While we were sitting comfortably having breakfast, Pegah came to pick us up. Pegah even had some gifts for us: Dates, saffron and as if she knew Mel Persian coffee. We found Pegah and the driver Mohsen sympathetic right away. Our tour was to bring us very close to Damavand – the highest mountain in the Orient.

By car it should go up to 2500m and before there was a hike to 3000m to a camp planned. Just in case, Pegah had also brought sleeping bags and we could have spent the night in the camp. Around 09:00 o’clock we drove off. On the way we stopped at a mosque and were able to look out over the valley. We got some more water and Mel’s obligatory coffee. While the girls were still chatting away, the guys were fooling around with each other despite communication problems and pretended to drive on without the girls.

A few kilometers later we stopped at a waterfall, not far from a Nestlé water factory. From this point we already had a relatively good view of Damavand. We approached the actual starting point of our planned hiking tour via a gravel road that went steeply uphill. Unfortunately, the guide was on the mountain and could not be reached, because two days before the communication network had failed – nothing worked: no cell phone reception, no phone, nothing. Accordingly, Pegah could not call him or contact him via WhatsApp. Unfortunately, we had to turn back because of that. Slight consternation spread through the car. And especially Pegah was disappointed, because she is a perfectionist and wanted to offer us a wonderful tour.

A plan B was needed. On the way back to Tehran, we stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. Unfortunately, Mel could not enjoy her meal because she suddenly had a toothache. Pegah and Mohsen wanted to get painkillers right away, but the only pharmacy was closed. Andreas rummaged around in his wallet and found something that looked like a tablet – maybe it was an old painkiller. It didn’t help much – the famous placebo effect kicked in only to a limited extent.

On the way, we eventually stopped at a meadow where many locals were already milling about, as we were in the long weekend. While Mohsen waited at the car and collected herbs, Pegah, Andreas and Melanie hiked up a hill. We had come quite close to Damavand after all and were enjoying the peace and quiet as we roamed through the green landscape and let our eyes wander in the direction of Damavand. Pegah had plenty of snacks with her, so that we could refuel energy before the descent.

In advance: We should have taken the same way back to the car that we had previously taken for the ascent. We went down a, at first, seemingly better path. While Melanie floated gazelle-like over hill and dale and under bushes, Pegah and Andreas fell several times. A few falls later we arrived at the bottom. Mohsen was already waiting for us with sandwiches.

After the evening snack we drove to Tehran. Actually, we were well in time to catch the night bus to Tabriz. Thanks to the usual evening traffic chaos in big cities, it was still quite close in time. Arrived at the hotel, we quickly picked up our luggage. Then it was time to say goodbye – to Mohsen for the time being. Pegah ordered a Snapp and we reached one of the four huge bus stations in time.

According to Pegah, this was the smallest and quietest – aha. Unfortunately, Pegah and Mel did not immediately find the ticket counter at this “small” bus station (Emam Khomeini), while Andreas was allowed to carry all our luggage and almost collapsed. Fortunately, there were quite a few buses going to Tabriz. For the obligatory 10-12 euros we quickly bought two tickets and then had to say goodbye to Pegah. Because the tour had not gone according to Pegah’s plan, she did not want any money for the tour. We felt quite uncomfortable and wanted to pay her at least a part of the tour and the beautiful day, but she just wouldn’t accept any money. Several hugs later our bus left and we left (for now) a new friend in Tehran.