Iran - Andrew Burke [343]
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CAR & MOTORCYCLE
A small but steady stream of travellers take vehicles across Iran as part of a trip between Europe and the Indian subcontinent. Most report the country driving is great and the city driving is not. If you’re considering an overland journey check out www.africa-overland.net/asia-overland, or www.horizonsu nlimited.com.
Iranian roads can be dangerous; Click here for the shocking figures.
Bring Your Own Vehicle
If you are driving your own vehicle, you should always slow down and get ready to stop at roadblocks. Usually if you wind down your window, smile nicely, and give the officials your best ‘I-don’t-know-what-to-do-and-I-don’t-speak-Farsi’ look, you will be waved straight through. At worst you’ll have to show your passport, licence and vehicle documents, and if your papers are in order you shouldn’t have any hassles.
Keep to the main roads near the Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan borders to steer clear of suspicious drug smugglers or equally suspicious customs and police officials. Be sure to find a hotel with safe parking when in the southeast, where your vehicle might be stolen, stripped, driven across the border of Afghanistan or Pakistan and bought by a drug smuggler, before you’ve finished your plate of kabab. Of course, ensure there is sufficient height clearance before checking in; most places marked with a parking symbol in this book have enough clearance for 4WDs.
Driving Licence
To drive in Iran you need an international driving licence. Get one from the national automobile association in your home country.
Fuel & Spare Parts
For Iranians the price of fuel is always a hot topic (see Inflation, Rising Prices & You, Click here). For you, however, if you use diesel it’s likely to be the source of incredulity and, let’s face it, unbridled joy. That’s because diesel costs a whopping IR165L (that’s about €0.01), meaning you can fill up and get change out of a euro. Happy days! However, the price of petrol has recently taken a steep hike, though it remains very reasonable; see What Fuel Cards Mean For You (opposite).
Once you’re on the road, you’ll find large towns at least every 100km except in the remote deserts of eastern Iran. But benzin (petrol) stations can be hard to find, so it’s worth keeping your tanks topped up. Not all stations sell diesel and there is usually nothing written on the pump to differentiate it from benzin – be sure to ask. Readers have complained that while fuel is dirt cheap it can also be just plain dirty – especially near the Pakistan border – so don’t expect the same mileage as you would at home. More problematic, though, are the eternal shortages and long queues in towns within 100km or so of a border, where well-organised smuggling operations leave little for locals. Somewhat ironically, Iranian motor oil can also be of dubious quality. International brands are safer.
Even the tiniest settlements have repair shops. The price for repair work is open to negotiation but you might not have much say over the quality of the spare parts – unless you’re driving a Paykan or Pride. In the height of summer, scalding heat makes tyre blowouts fairly common.
Hire
The concept of car rental barely exists in Iran, not least because without a functioning system for accepting credit cards it’s hard for anyone leasing a car to be sure they can make good any damage. Instead, ‘car rental’ here means chartering a taxi, either privately or through a travel agency. Local drivers-cum-guides are mentioned throughout this guide.
Insurance
Your vehicle will need a carnet de passage and a green card, both of which you should organise before you arrive. It’s possible to get into Iran without a green card from Pakistan, but getting into Turkey can then be problematic.
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WHAT FUEL CARDS MEAN FOR