uberdan

The overnight bus to Esfahan is made easier by the fact that I steal four seats near the back of the bus and lie across them, resulting in a great sleep for me but inconvenience for the attendendant, who has to continually jump over my legs. I arrive in Esfahan and a brawl nearly ensues amongst the waiting taxi drivers, once again proving that I am probably the most popular man in Iran. I check into the Amir Kabir and crash for a few hours. When I awaken I explore the city, and it dawns on me that I am really, REALLY over looking at mosques. This is a shame, as Esfahan has an assortment of beautiful mosques, buy, y'know, they get a bit same-ish after the fifty millionth one. Instead, I choose to explore the ... read more

I met Saed on the bus. Everything about him was dodgy, and he looked like a stereotypical junkie. He tells me that Bushehr was uber dodgy, and that as a tourist I would probably be bashed, robbed, and left for dead. He offers to show me around town and says I can stay at his house as he lives just outside the city centre. Stupidly, I agree. We get off the bus outside Bushehr and jump in a taxi. I ask him how far it is to his house. "Thirty-five kilometers" he replies "and I haven't got any money, can you pay for the taxi?". As we drive, he tells me how dangerous the road is, and that anyone hitch-hiking will certainly be murdered and left in the desert. "Everyone here carries a gun - its ... read more

The overnight bus trip from Kerman to Shiraz was awful. Buses are not my preferred place for sleeping, I prefer a bed. Sitting next to me was Iman, a top bloke and Chris De Burgh fan (of course). On arrival at Shiraz bus terminal I was besieged by taxi drivers, and being tired and grumpy, started telling them to f*ck off. Eventually I gave in, and was dropped at the guest house which was owned and run by the Sepah militia aka the fanatical religious police. Shiraz is a beautiful city, and I manage to check out a few sights on the first day, including the Arg-e Karim Khan. Later in the evening I am sitting outside the Arg, contemplating my next move, when I am approached by Abbas, who asks me if I want him ... read more

Since arriving in Iran, I have noticed a strange phenomenon - Chris De Burgh, the man who penned that old chestnut "the way you look tonight", is like a god to the Persians. i started to play a little game - every Iranian I have met, i ask them if they like Chris De Burgh. The answer is ALWAYS the same "Chris De Burgh? I love Chris De Burgh. He did a song with a persian band, its really famous, oh wow how do you know about him?" and on it goes... In every city its always the same, and is a sure way to win friends. Even in a town like Kerman Almost everyone I spoke to told me Kerman was a shithole. Lonely Planet says "...there are a lot of drug addicts so its ... read more

The bus pulls into Bandar Abbas about 6am. The first thing I notice is the heat - its around 30 degrees and the humidity is about ten million percent. Danial and Iman meet me at the station, and as soon as I see them I know Bandar is going to be loads of fun. While the town itself is unspectacular the islands, and the company prove to be first-class. Our first mission is to Hormoz Island - myself Danial, Kamil and Anna take a speedboat across. The heat is almost unbearable, and there is very little shade on the island. We walk through a village which is inhabited by Bandari's and on to the Portuguese castle. The castle is in ruin and has been badly damaged by earthquakes, but some parts, including the underground church are ... read more

We manage to get ourselves a driver to take us to the desert town of Abarqu. We strategically load all our gear into the car, and get the hell out of Yazd. The drive to Aberqu is much longer than anticipated, and quite boring apart from the imaginatively named Eagle mountain. We arrive at Aberqu around lunchtime, and what can I say about this town? Well if Mansour thought Yazd was a shithole, its just as well we didn't bring him to Aberqu. I immediately feel out of place for not wearing a black shirt and tight black slacks, which despite the stinking hot weather seems to be the standard dress for men in this town. Odd, yet remarkably stylish The mosque is spectacularly unspectacular, and once again as we depart an old man has sprung ... read more

We arrive in Yazd early on Friday morning. Pat and Christina decide to join me in meeting up with Mansour. While waiting for him to arrive we meet a couple from Geelong who are cycling through Iran. We all find it odd that five Australians are standing at a roundabout in a town in the middle of the desert in Iran at eight o'clock in morning. Mansour and Maria arrive and the first question he asks is "why would you want to come to Yazd? Its shit". This is a reassuring comment from our supposed guide. We dump our bags in one of the awesome hotels and after breakfast go on a walking tour of the old city. And its a very old city, allegedly 7000 years old. We see the qanats and water storage tanks, ... read more

Reza is working, so he leaves me with his friend Mehrdad. Mehrdad and his taxi driver brother Mehdi come to collect me and after a sneaky lunchtime tea (behind closed doors so as not to offend the masses) we head to the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza. Apparently he was a pretty popular bloke because the sheer size of the Haram is unbelievable. After much confusion (since alot of the site is off-limits to non-muslims) we are allowed in and are ushered to the Islamic Relations Office and Foreign Pilgrims Affairs, where I am bombarded with Islamic propaganda by friendly staff. The museums are interesting, my favourite exhibit being the ode to nuclear power - a sculpture of two hands holding a radioactive cannister, with jars of each element displayed underneath...... contra-versial. So, its Tuesday morning ... read more

Friday 26th September 2008, Dublin airport, the usual scenario: plane delayed. This in turn makes me late for my connecting flight so I sprint through Heathrow at warp speed and make the connection. With the plane fully boarded, the pilot announces that the plane is, yes, delayed. For an hour and a half. Throw a couple of screaming kids into the mix and it makes for an unhappy Dan. So when the plane FINALLY touches down in Amman, I walk out the airport and am immediately accosted by about half a dozen taxi drivers who practically kidnap me and throw me into a cab. As we depart the aiport doing about a million miles an hour, I realize that the taxi is not metered, so I ask the driver how much the fair will be. He ... read more