After our rest up at Tabriz we travel up the mountains to the Kaleybar valley with an opportunity to climb up to the Babak castle, however we have to get some lunch first we decide to go to the grand bazaar and manage to negotiate our way round to getting some food, the locals talk in kilos we talk in one and twos so they give up on us and just let is have it for nothing, so lunch costs us about a fiver, not bad.
All the girls have bought coloured head scarves and wear less austere clothing, as they stand out all in black. Iran is not as strict as we thought and most of the women wear western clothes with headscarves, mostly brightly coloured, but always covered up. Although the younger ones stretch the point, so no different from our youngsters!
We travel through some amazing countryside with rock formations of different shapes and colours, there are snow caped mountains above green plains, the roads are better than Turkey, so we do not get bumped around too much.
We stop at a town called Ahar for lunch and to buy food for dinner, we become quite attraction with many people just coming by for a look and talk to the westerners, some of the group end up in a house for tea and melon and to use the facilities, whilst the rest of us just mix with the locals, the ice cream shop opposite is happy as he does a roaring trade from us and our visitors.
When we move off we are chased by the motorbike riders, wheeling and shouting at us in excitement.
We make the slow climb up the mountains to the Kaleybar Valley and our next bush camp in a picnic area, which has a few people in it and needless to say we get visitors all night just to look at us.The Iranians know how to enjoy themselves as they party all night singing and riding their motorbikes up and down the road.
In the morning some of us elect to get up early go climb up to the Babak castle ruins.....another story.