We leave Yazd early morning heading west for the last of the big cities on the tour - Esfahan. The familiar desert landscape is all around us, and to keep spirits up Mr. Bergman is assaulting me with a barrage of quotes from the spoof magazine Grönköpings Veckoblad which is about as exciting as it sounds. Well, you've heard of the Esperanto language haven't you? I bet you didn't know that it has a cousin called Transpiranto. And I bet you didn't know how to say "Prohibited to walk the park lawn". It's "N [View Full Entry]

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Time to go sightseeing the desert again. We leave Kerman early morning heading northwest for Yazd province and the capital Yazd. Today's route goes deep into the plains and we will not be encountering very many towns along the road. The only major town we will pass through is Rafsanjan, the hometown and stronghold of course of the previous president Rafsanjani. We pick up some pistachios from a merchant selling them by the roadside from the trunk of his car. From then on it is a straight road into the desert, a route which seems to be quite popular with the [View Full Entry]

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No long haul excursions today, but a chance to have a look around Kerman. We visit a whole slew of places, although they are decidedly low key compared to yesterday's excess in history. In the morning we visit the crowded bazar at Ganj-Ali-Khan Square where you can find lots of the exquisite miniature paintings that are typical to Iran. We also visit a public bath house, Sabz dome and the Friday mosque, where we encounter a mulla arriving in a limousine. My love for mulla spotting has not gone unnoticed, and when driving around Mr. Hoseyn will usually be pointing them [View Full Entry]

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"Good morning!", Mr. Hoseyn exclaims enthusiastically as we climb into the car yet another early morning. I don't really like early rise but reply "Sobh beh'khayr" just as energetically. We leave Kerman and drive southeast towards our main goal for the day the city of Bam and its grand citadel, some 200 kms away. As you may recall much of the city was razed by a very powerful earthquake (the official figures state a magnitude of 6.6) in late December 2003 and a tremendous amount of people were left killed or homeless. According to a report on FarsiNet ab [View Full Entry]

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A long day on the road. We pack up and depart from Shiraz at eight in the morning heading east towards Kerman along the highway to Bandar Abbas. We pass through a number of towns and villages, always accompanied by the rain. The weather is again gloomy and chilly. Fortunately we have plenty of tea in the car to keep ourselves warm. The highway is passing through a wasteland of sand and rocks, again lined by beautiful mountains and rock formations enshrouded in mist. Occasionally the road will climb ridges and overlook salty lakes. Traffic is light. Farzaneh is explaining about [View Full Entry]

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Today's assignment is an excursion to Perespolis, the old winter capital. The journey goes on dusty roads through sandy plains with scattered rugged mountains and cliffs along the sides. Most of the traffic consists of trucks and buses. There are plenty of interesting vintage types to observe, like the N40, Mercedes O302, O309 and L808. Any fellow nerds will know what I am talking about, you others are welcome to simply read on... Arriving at Peresepolis we are arriving in front of the remains of the main city gates. Although excited at first I am a bit let down by the [View Full Entry]

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The first day in Shiraz, and also the time with a warm sun smiling in the sky. This does not in anyway prevent the fact that I am incredibly tired and have a hard time opening my eyes. As I am drifting in and out of sleep I keep hearing a lot of faint voices in my head, and as I start to come around I realize that this is in fact coming from the real world. There is apparently a school nearby, the song of dozens of children singing is carried in through the window, apparently some kind of morning [View Full Entry]

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The last day in Tehran for a while, we will be transferring by plane to Shiraz in the afternoon. The morning is spent visiting one of the Shah's excessively decorated palaces in the hills. Big airy halls with some rather decadent furniture and very large Persian carpets in the rooms. We are joined by crowds of school children out on tour, and the young children either look at you shyly or, if they are more courageous take the opportunity shouting "I love you!" from a safe distance. The next destination is the complete opposite and immensely to my liking. We drive [View Full Entry]

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Today's weather is cloudy and a bit dull. We spend all day sightseeing various cultural and even more cultural sights of Tehran. We've been around a couple of museums with exhibitions of pottery, historical utensils, statues or parts of statues, all in various stages of decay. It's not my cup of tea really, although I found the exquisite and decorative Qurans to be quite beautiful. After having successfully learnt to say "good morning" I realize that any further development in Farsi will be requiring some dedication on my part. Farzaneh explains the mysteries of the language; it seems that in [View Full Entry]

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It is with great anticipation that I raise from the couch on which I have been sleeping restlessly for a few hours. Fortunately it is still such an early hour that my mind is rather numb, and I don't have to get all worked up about it all just yet. I pack up my belongings and leave the small flat I have been borrowing in Stockholm before moving on to Arlanda airport. When entering the departure hall and locating the proper counters the first thing I notice is that there is a long and winding queue in front of the Iran [View Full Entry]

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