German Cyclist Attacked and Robbed in Iran Says He Will Continue His Journey

A German cyclist traveler who was attacked and beaten by a group of young men in Mazandaran on the second day of Mordad and had his bicycle stolen says that this incident will not stop his journey.

Philipp, a German cyclist who has recently recovered from cancer treatment, wrote on his Instagram page describing the incident, saying that while camping on the shore of the Caspian Sea he was attacked by a group of people, his jaw and facial bones were broken, and his equipment was stolen.

He explained that after surgery he needs about one month of medical rest, but he will continue his journey after that month and re-planning.

He wrote: “My wonderful experience of Iranian culture will not be affected by the primitive behavior of a bunch of people.”

 

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04/08/2019 Diary of a journey beyond the greatest peaks -marks- _____________________________________ What a sad story. 10 days ago, a group of young people ended my wonderful journey in Iran in a brutal way. While camping at the Caspian Sea I was heavily beaten up and robbed. My yaw was fractured and my face also. After surgery my mouth got screwed up in steel. This will take at least one month to be cured. That night I wanted to publish a text about what marks living 4 Months on the road had left on me and on the world around me. I changed in so many ways and now especially one thing I need to declare: This incident didn’t change nothing within me. I won’t let the incredible time I had with all the fantastic people being abused by the selfish ambitions of group of young criminals. I never could allow this project, which you all are part of in some way being affected by such primitive behaviour. It will for sure have an impact: I need to take a time off to recover and reorganize the robbed and destroyed equipment, and the worst: the @Silkroadmountainrace 2019 now is a lost case for me. Preparations were going on very well and this epic event would have been a perfect story in all this great journey. But things have happened and now there is no chance. At the same time: thanks to all the worried people with those lovely words which you send to me! Once again: my wonderful experience of Iranian culture won’t be affected by a bunch of primitive Idiots. My journey will continue in the pamirs as soon as I will be able use my mouth again. Meanwhile let’s take care of bike and body. To be continued… __________________________ #sad #assault #robbed #primitive #criminals #focused

A post shared by Philipp Markgraf (@pedalskillcancer) on Aug 3, 2019 at 11:38pm PDT

Philipp, who started his journey from Germany, intends to travel through Central Asia and the Pamirs and end his journey in eastern India. During this journey, he is raising funds for a campaign to help cancer patients.