I'm trying to do some initial planning for a trip overland along the Silk Road in September and October of 2016. I will be traveling west from China through the Central Stans, ending up at Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. I'd like to enter Iran at Howdan/Bajgiran. I would take a bus from there more or less directly to Tehran. In Iran I'd like to do a standard bus trip from Tehran to Esfahan/Yazd/Shiraz and points in between. I would then go straight back to Tehran by bus and catch the train to Turkey, which seems to run sporadically because of security problems in Turkey. That would have me exiting west of Tabriz. I'm an experienced traveler; I don't speak any Farsi. Any other country I'd just go do it. The big problem for me is this - I'm an American. I really wonder if I'm going to be able to find someone to be a guide who will meet me at Bajgiran, then stick with me through central Iran and ride the train with me to Tabriz. And I'm afraid that might be very expensive because, in addition to professional fees, I have to pay his food and hotel bills as well as my own for a couple of weeks. Would some of the Iran Thorn Tree regulars have some good words of advice for me?
If the costs of the tour of Iran are prohibitively expensive, part of the silk road also went through Azerbaijan. You could take a "ferry" from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan (although the visa for Azerbaijan is quite expensive for Americans)
While i usually wouldn't recommend it. You could try the iran/iranian subreddits. You may not find a professional guide but many of the actual Iranians that post there are open to helping travellers and are not anti-American as far as citizens go.
Be forewarned you will get the random reddit sarcasm on it but more than likely you'll be able to find a English speaking iranian willing to help or show you around some cities along the way and possibly host you for the night. I'd recommend staying centralized as far as route through iran. The SE balochistan part has seen a increase in violence lately as well as the SW (khuzestan). It's unlikely you'd run into issues but you definitely would be increasing your chances.
On a side note what's your exact route? As I thought the SR went through pak/Afghanistan as well, which is far from safe at the moment and near future.
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.
trusted partner
