Tehran....... abridged. For now.

I spend 10 nights in Tehran. I arrive on the 8th. Birthday on the 9th. Election on the 12th. They announce the results on the 13th. There's some unrest on the night of the 14th. Protests start on the 15th. I leave town on the 18th.

The day after my birthday I spend getting the trailer fixed. It's structure relies on a steel rod which is under-engineered. I'm in the right neighbourhood. I get a heavy washer welded onto the rod to stop it bending under load. I also want to get two replacement rods made, but the shop I saw yesterday that sells steel is closed. In the afternoon I go to the geographic institute for better maps. Tehran and Iran.

It's near the university. I watch the pre-election buzz. Then I walk up through Park-e Laleh to the Carpet Museum. There's some pretty sweet carpets. I'm only there 30 minutes before they close. It's enough. Then I walk to the Artists Collective and Vegetarian Cafe. I ask for a recommendation, something Iranian. It's suggested that the meatballs are very good. Not really as vegetarian as I had in mind. I go with a cuckoo sandwhich and pasta salad. It's not a bird. It's like an omlette with greens, but more greens than omlette.

The hotel guest book has an entry from a cycle tourist, recommending two bicycle shops. The adresses are more like approximate locations. Vague would be a generous description. I find the first one, in affluent North Tehran. I ring the buzzer. They are closed today, maybe open Saturday. What time? Maybe 9am.

A couple of minutes later I go back and ring the buzzer. Do you have 700 x 35c Tyres? 700 x 23? No. 700 x 35. I don't think so. Maybe my colleague knows when he is here. OK, I'll come back Saturday. Today is Thursday. The weekend is Thursday and Friday, but everything is usually open Thursday.

Back in my neighbourhood of cheap hotels, tyre shops and motorcycle mechanics, the steel shop is open. I buy a rod and find a machinist to cut threads. Then I get washers and nuts. The streets are quiet. There is no campaigning the day before the election.

Friday is the election. Nothing is open. It's pretty quiet. I post some blog.

Saturday, back at the cycle shop, they have 700 x 38c tyres. I don't know if they'll fit. I go back to the hotel and get a wheel. They fit. But the tubes are American Valves, the same as car tyres. I have European valves, which are higher pressure and narrower. Their tubes don't fit my rims. I take two tyres, but leave the tubes. I go to try and find the other bike shop but I can't find it.

I spend Sunday on a more concerted effort to find the bike shop. It has to be here somewhere. I ask directions everywhere. I'm sent, literally, in circles. The bike shop doesn't exist. Back at the hotel I slump on the counter defeated. Somewhere there must be a whole street full of bike shops? It's a block away. It's evening, but they should still be open. I ask in the 6 shops, but none of them have anything like 700c tyres. One of them suggests Meydan-e Razi. I heard it yesterday when I was asking around.

Monday, I go to Meydan-e Razi (Razi square). It's full of bike shops. There's too many to ask in all of them, but I ask in dozens of the better looking ones. They have 700 x 17 and 700 x 23. racing tyres. Everything else is mountain bike sizes. So, now I know it's not possible to get what I need in Iran.

It's about 3 and I'm back at the hotel. A couple of the journalists are in the lobby. They've heard there's going to be a demonstration at Enqelab Square at 4. They're not sure if they're going to go. I decide to go out to Azadi Square to see the monument/tower thing that is quite famous here. It turns out that the Azadi stop on the metro is half way between Enqelab and Azadi. The demonstrators are going from Enqelab to Azadi.

I stop for dinner on the way home, and see a couple of journalists for the hotel there. They get take away, so they can get back and file reports. I stay and eat. When I come out it's dark. There are frightening people in riot gear. I make a friend going the same direction and we navigate a way back to my side of town. I am pretty happy to be back at the hotel.

Tuesday I get boots, socks, a backpack and a jacket for going to Mt Damavand. In the evening, the mountains look clearer than I've seen. From the roof of the hotel I see the white pyramid above the brown mountains. Well, more of a sepia through the smog, but I knew it was supposed to be white. The weather is good. I'll go tomorrow, with the tubes I've got. They should be ok with the new tyres. I change to the new tyres and pack. When I'm going to bed at 11:30 one of the tyres is flat. I won't be going tomorrow.

On Wednesday I go back a fourth time and buy 6 new tubes. Then I find a workshop with a drill and drill out my rims so the valves will fit. Late afternoon I go to the National Museum to see some of the artefacts from Persepolis and other ancient sites. They have some of the better carvings, and an entire section of stone stairway. But it's small, so it doesn't take long. It's too late for the Museum of the Islamic Period next door. I go back to the hotel, pack, and have an early night.

Those who keep abrest of current affairs may notice a lack of detail on some topics in this post. These may be filled in at a later date. Like when I'm not in Iran.