, singing, drinking raki & sleeping till the aternoon.
I have a great time with Hasan (he's definitely an old hippie as he was desribed by smeone on the hitch-wiki.org ;).
Tomorrow I'm hitch-hiking to Mardin - an extremely beautiful Syrian city.

I have no idea how much time more I will be travelling. Actually, I even don't know if I'll go back to Poland. Probably yes but it's not so sure. Carpie diem quam minimum credula postero!

my concert in Diyarbakır

Tonight I'm going to give life performance in the Mahya Café in Diyarbakır. My host, Hasan, is the owner of the café. He heard me playing guitar & singing yesterday. He asked me if I can repeat it today in front of his clients. It's completely crazy so I agreed, of course :)
So your unemployed sport teacher is going to play a real, official (it's announced on the FB) concert in her whole entire life ;)

statistics - after 2nd month

I've been already travelling for 2 months already:
- I slept 8 nights in big trucks, 5 in night buses, 2 at bus stations, 2 in a hostel, 2 in a chapel, 1 on a floor in a lodge room of an expensive hotel, 24 by CouchSurfing, 5 at friends' who I'd known before & 10 times I was simply taken home by drivers or someone who I'd just met on a street,
- I spent about 340€ including 96€ visa fees,
- I used a public transportation 19 times (from city to city),
- I crossed 10 state borders for 14 times,
- I was taken by 40 drivers,
- I had to buy a lunch for myself 13 times,
- I had 18 sex propositions,*
- I had 6 offers of conversion to different religions (Georgian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Shia Islam, Sunni Islam),
- I spoke in 7 languages (Polish, Portuguese, Russian, English, German, Turkish & Farsi),
- my Russian became almost fluent,
- I learnt very basic Turkish,
- I twice washed my clothes,
- 4 times I felt somewhere so good that I had a temptation to stay there forever,
- I travelled about 12 000 kilometers.

*- Best regards for those guys who are included in the statistics & are reading it now :) My warmest greetings - kisses'n'hugs...

Iran

I already left Iran. I feel a bit sad about it. I met so many fantastical people there. I'm going to miss the for the long time. And all these visa problems make me just more upset...

I found Iran very friendly, very interesting & very safe (when we talk about being a victim of crime, not being arrested for committing a crime).

Three weeks in Iran taught me a lot about living under oppressive regime. The law rules are so stricted that you just cannot follow them all. I got used to break the law continuously (yes, I was breaking the law even while I was sleeping). CouchSurfing - forbidden, talking with a men who isn't a close relative - prison, atheism - death penalty. I will not mention taking part in illegal parties with alcohol and marijuana.

I'm happy that I'm not in danger of being arrested any more. And I even more happy that I can walk on streets without hijab & manteau.

But I want to assure you about one thing: Iran was probably the nicest country I visited. For sure I will want to go back there. I already want it.

Tehran

I just arrived in Tehran. I'm sitting on a hill with a beautiful view for snowy mountains. First time this year I feel summer. Here is definitely more than 20°C & the while morning was very sunny. Perfect weather.

Many people didn't advise me travelling alone to Iran. I've already spent here 3 days & I must say one thing: it's surprisingly normal. I found Armenia much more exotic. Of course I get some attraction on the streets because of being foreigner but (finally!) I don't feel this annoying impression of being an instant sex object for the half of the men on the streets.

I played with some guys basketball & football. Nobody behaved different than in Europe - everybody was focused on game not on possibility to touch the female body.

Of course, you can see the oppressive religious regime everywhere. Women aren't allowed to enter some restaurants & shisha bars. Stricted sex segregation in public transportation, no alcohol, no drugs, no satellite TV, no Facebook or Youtube (they're blocked), no dogs at home, no music, no dance, no meetings between boys & girls. And what? Women smoke shisha in parks, everybody uses VPN to obey the internet censorship, dancing party are organised in private flats, etc.

I haven't meet anybody who supports the regime or the religious law.

Couchsurfing in very popular. When I sent an open request in Tehran, I received more than 15 invitations in less than 5 hours! Can you imagine this?! Paradise :)

Hitch-hiking is rather difficult. Most of Iranians just don't know what it is. They expect money for giving you a ride (a local custom) but when they hear that I don't have money, they want to help (by taking you to bus station & buying you ticket or dragging you their home...) I decided to use night buses - from one city to another could be more than 500 km so it saves a lot of my time. They're extremely comfortable (very wide seats, free drinks & snacks, brand new) and even more extremely cheap (from Tabriz to Tehran I paid less than 4 euro).

I'm eager to see all this ancient monuments in the south of Iran :)

[written on March 4th]

BTW, when I was leaving Tehran on March 7th it was snowing there.