Recently on a trip outside Tehran we stopped to fill up the tank.  We were being very environment friendly - five of us in a Peugeot 206 - but we wanted to make sure that we had enough petrol to get to our destination and back and we decided to stop.

While Ali (our good friend who had taken the trouble to drive us all) was waiting in the queue, I got out to wander around and take photographs.

I was amazed at how much I could see and find in such a small place.  There was a garage there for emergency breakdowns, and the old women waiting for something or someone. There were all those old tattered cars rusting away and groups of friends getting together for a smoke or something, while I was standing under this most modern huge bridge that the Tehran-Karaj Metro travels on.

In the far distance so many kilometers out of both Tehran and Karaj I could see several building projects in progress in the distance.  But what took my breath away were all those Sadagheh (charity) boxes, where you put in some small change for good omen, and in this case for a safe trip and I guess back.

The boxes were in green or blue with yellow edges and related to different saints.

I have a few photographs for this part of our trip to share with you.