Iran: Photos 21 to 40

Crossing the border from Pakistan was no trouble at all and I was ushered through in less than an hour, it was once I was in Iran however that things started to get more complicated. I was issued with an army officer and told that from now on for my own safety he would travel with me. This didn't make much sense because it is far more dangerous on the Pakistani side and I had no guard there, but I had no choice in the matter so off we headed. On the way to Zahedan (The first big town on the Iranian side) we passed a number of checkpoints and at each I was issued with a new guard along with the accompanying paperwork which meant a lot of standing around on my part. Finally arriving in Zahedan several hours later I discovered that I was to be handed over to the city Police and the charade was to continue. The Police it turned out only have jurisdictional power as well so every time I passed into a new area I was handed over to different Police. For example we would stop at a busy intersection, the policeman would call up

Full Text Entry: Iran

great photographs Joel! You certainly have an eye for photography & detail. Happy Trails

Joel, an amazing blog about an amazing country! I so enjoyed reading it and absorbing the culture and history. Each blog seems to get better! Loved the photos. You have met some very special people in your travels!

Hey Joel. This is an amazing entry. You've provided a valuable insight to the warm hospitality and romantic version of an otherwise "misunderstood" country. And such beautiful architecture! Iran shall be on my list. Thanks for sharing :-)

Hey mate, it was a shame to hear that you had to trim the lions mane! Iran sound pretty cool, glad to hear you had a good time and adjusted after Pakistan. I'm also impressed that you are keeping up your maths skills and in Arabic no less. Keep safe.

Great reading again Joel! The hamam visit reminds me of our time in Turkey! I would have liked to have seen a photo of you clean-shaven after all your travels with a beard! As you are in Beirut at the moment you have done amazingly well travelling from India to the Mediterranean overland! Well done!

HEY JOEL!!! how u doin? ur trip looks crazy awesome nice pics..they gave u an army officer? haha cute..im from iran so i have no idea why they would do that, ive never seen them do it to foreigners before....my dad is from yazd and my mum is from tehran you make yazd sound so crazy awesome, so awesome in fact that im gona go read about it right now!!!! hope u enjoyed urself there...persians are pretty hospitable. i didnt read through the whole thing so was wondering if uve ever been to russia!!??

Hello Joel, my name is Amir i am from Iran. Your post is very good, showing all of the marvels of my home. thankyou. (just kidding, its ziggy. another ace post and sweet pictures of the rock carvings/pictures and of the gazor castle. awaiting farsi lessons when you return.)

Great blog Joel! I wish more westerners could travel there. My experience here in NZ and Australia when I say I am from Iran is that most people are about to have heart attacks LOL they probably read the "news" too much and it is good to see these blog entries coming. I like your comparison of Iran to its neighbour countries. Thanks :-)

Not very insightful Joel, not very insightful at all......

Hi Joel, These photos of Iran are magnificent as is your writing. You surely have absorbed so much of the culture. I also had a friend Mehdi in Mashad who took me around for a couple of days; makes me question our Western preoccupation with ourselves and the rights of the individual at the expense of community. Safe travels wherever you go. Keep the brilliant writing and pics coming!

What an amazingly informative blog. :)

They just get better & better Joelo - loving it! Am now looking forward even more to my own travels in Iran; although I'm going to be a little reticent to put up a blog about them - it's bound to look pretty mediocre in comparison to yours! Keep them coming champ, can't wait for the next one...

hello i reallyyy enjoyed reading your story and in fact you made me search for more blogs and other tourists' stories. im from iran too and im happy to know what people face in their trip to iran

A really interesting blog. I enjoyed reading your account of this fascinating country. Beautiful photography as well.

great photographs Joel! You certainly have an eye for photography & detail. Happy Trails

Joel, an amazing blog about an amazing country! I so enjoyed reading it and absorbing the culture and history. Each blog seems to get better! Loved the photos. You have met some very special people in your travels!

Hey Joel. This is an amazing entry. You've provided a valuable insight to the warm hospitality and romantic version of an otherwise "misunderstood" country. And such beautiful architecture! Iran shall be on my list. Thanks for sharing :-)

Hey mate, it was a shame to hear that you had to trim the lions mane! Iran sound pretty cool, glad to hear you had a good time and adjusted after Pakistan. I'm also impressed that you are keeping up your maths skills and in Arabic no less. Keep safe.

Great reading again Joel! The hamam visit reminds me of our time in Turkey! I would have liked to have seen a photo of you clean-shaven after all your travels with a beard! As you are in Beirut at the moment you have done amazingly well travelling from India to the Mediterranean overland! Well done!

HEY JOEL!!! how u doin? ur trip looks crazy awesome nice pics..they gave u an army officer? haha cute..im from iran so i have no idea why they would do that, ive never seen them do it to foreigners before....my dad is from yazd and my mum is from tehran you make yazd sound so crazy awesome, so awesome in fact that im gona go read about it right now!!!! hope u enjoyed urself there...persians are pretty hospitable. i didnt read through the whole thing so was wondering if uve ever been to russia!!??

Hello Joel, my name is Amir i am from Iran. Your post is very good, showing all of the marvels of my home. thankyou. (just kidding, its ziggy. another ace post and sweet pictures of the rock carvings/pictures and of the gazor castle. awaiting farsi lessons when you return.)

Great blog Joel! I wish more westerners could travel there. My experience here in NZ and Australia when I say I am from Iran is that most people are about to have heart attacks LOL they probably read the "news" too much and it is good to see these blog entries coming. I like your comparison of Iran to its neighbour countries. Thanks :-)

Not very insightful Joel, not very insightful at all......

Hi Joel, These photos of Iran are magnificent as is your writing. You surely have absorbed so much of the culture. I also had a friend Mehdi in Mashad who took me around for a couple of days; makes me question our Western preoccupation with ourselves and the rights of the individual at the expense of community. Safe travels wherever you go. Keep the brilliant writing and pics coming!

What an amazingly informative blog. :)

They just get better & better Joelo - loving it! Am now looking forward even more to my own travels in Iran; although I'm going to be a little reticent to put up a blog about them - it's bound to look pretty mediocre in comparison to yours! Keep them coming champ, can't wait for the next one...

hello i reallyyy enjoyed reading your story and in fact you made me search for more blogs and other tourists' stories. im from iran too and im happy to know what people face in their trip to iran

A really interesting blog. I enjoyed reading your account of this fascinating country. Beautiful photography as well.