Blogs from Iran, Middle East - page 38

Well we are now in Tehran. We camped one night after crossing the border from Turkmenistan and then had an 18 hr drive to get into Tehran the following day. Tehran has been great - a very modern city where we visited the Palace, the "Den of Espionage' (the old US Embassy), the National Museum and the Jewels Museum - really enjoyed it all. We boutght black cotton in Ashgabat and borrowed long shirts from the boys to make our way over the border. Since then we have bought black headscarves and mantous (thigh length coats) to get around in. Some women are still wearing chadoors (especially in some of the small towns we visited on the way) but here in Tehran that mantous are the go (but still pretty hot). Tomorrow we head for Yadz ... read more

Reza is working, so he leaves me with his friend Mehrdad. Mehrdad and his taxi driver brother Mehdi come to collect me and after a sneaky lunchtime tea (behind closed doors so as not to offend the masses) we head to the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza. Apparently he was a pretty popular bloke because the sheer size of the Haram is unbelievable. After much confusion (since alot of the site is off-limits to non-muslims) we are allowed in and are ushered to the Islamic Relations Office and Foreign Pilgrims Affairs, where I am bombarded with Islamic propaganda by friendly staff. The museums are interesting, my favourite exhibit being the ode to nuclear power - a sculpture of two hands holding a radioactive cannister, with jars of each element displayed underneath...... contra-versial. So, its Tuesday morning ... read more

Pictures rather than words... From Istanbul to Tehran by train. And then to Esfahan... read more

In the morning, the bazaar faction won the day, so we visited the bazaar in Kermanshah, there we found Kurdish sparkling clothes galore as well as sweets and cakes. It was great seeing everyone with the bright hats and scarves that they had found in the bazaar all waiting on the pavement for the bus to start. Iranian bazaars are fantastic, proper working places, the large ones are cities within cities. We drove to Sanandaj, the capital of Iranian Kurdistan, where we had lunch. Unfortunately we had no time to see more of it, as I would have liked. The women in the group were impressed with the locals’ fashionable dress and the general air of well being and order in the city. We arrived at Takht-e Soleiman late in the afternoon, as the sun was ... read more

We met at midnight in a car park in central Tehran and the night was full of the sounds of laugher and friends greeting. I felt alone and excited, as I knew no one except AS, and him only slightly, having met him the day before. He is a friend of F, my contact at the National Museum of Iran. He had invited me on a six day historical trip around north-west Iran. Travelling companions: 30 Iranian students. Interesting as I speak about 20 words of Farsi, but I felt up for the challenge! Travelling by private coach meant that I would be able to see much more than I ever would without my own transport. Very few Westerners spend time in this area, which is full of Kurds and Azeris, so this was also a ... read more