Blogs from Tabriz, North, Iran, Middle East - page 2

Day 19 Dogubayazit to Tabriz (Thurs 22nd July) Up at 0630 today - time to cross the border into Iran! We were supposed to depart at 0730, however our coach had managed to get stuck in the car pack (which was tiny, so not surprising!). Fortunately, despite his propensity for getting lost, our driver is actually very good and managed to get it out in just 20 minutes. So we were on our way around 0800. We stopped for pictures of Mt Ararat (where Noah apparently landed the arc - although they are not the only ones to claim they have found evidence to prove it was in a particular place) as well as seeing the campsite where the original Ozbus groups used to camp (before they started using more hostels and hotels). It didn’t really ... read more

Today was a driving day, starting with us getting into our ridiculous tent dresses, crossing the border (better than we expected; we didn't even need our bags checked), and ending with us getting into Tabriz and pretty much crashing in the hotel room. Iranian hotel rooms are nice; for some reason (something to do with saving face) we're staying in ridiculously nice hotels for the whole country, so yay for random social customs. We also stopped at a nice restaurant where we all ate ridiculous amounts of food, mine more ridiculous than other people's because I was in the rapidly shrinking healthy camp. The rice was good, the fired egg and chips were a harbinger for more to come (or the eggs were anyway; I wouldn't have minded the chips).... read more

A moment after I'd finished the sweet cups of tea that a local street vendor gave me, I suddenly realized they were definitely stashed with something. Panic struck me, although the corners of my lips couldn't get out of this ridiculously cheesy grin. Despite my horror, everything began to look like a joke. I laughed at the watermelons, the hysterically funny minarets (???), even the cops in front of me...COPS? I'd heard that the police occasionally do their rounds and give trouble to both locals and tourists for inappropriate behavior/dress etc. Even recently, a fellow female traveller told me that she had been dragged into a police station for harsh questioning regarding her risque clothes - the loose tunic over her baggy pants had been an inch too short, revealing an inkling of curves of ... read more

I knew nothing about the Islamic Republic of Iran before this trip, and although Robin knew a little more the country was largely a mystery for both of us. It was also something of an enigma - we knew one story about the country based on news, history and political impressions from the west. We had already learnt from our experience in Syria and other countries not to trust these however. The stories from other travellers and Iranian people themselves, i.e. people who had actually been there and didn’t have a political axe to grind, painted a very different picture. This was partly what made us so keen to visit the place, to find out what the real Iran was actually like. We had been given a 1997 guide book and I was a little apprehensive ... read more

Hace ya muchos dias que partimos de Estambul en el Van Golu express. Eso fue el lunes 16 por la noche y 48 horas mas tarde llegamos a Van, cerca de la frontera irani. El viaje en tren, en un compartimento para los 2, fue comodo aunque muy largo y con continuas paradas inexplicables en medio de la nada. Conforme el tren avanzava el paisaje se fue cubriendo de un manto blanco hasta que el horizonte se confundia con el cielo. Una vez en Van nos confirmaron lo que ya nos temiamos.....la frontera esta cerrada!!! Solucion: Ir a Dogubayazit, 200 Km mas al norte donde la frontera principal entre Turquia e Iran si que esta abierta. jueves 19: por la manana cogemos un minibus a Dogubayazit y pasamos la noche en esta ciudad que no tiene ... read more