I am in Shirvan, a little town, 2 driving hours from Turkmenistan. After one week in this fascinating country, I will enter the Central Asian countries tomorrow.

I survived Iran, nobody killed me. We must stop thinking of Iranians as a bunch of terrorists. They are human beings like you and me, who want to live in peace. No they are more than that; they are great, generous people. I mean the people, I am not talking politics. I had the tremendous luck to meet and talk to people from all social classes, ranging from taxi drivers to successful dot.com company owners. Some of them offered me their hospitality, and I had a great time with them and their family. I was invited to a private party, with unveiled beautiful women. We were drinking illegal Iranian alcohol. I assisted to an illegal concert, with a female singer who risked flagellation if caught. I met many young Iranians who just want to live their youth and have fun. But I also was invited at her home, a very religious lady, lecturer in Islamic sciences at the Mashhad University. She grew up in the US, and when the Islamic revolution started, they moved over here to live in a country where they can freely live their faith. We had a long conversation about our religions, and she offered me lunch. She has a great wisdom and answered me many open questions about the Muslim view of the world. Unfortunately I also met people who live in fear, who had been in prison, and who wants to flee their homeland. Most of them apply for immigration in Canada and Australia.

Policemen stopped me several times, but most of the time it was just out of curiosity, and after some chatting I could drive on. One time, when I was stopped for speeding, I did not even have to pay. “Welcome to Iran” they told me; quite a different meaning here from what I experienced in Syria…..

Every time I entered a major city, people came to me and offered their help, guiding my through their city, showing me interesting places, good hotels. This happened without any exception!

While I am writing this, I watch football on TV, the only non-religious out of 8 available programs.

Today is the first anniversary of the disputed presidential elections. People expect trouble, and in Tehran violent altercations just started. The opposition party had called off all demonstrations for safety reasons, but things seem to go wrong just now. This anniversary was actually one of the reasons why I did not post a lot these days. Everybody is nervous; police and secret service are in alert in the bigger cities.

I will not post many photos; I do not want to put at risk some of these great people.

I will put this post on the net, just before leaving Iran, as I am not sure to get internet access in Turkmenistan. But by clicking the “where am I now” button on this site, you can always see where I am; the map will (should) always be updated