Dragged myself out of bed early this morning and indulged in a pretty expensive buffet breakfast, which is all good because at this stage we have no idea where to go for a good breakfast. We set out on foot from the hotel heading towards Queen Street and the docks, saw a guy get clipped by a car right in front of us which was a bit of a wake up call. It seemed to take forever to cross at the lights as the traffic from East to West goes through, followed by that from North to South then all the [View Full Entry]

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Well after 6 months of working and saving its time to go again. This time will be a safe easy trip compared to the last one. Took the bus to the airport where after purchasing a beer in the Coopers Bar I sat through a 30 minute telephone interview which ended only a few minutes before our scheduled boarding time. The flight was very late which ofcourse meant we arrived in Auckland late and were tired when we finally got to our hotel, actually we were so knackered that we foolishly raided the minibar. Air New Zealand is much to much [View Full Entry]

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Hamid had offered to take me with him on a trip to Bushehr on the Red Sea coast but he slipped in the showerand injured his back, so instead I went and bought a new pair of pants and a couple of T-shirts, visited a traditional restaurant, the bazaar, a museum and a mosque. I moved from the apartment to a smaller cheaper hotel that evening and settled in to watch the world cup soccer matches with the guys in the hotel. Over the next few days I checked out the local restaurants found all the goodies at the bazaar I [View Full Entry]

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Ali and Mahshid asked me to stay with them while I was in Tehran, but I thought I was intruding on their their kindness (misguidely it turns out) so I returned to the hotel off Jomhuri Street to get rid of my bag and spent much of the rest of the day arranging plane tickets and cancelling others, it seems I will get a full refund for the Kuwait flight I missed, how good is that. In the evening after visiting a Netcafe, Khosoro rang me at the hotel and invited me to leave the hotel and stay at his place [View Full Entry]

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From the bus station we went by taxi to Ali and Mahshid's home in eastern Tehran where I passed out on the couch. Around 4pm Ali returned from work and we loaded the car and off we went straight into a 3 hour traffic jam, its the aniversary of Khomeini's death and everyone has a five day holiday. I still thing the traffic is insane but it doesnt bother me so much now, we stopped in a restaurant on the side of the road and were joined by nine other people, apparently this was the meeting spot, I didnt eat though, [View Full Entry]

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When I was in Shiraz last time Hassan and I met an Iranian girl named Mozghan, she offered to show me around town if I returned so I sent her an email and said I would return for a couple of days and she offered to meet me at the airport. The plane was delayed at the airport in Tehran for nearly three hours so I was suprised to see her there when I arrived, she arranged the cab to the hotel where I deposited my bag and then took me to the castle in Shiraz and then the Bazaar. After [View Full Entry]

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It was as I expected it would be, the hotel tried to charge me for two days instead of one and then I spent 8 hours on two old Mercedes busses that must predate WW2. The scenery did improve as I got closer to Kermanshah, the bus went through Lorestan which is nomad territory and reminded me a little of Mongolia. I talked to a University student on the bus that was a doppleganger of my mate Nigel, the hair, the nose, the physique were all spot on, freaked me out a bit. He got me in a cab and showed [View Full Entry]

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Planned to leave Esphahan the day before yesterday but the bus wasnt leaving till 7pm and I heard about a tour to Kashan and Abanyeh, they were on my original itinerary so, why not. I stole a book out of the exchange library, there was only one in English, The Bonfire of The Vanities, naturally if I had a choice I would have chosen somethinmg else, it wasnt bad I, think I am becoming cultured. What a lazy day only left the room to eat occasionaly. I was off on the road at 7am the next morning luggage packed and ready [View Full Entry]

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The trip to Esphahan was initially uneventful, an early start was required as we had 500km to cover, Hassan drove like a maniac as he had to be in Isfahan at a certain time. Just after the Yadz turn off he got a call from the agent saying the stupid American's wished to fly to Yazd instead and should be at the airport to collect them at 3pm. Well there was no way in hell he could take me to Esphahan and then pick them up on time and for a moment I thought I would be unloaded on the roadside. [View Full Entry]

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We left Yazd at 7am. Hassan has been telling me a bit about his life , he was born in India to Iranian parents and lived there until he came to Iran for his sisters wedding in 1979, he then got caught up in the revolution and was not allowed to return to India. A call up to the army followed and action in the Iran-Iraq war and a run in with a landmine. He then returned to the airforce after convalesence and finally was free to return to India in 1988. He married here and his wife wont go to [View Full Entry]

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