Blogs from Iran, Middle East - page 37

Since arriving in Iran, I have noticed a strange phenomenon - Chris De Burgh, the man who penned that old chestnut "the way you look tonight", is like a god to the Persians. i started to play a little game - every Iranian I have met, i ask them if they like Chris De Burgh. The answer is ALWAYS the same "Chris De Burgh? I love Chris De Burgh. He did a song with a persian band, its really famous, oh wow how do you know about him?" and on it goes... In every city its always the same, and is a sure way to win friends. Even in a town like Kerman Almost everyone I spoke to told me Kerman was a shithole. Lonely Planet says "...there are a lot of drug addicts so its ... read more

Since Tehran we have been travelling west across Iran . Everywhere we go the people are wonderful, usually greeting us with 'Welcome to Iran'. I have had a man stop the traffic for me and a family invite me to their home in Northern Iran if I am in the area! After Tehran (which was fantastic) we stopped in Yadz. Yadz is one of the oldest regions in Iran and we spent the day following the walking tour around the old city. Lots of little laneways so we pretty much spent the day getting lost, finding ourselves again and then getting lost again. It was a very pretty little city and I really enjoyed our time there. After Yadz we headed to Persepolis - which is the ruins of an Ancient City ruled by Darius the ... read more

On the way to Bam we stopped off at the market town of Kermar, the gardens of Eram, which reminded me in a really weird way of Annec Castle, only with middle eastern influences, like trees being arranged to provide shade and different architecture. The fountains running aown the slope, flanked by two rows of steps was almost identical. After the gardens we moved on to an old mud city called Rajen, which we had fun climbing about on. I was massively relieved to find an internet terminal at the hotel in Bam, because we weren't allowed to leave it and I really didn't want to go into Pakistan without assuring my family that the only reason I wouldn't be in touch was that there probably wouldn't be anywhere to get in touch in Pakistan. ... read more

We manage to get ourselves a driver to take us to the desert town of Abarqu. We strategically load all our gear into the car, and get the hell out of Yazd. The drive to Aberqu is much longer than anticipated, and quite boring apart from the imaginatively named Eagle mountain. We arrive at Aberqu around lunchtime, and what can I say about this town? Well if Mansour thought Yazd was a shithole, its just as well we didn't bring him to Aberqu. I immediately feel out of place for not wearing a black shirt and tight black slacks, which despite the stinking hot weather seems to be the standard dress for men in this town. Odd, yet remarkably stylish The mosque is spectacularly unspectacular, and once again as we depart an old man has sprung ... read more

Getting into Tehran was unreal: sudddenly the women's headscarves were slipping back to reveal bands of hair and their clothes were getting tighter, brighter and less tent like. Everything was more modern and less uncomfortable than the stiffling atmosphere in Tabriz. Since we arrived too early to check into the hotel we went to visit the Royal Jewel Museum, which was amazing: the jewels were so huge and flawless I almost refused to believe that they were real. There were extraordinarily decadent things too: I thought that these sort of napkin ring like things made from gold and enamel, which decorated horses tails were decadent, until I saw the tiny golden plates designed to sit on horses teeth. After being distracted by the shiny things, me and some other people moved on to go for a ... read more