Arriving to Qom

After a night without much sleep in the awful hostel of Naein (see this post), we spend a few hours on the road, direction north. It was hot outside (up to 42 degrees Celsius), matching to the desert like nature, we were passing through.

In the afternoon, we reached Qom. Qom is considered holy by Shiʿa Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Mæ’sume, sister a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The city is the largest center for Shiʿa scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage. Neither Benedikt nor I were excited to visit the city, but the Tesla needed energy.

Electricity at the hotel’s basement

Remembering our “tragedy” in Zanjan (see this post), I was already expecting not much help from the first hotel that we approached. I enjoyed it so much to be proven wrong. The receptionist offered us tea while we were waiting for the answer of the electrician. A little bit later Benedikt drove the car via elevator in the basement of the hotel. There he set up a charging connection with the connections hanging on a wooden board. It seemed like they just waited there for us to connect. The hotel’s electrician helped.

We enjoyed a rest at the. The next morning, the elevator luckily lifted the Tesla up out of the basement again (I wasn’t so sure about that – the Tesla weighs 2.3 tons). With a fully charged car we continued our journey towards north – destination the east shore of Tehran.