Date: 22nd of April 2011
Places: Mashhad
Temperature: 27 (day) / 20 (night)
Progress: 900 km (starting from Teheran)


We woke up to the gentle sound of the rails singing, and everybody had slept wonderfully. Outside were still a bit of barren desert, but it soon turned into farmland, then the beginning of the city, and finally Mashhad train station. We packed and stepped out into beautiful sunshine, and were soon in a taxi with the very energetic and english-speaking Mr. Zereshki. He helped us find a hotel very close to the shrine of Imam Reza, and we each got a hot shower, while the others were reading Weekend-avisen! We then walked down to the enormous shrine complex, where we were unfortunately assigned a "mandatory" guide. Though we were a bit unhappy about the thought of being forced to be guided, our guide turned out to be a young, relaxed, and pleasant Yazdi. The next hour and a half we spend walking around the shrine (which is off limits to non-muslims) through a series of large courtyards and beautiful domes and iwans. Our guide told us not only about the place, but also about himself - he was serving his military service here due to his very good English, and wanted to go couch-surfing in Europe, when he was done. He estimated that probably 70-80% of the Iranian population were muslims by name, but not by heart (i.e. devote). After a short pitstop at the hotel to upgrade our room, we took a taxi to the other side of the shrine, where we had been recommended a traditional restaurant. However, due to the fact, that it was Easter Friday, everything seemed closed, and we doubted if the place would be open, and sat down almost giving up, when it turned out, that we were right in front of the restaurant, which was just some narrow stairs down into a basement. The restaurant was extremely nicely decorated and everything reminded one of (western) Silk Road cultures and art. Unfortunately, the food was only medium good, and it was quite expensive (66$ for the entire meal, which is double that of our next most expensive meal in Teheran). Fortunately, everything else from the tea to all the fruit and delicasies were excellent, and they were able to recieve dollars (as we were running out of rials, and didn't know where to change). Back in our quarter, we went for a stroll in the nearby bazaar, where I finally found a tube for a waterpipe. We were quite amused by the very tacky pictures of people (especially children) photoshop'ed into traditional clothes and scenes from the Imam Reza shrine, and Mikkel and Christian could not resist the temptation of having one made! Having exchanged drinks-time with nap-time, we woke up just after sunset, and Christian and I went for a photoshoot in the "blue hour" by the shrine. Dinner was found at a small and friendly kebab/sandwish shop, and we simply tried to copy what we had had at the Imam Khomeni Square in Teheran. After dinner, we walked down to the shrine complex again, and this time we simply entered without a guide, thus elevating our visit from a guided tour to more of a pilgrimage. The evening temperature was most pleasant, and the lights of the shrine complex mixed with the lively crowds in the courtyards made it the perfect end of our first day in Mashhad... thus making us Mashtees.