IRAN - DAY 7

Its all too much really. Today I was given a box of chocolates, a rose, water, tea, 2 invitations to peoples' homes and about a dozen photos were taken of me with different people. The second home invitation I was close to taking. It was going to be dark in an hour anyway. But he was suggesting I could visit his school tomorrow. In many ways I look forward to getting into my tent in the evening. I'm beginning to think its the only sane place in Iran.Today I turned off the main road from Tabriz to Tehran. I rode up dusty broken roads through mountain villages that wern't even serviced by public transport. The only large town of the day, Givi, practically stopped and stared as I rode through. Basically, Iran may be 3 times the size of France, but the Rock of Cashel, for example, gets more foreign tourists in a year than the whole of Iran does. And as for cycle tourers; theres' probably only a handful of us going through Iran each year. So I can only guess, this town has never seen a tourist on a bicycle before. If I was floating up the main street in a silver flying saucer with the letters U.F.O. printed on the side, I don't think I could attract more attention.