http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Iran , South en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:47:24 +0000 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:47:24 +0000 My final hours in Iran that country that I will never forget for its generous beautiful people so misjudged by the majority of the West. I arrived at the ferry port in Bandar Lengeh as instructed at 7am for my 10am trip to Sharjah part of the sprawling city in the United Arab Emirates that includes neighbouring Dubai. At 7am there was no sign of any official activity but there were half a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Bandar-Abbas/blog-451677.html For a day and a half I was by the Persian Gulf in the south of Iran. Here there was a marked liberal air in relation to the rest of Iran of course. Clothing was more colourful women's ankles were often to be spotted for those who were looking and that obscure fanciful practice known as swimming was undertaken in full public view. I arrived in Bandar Abbas at 8.30am and already it was very h http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Bandar-Abbas/blog-451656.html Sunday I had an early start to Shiraz for the seven hour bus trip from Esfahan. Empty dry lanscape to gaze at through the dusty windows. We pass a small truck almost overflowing with its cargo of juicylooking sib. Another truck with a load of sheep and two men only just clinging to the back. A third truck with the disheartening word 'Tesco' emblazed on its flank. A huge sign proclaiming 'Persia http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-450683.html Iran But it's dangerous there That was the common response I got when I told people that I will be visiting Iran or land of Aryans. The truth cannot be any further from that statement. True some people do support Ahmadenijad. True by law women do have to cover their hair. Certain stereotypes about the government and religious rules are evident but my encounters with Iranians and the a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-446391.html So far I've talked about Kandovan Esfahan and Yazd being the latest entry. Well guess what Today we shall talk a little bit more about Shiraz. Getting to Shiraz was the ultimate experience not in a bad way of course From Singapore we took a flight to Kuala Lumpur International Airport as there wasn't a direct flight from Singapore to Iran as Iran Air doesn't do stopovers in Singapore. Y http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-443247.html Krasna avsak lehce fadni poustni krajina jihovychodniho Iranu. Vzduch se teteli horkem a my uhanime silnici rovnou jako kdyz streli. Ve chvili kdy lehce drimnu prejede auto pres dva retardery a zastavi. Otviram rozespale oci a vidim tvar policisty pri bezne silnicni kontrole. Neco si rikaji s ridicem a vypada to na zapomenuvsi chvili. Jenze v tom z mista spolujezdce se mihne Marusky ruka tasi f http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Kerman/blog-442649.html Sedim na baglu na esfahanskem nadrazi a premyslim kde jsem udelala chybu. Takhle se nechat skolacky osidit. Vcera jsme zaplatili listky do Shirazu a chlapik s nimi dnes zmizel. Museli jsme tak koupit jine a krome zanedbatelnych 85korun kazdy z nas prisel o iluze resp.rikame ze nam to dojem nezkazi ale stejne na to myslime. Za chvili prichazi chlapik a pta se jestli jsem Lada z Czech Republic. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/blog-441233.html Many people who travel to Iran and spend a few days in Kerman will certainly plan to visit Mahan for its unparalleled beauty and serenity. As part of their Iran travel package many foreign tourists ask for this town to be included in their itineraries.Where Is Mahan LocatedJust 35 km to the East of Kerman on the road to Bam you can see Mahan close to the foot of Joopar Mountains a local rang http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Kerman/blog-440994.html The Persian word bazaar is different from a shopping center in English. When you visit Iran you will see so many different things in an Iranian bazaar that you may wonder what type of a place it is. Actually bazaar in Iran doesn't refer to a place where people merely go for shopping. It's a commercial and cultural community which can influence various aspects of life in society like politics http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-439072.html No no drinking a glass of Shiraz here. Although everywhere has this beer looking non alcoholic cider if you want to recreate the feeling of drinking a beer The Chai here is sufficient for me Im even adapting to drinking the sweet hot dark liquid in this heat Shiraz is much hotter then Tehran Obviously cause its further south but shit you can notice the difference I arrived here safely i m http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-438546.html The Iranian Island of Kish and Malaysian Island of Langkawi are declared 'twins' in a bid to promote the two countries' tourism industry. Iran and Malaysia plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to establish direct flights between the two islands. Iran and Malaysia will expand their cooperation in the tourism industry to boost mutual economies and increase cultural exchange. More than 40000 t http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Kish-Island/blog-432728.html Kerman is one of the provinces of Iran. It is located in the southeast of Iran. Its' center is Kerman. The province of Kerman is 180726 km. The population of the province is about 2.65 million. The main townships of Kerman province are Baft Bardsir Bam Jiroft Rafsanjan Zarand Sirjan ShahreBabak Kerman Mahan Rayen Kahnuj GhaleGanj Manujan RoodbareJonob Anbar Abadand Ravar. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Kerman/blog-427569.html The evening before my departure I told the hotelkeeper I was travelling to another city. But I had already secretly decided to leave for Pakistan. With this ldquodeceptionrdquo I hoped that I could mislead the annoying security. It almost worked. But an agent saw my car at my first coffee break and he stopped me. I had to wait until a following car was available. In this way I was escorted b http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Zahedan/blog-421024.html Dzis od rana wcielalysmy sie w muzulmanki. Poszlismy do najwietszego meczetu gdzie aby wejsc potrzebowalysmy zawinac sie w wygladajace jak przescieradla czadory od stop do glow. Bylo osbne wejscie meskie i osobne damskie w okienku dostawalo sie przescieradlo i w pelnym rynsztunku dopiero mozna bylo wejsc do srodka a tam wielki dziedziniec fontanna rodzaj parku polaczonego z domem kultury. Po http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-394649.html Rano przyjechala po nas pani przewodnik i zabrala nas do starozytnego Persepolis. Jako tlo historyczne niech posluzy link httppl.wikipedia.orgwikiPersepolisDzis przy Persepolis jest wielki parking i smierdzace kible. I stosunkowo duzo turystow na szczescie rowniez lokalnych. Sa tez pozostalosci miasteczka namiotowego ktore pobudowal ostatni szach w 1971 i gdzie zorganizowal gigantyczna imp http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Persepolis-/blog-394309.html W niedziele rano polecielismy do Shiraz. Jakies 500 km na poludnie w linii prostej. No i od razu bardziej goraco okolo pewnie 25 stopni w miescie bardzo przyjemnie gdyby nie te chustki na glowach dlugie spodnie i dlugie rekawy. I zakryte buty. Mowi sie ze Shiraz to miasto poetow. Jezeli tak to ich romantyczne dusze z pewnoscia objawiaja sie w fakcie ze tu przynajmniej zatrzymuja sie zeby p http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-394304.html Pierwsze moje spotkanie z Iranem a wlasciwie z jego polska emanacja pod postacia ambasady mialo miejsce gdy w koncu doczekalismy sie na pozwolenie z teheranskiego ministerstwa zeby nam widali wize. Do dzis nie wiem jakie to wlasciwie bylo ministerstwo ale wyglada na to ze juz samo slowo na M otwiera wiele drzwi. Zanim przyszlo nasze pozwolenie probowalam sie do ambasady wydzialu konsula http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-394013.html I didnrsquot realise there was a hot shower in the hotel until the third morninghellip I was leaving for my next destination in an hour it was winter and I didnrsquot want to get the towel wet whilst drying off. Thatrsquos a hard thing to achieve So I wipe my body with my hand to minimise the water hitting the towel. Than tentatively wipe with the towel making sure Irsquom not sticking http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Persepolis-/blog-377032.html There was a real adrenaline rush when I entered here. The joy the fist pumps all built up from the anxiety of whether I was going to get in or not even though I had my VISA but not a flight out. With an open mind no preconceptions I agreed that I will be as trusting as I have ever been. I wanted this to be the most open I have been in any country. I arrived in Shiraz central Iran with a b http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-377028.html Just getting to Iran has been the biggest challenge of this little sojourn. With visas required for the four of the countries I intended to visit this time round the visa chase before departure was a little insane. As soon as the passport came back it was off to another consulate. All in a set sequence as some of the visas were valid for three months from the time they were issued. Add to this was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Iran/South/Shiraz/blog-344093.html