Riding my bike in Iran
 

Hi girls,
We are planning a trip to the stans, coming back to Europe through Iran and Turkey, I am wondering about what I have to wear while driving my bike in Iran, considering that in august it will be very hot .... can I wear just my bike jacket and pants and when I stop and take off the helmet, put a scarf on my head, or this is not enough ??
Thank you for any advice
H.R.

Since you haven't had a reply from a girl yet, I'll answer.:)
Yes, that should be fine.

As a visitor, you're very unlikely to offend anyone. Just put the scarf over your hair once you've removed the helmet. This worked fine for my daughter on our trip through Iran.
Stephan

Hi Stephano,
I wrote "girls" but "boys" are welcome, of course!
Thanks for your reply, but from the recent news (yesterday, Italian Embassy in Teheran..) I think I'll have to reconsider my plans ... unless things are going to change again in the next months ...

You will be fine wearing whatever while you are on the bike -- everyone will assume you are a guy. Any time you take off your helmet, just throw on a head scarf. If you want to make sure absolutely no hair is showing, use one of those fabulous multifunctional head bands you can buy at any motorcycle, bicycle or camping shop, the one you can configure in all sorts of different ways. I put it on to cover everything from my forehead back, and then throw over my head scarf on top of it -- voila, I'm culturally sensitive!

Also take a really huge, light piece of light cloth -- sometimes called a "wax." You can wrap it around your waist as a skirt over the top of your pants whenever needed. You can also use it as a top sheet at night or a picnic blanket. I actually take two, one as a head wrap and one as a "skirt".

Iran
 

I was there 18 months ago( not on a bike ) but met several couples/groups who were biking through Iran. The solution seems to be to wear a cotton tunic that comes below your knees ( though we did meet one girl who had a tunic that was above her knees) over your trousers and under your jacket. If you have come from India you can pick up something lightweight there. That way when you stop off at an archaeological site/cafe etc etc you can just pull it down and be respectable/acceptably dressed- you will need a light wide cotton scarf that you can wrap round to cover your hair/neck with when in public. It seemed to be OK to show face but no hair when we were there.

We had a fantastic time met lovely people and i made a mental note that a lot of the roads looked like a bikers dream- less potholes than in England at the moment!