Before I even got to Esfahan, I was contacted by Matin. Matin is member of a mountaineering group that organizes activities every weekend in Iran. If I would be interested in canyoning? Hell yeah!

And off we went for a nightride on a bus to the place, couple of hours walking and hiking and swimming and then back for the rest of the day on the bus. 24hrs of pure fun and excitement with little to no sleep. But is was definitely worth it and what is more is that this is not organized for tourists, it is an Iranian group for Iranians as most don’t speak anything else than Farsi.

There were also 3 Germans that joined for this trip:

The starting point of the canyon:

I was so happy to have done this, as it is a genuine experience of what Iranians do on their day off. So happy that I had to do it again! But first I needed to do 700km to get a visa extension as my 30 days in Iran were already up… time flies when you are having fun!

The necessary arrangements were made and a couple of days later, off we were again! This time it was even better than the first time, with several jumps up to 12m high and the water was not as freezing cold as the week before. We were joined by Alexis, a French guy who was hitchhiking around the world for a gap year.

Needless to say that I’ve made a lot of friends and that I had a good time! They’re really crazy, so 4 hours after the canyoning (we’ve been away for 28hrs by then) they went to the desert. I decided to join once more, but this time I would take the van as I would need to catch some sleep after these 2 crazy days and what better to place for peace than in the desert?

Alexis and me after 3 hours of sleep, I think we still look decent. Yes he carries a unicycle with him…

Ok. This is the Iranian version of how to go off-road with as may people as possible in one vehicle… It is actually a truck for the salt mines, but who cares, details, no?!

At the end of that day, a big campfire and some music in the desert made a perfect ending for 48hrs of pure madness, but great fun!

Finally alone again and after some sleep I gave Alexis a ride…

I will truly never forget the fun I had with Matin, Behzad, Crazy Ali, Big Ali and all the others those couple of days! Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for these unforgettable moments…

Choda hâfez!