Texas-based motorcycle tour operator MotoDiscovery is planning a return to Iran this year, the agency announced in a statement on its website on Wednesday.
Their first and only tour of Iran goes back to 2006, when a group of anxious motorcycle enthusiasts crossed the Anatolian border dividing Iran and Turkey to ride across Iranian plains, despite being warned by people back in the US against going through with the trip.
Recalling his first tour, MotoDiscovery founder Skip Mascorro said, “We were prepared to drop the whole project in 2006 but were driven by the enthusiasm of the group and the knowledge that Iran enjoys a reputation for hospitality.
“Even with that awareness, nothing could have prepared us for how warm and genuine our reception was throughout the entire three weeks we were there. I still get chills thinking about it and ten years later we continue to receive thanks from all the riders on that inaugural Iran ride for having made it possible.”
Mascorro is making arrangements with his long time collaborator and friend Kaz Uzunoglu, who operates in Turkey, to bring his second group of avid riders to Iran.
The tour will be 21 days running October 12 through November 1, beginning with a rendezvous in Istanbul. Flying to the eastern city of Van, Turkey a fresh fleet of BMW motorcycles will be prepositioned for entering into Iran.
“The unique motorcycling adventure will no doubt be effective at gathering attention and creating opportunities for the kind of people-to-people engagement that makes international travel so exciting,” the statement read.
Female participants are welcomed and urged to comply with Iran’s dress-code.
“Highlights include a multitude of archeological sights including the Persian wonder of Persepolis, the Caspian Sea, Tehran, Yazd, Tabriz, and the wondrous cities of Isfahan and Shiraz.”
Mascorro expects to receive “a lot of heat from people whose political leanings are offended,” just like back in 2006.
“We’re not bothered. One of the rewards of this kind of travel is that your worldview expands; your universe becomes bigger. I’d like to think it is the same for those people we meet along the way. I believe we favorably touched the Iranian people as much as they did us. Riding in Iran certainly is more than just a motorcycling experience.”
