Or as they say in Farsi Esfahan nesf-e jahan... As am sitting here in this most beautiful and welcoming of cities we find out that Israel is sabre rattling against Iran by carrying out military excercises in Greece. Here on the ground I have never been in a city more hospitable where people talk to you on the streets and buy you icecreams, this happened today a young student (girl) bought me and Rita an icecream. She is studying English at Esfahan University. We plan to meet her and her boyfriend later for a meal. Yesterday we wandered around the Imam [View Full Entry]

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Here I am in the middle of Iran, in Isfahan. But first let me take you back to my arrival in Tehran at IKA airport, because you have some catching up to do. Sitting on the flight, wondering what was awaiting. The stories some people told, women never travel on their own, you will not be able to get about without a driver and interpreter, and of course, is Iran safe?, all are easily batted away with facts and figures when on solid land, but once in the air there was no going back. I was sitting next to an Iranian [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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21st October 2007 Well here I am in the Axis of Evil. Arriving here did not even feel half as scary as when I arrive in most third world countries. Probably because people are so laid back. Around a third of the staff at the airport were asleep at their desks. Even the Internet lady at this place was asleep when I got here. And also there was not a single tout or anybody else to bother me when I arrived and people were welcoming me to Iran before I even left Istanbul. I was pleased when I arrived to see [View Full Entry]

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Tehran - Esfahan Tehran. Twelve million people crammed into a city carved out of the desert and ringed by towering mountains. The only city I’ve ever visited where you literally can’t see the ground as the plane taxis into land due to the intense, hack-inducing, mouth-drying pollution. You can actually see the dense hazy layer hovering just above the buildings... And the traffic. Having been to places like Moscow, Beijing and Hanoi, I thought that I’d pretty well seen the worst that the drivers of this world could throw at you. Nothing compares to Tehran. Sure, Moscow had those Ladas [View Full Entry]

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Shiraz (Persepolis) - Yazd - Esfahan - Kashan - Tehran If George W. Bush wants to know where Iran is hiding it's nuclear facilities, I can tell him. I have seen one of them on the A80 highway between Esfehan and Kashan. Iran is proud of it’s nuclear ambitions and makes no secret of where much of the work is taking place. After passing through, I read that the president ordered the sites be opened for passing tourists to explore. Should Bush & friends choose to drop bombs on the site as they have threatened to now & then, they may [View Full Entry]

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My 54-year-old Japanese mother was inspired by my recent Iran photos to take me on a mother-daughter bonding trip to Tokyo Disneyland. Why? Because the mosques reminded her of Aladdin, and she was eager to experience the 'Arabian Coast' of Disney Sea and go on the 'Small world' esque ride called 'Sindbad's Adventures'. After ice cream and wearing ridiculous Aladdin and Jafar hats, we sat down for some fierce chainsmoking (hiding from Mickey and the screaming kids) to compare Disney and Iranian architecture. So then, speaking of huge colorful domes, sparkling tilework and magical fantasies all smooshed together on a grand [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone, Well it's been a while since I've posted anything. Was just too busy I guess, in my 3 weeks tour of Iran, loving it, hating it too cause of all the restrictions you're faced to especially as a woman, picking up some farsi words, very little, getting to know and love the Persian culture a little bit more each and everyday. Iranian people don't like to be reminded that Arab language and sometime culture is a bit similar to theirs, Iranian women trying to defy the system by wearing a scarf that doesn't cover their hair at all, and [View Full Entry]

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The car journey to Esfahan from Persepolis is long and draining. My minder tells me that roads are called "gypsy killer passes" because in the winter they're covered by snow, which causes caravans to careen down ravines. We travel for hours with no bathroom in sight. "You can make good use of nature," said my minder. This is easy for him to say because he's not a woman swaddled in extraneous layers of fabric. There are huge paintings of the founders of the revolution on building facades and the streets are littered with didactic messages such as "Iran will become the [View Full Entry]

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After spending the night in my hotel room packing the gifts and souvenirs I'd bought, the women came by for a visit to reopen them all over them and interrogate me for shopping information. Alas, after they rampaged through everything, I started to repack as I chainsmoked. Our last visit around Esfahan was to the Friday, or 'Jome' Mosque. This, Seyed explained, was a transliteral error by westerners, for its original name is 'Jame' - 'large, everyone's' Mosque. This Mosque happened to be partially damaged from the bombings during the Iran-Iraq War. JAME MOSQUE - Its entrance marked by the [View Full Entry]

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