Blogs from Tehran, North, Iran, Middle East - page 4

Wake up at 4. Altitude? Eventually get up and am ready to go when Amir knocks on the door at 0530. Breakfast is an instant coffee and a tomato and cheese omelette- it looks like blended scrambled eggs. Looking down the mountain there are a steady stream of hikers coming up. It's now the weekend in Iran (Thursday, Friday) and Amir says many do it as a day hike getting maximum weekend benefit. We head off as the sun is already coming up. The view is already and it's quite a pleasant temperature, warm enough for a shirt with a base layer singlet. The path is quite Nepal-esque ( my word), it is primarily dirt and rocks and low brown vegetation. There are only dried flower heads to be seen, no little blue flowers anywhere. It ... read more

Arrived last night, headscarf and modest mid thigh length top firmly in place. Cleared immigration after a prolonged line up in the Foreigners queue. I had chosen to pre-apply for my visa from Canberra rather than risk the VOA, so it was a very smooth process and then "Welcome to Iran". I had a taxi driver waiting for me so after changing some AUD from the booth upstairs and getting a SIM card from the booth downstairs we were speeding (like really speeding- 140 km/hr) off to the Golestan Hotel ($44/night for twin share inc own bathroom, wifi and breakfast- they didn't have any single rooms $27/night). info@gollestanhotel.com The hotel is located on an office furniture street, it has a street front door that leads into a glitzy little reception area complete with fish tank, flags ... read more

My first day in Iran with my parents, aunt and cousin.... read more

Darband was formerly a village close to Tajrish, Shemiran, and is now a neighbourhood inside Tehran's city limits. It is the beginning of a very popular hiking trail into the Alborz mountain Tochal, which towers over Tehran. A chair liftis also available for those not interested in hiking. To be far away from the center of this crowded commercial city, Darband is such a good experience for those tourists who prefer the nature rather than shopping or visiting touristy places in heart of the Capital city. The initial start of the trail at Darband is about 250 metres long and is dotted with a n... read more

Nobody goes to Iran for a holiday, and particularly nobody takes their young kids with them on that holiday. Or so my colleagues had disapprovingly told me when I broke the news we were off on our next adventure. As did the lady at the Iran embassy that had been processing my visa. Well then, we were going to make history and show the world just how doable traveling around Iran is. And then revel in rubbing our awesome photos and kebab-filled bellies in their proverbial noses. The trip into Tehran was uneventful and we got our first dose of Northern Iranian scenery. You don't think about snow when you think about Iran, but the first thing you see as you pull out of the airport are the imposing Alborg mountains - Mt. Kilimanjaro-esque monolithic blobs ... read more