Blogs from East, Iran, Middle East

Ranajky rovnake, nic extra. Po jedle postel a pocuvanie hudby. Nieco pred 1200 poplach na izbe. Dosli vystahovat madara. Ten si myslel, ma check out az zajtra. Batoh ma menis nez ja. Doobeda este smer vlavo a stale po hlavnej na postu. Pred nou ma jeden guide co robi free tour (to isto free) z ubytka (start vzdy o 1000) varoval, ze je strasne velka tak nech znamky kupim radsej u nich. Prichadzam na postu. Normalna velkost. V Strede velky okruhky stol, tak zistujem u satkovej hlavy kde kupim znamky. Posiela ma k chlapikovy vedla. Jedna znamka za 30k r, som zvedavy ako dlho to bude cestovat do roznych kutov sveta. Mam 10pohladnic no berem 9znamok, dve mam od chalana z ubytka. Satkova hlava mi vydava 200k, az na ubytku som si uvedomil, ze ma ojebala ... read more

This blog post has not just written itself and we found it hard to briefly describe our past month of travelling in Iran without using all the clichés, without sounding like a tourism promotion brochure and without sounding like we are all naive and don't see the more difficult side of the country and it is complex and difficult to understand politics. We simply love Iran and the Iranians. Travelling in Iran is an extremely positive experience. Iran has varied nature, a long interesting history, a beautiful distinct culture, architectural beauties and the most hospitable welcoming people of the world. The infrastructure and public transport is very good and comfortable, which makes travelling very easy and (currently with a very weak currency) very cheap. We have travelled from Tehran via the mountains of Qazvin and Alamut ... read more

My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there. - Rumi Passenger trains in Iran generally run overnight between major cities, a perfect travel solution when you’re on an independent journey because you save the expense of a hotel while getting to experience the best way humanity has invented to travel overland. When you’re on a tour you spend the day taking the bus, like we did – six hours to Yazd with one stop to stretch our legs. No tea for me, please. To be fair, the journey was lovely, passing through the eastern section of the Zagros mountain range where we experienced snow flurries, flocks of goats and sheep and distant snow-covered peaks on our way towards Yazd, the driest major city in Iran as well as ... read more

We were on an 8:21am train to Yazd so our accommodation did us an early breakfast and dropped us off at the train station for 8. It didn’t arrive until 9. We looked enviously at the old rolling stock that had earlier arrived from Tehran as our rather shabby modern train arrived. It was dirty and boiling hot. It you think about an modern train that has no opening windows so you rely on the aircon but someone forgot to put the aircon on and stuck you in a desert you get the idea. Thankfully when we finally pulled out of the station some faint aircon came on to take the edge off. It was an agonising slow trip, lots of work is being done replacing or building more tracks next to the existing one so ... read more

GONBAD REST DAY 31 AUGUST, 2016. Blue sky, HOT, 42c. Left hotel early to walk to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Goloshon Tower, 5 kms away. Built in 1006, it is famed for its cylindrical design, which became a core islamic architectural feature. It was 58 metres tall, constructed of brick. I always find it amazing how past builders built these large constructions without the modern tools available today. The town is largely forgettable, dry, crumbling, busy, built after 1929. I doubt the construction will last past 2029!! Stopped at a bakery, amazing colourful cakes and sweets slices. Had 4 biscuit size cakes/ slices and a strong lemon drink- $1-. Delicious. Now back in AC thinking about tomorrow. No other sites to see here!... read more