Be Arami, Be Arami - A First Trip to Iran - Details

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Having gotten through 29 113 words and 695 photos WELL DONE!

Here is the recap of the details.



Trip Length- 26 days




Itinerary (slightly different to starting out itinerary)-

Tehran- Golestan Hotel 2 nights

Mt Tochal Trek- Shirpala Mountain Hut 1night

Tehran- Golestan Hotel 1 night

Mt Damavand Trek- 3 nights

Tehran- Hotel Shahr 1 night, Hafez Hotel 1night

Shiraz- Golshan Traditional Hotel 2 nights

Deh Mord Village- Home Stay 1 night

Yazd- Kohan Traditional Hotel 2 nights

Garmeh- Ateshooni Guesthouse 2 nights

Dasht-e Kavir- Desert Camping 2 nights

Esfehan- Dibai House 4 nights

Kashan- Ehsan Traditional Hotel 1 night

Tehran- Hafez Hotel 1 night



Accommodation

Tehran

Hotel- Golestan

My rating- ****

Cost/night- $40 USD

Inclusions- twin room (western toilet), breakfast (excellent), water, wifi, tea, toiletries

Pros- Super clean, Close to museums and bazaar, can organise dine in night meal for you that you can eat in their dining room or in your room, telephone in room if you need anything ie- tea or a hairdryer, etc. Good little lobby area to sit or meet people.

Cons- High floor rooms facing street hot and noisy, centrally controlled a/c- no personal control.

Contact- http://www.gollestanhotel.com/about.html



Hotel- Hotel Shahr

My rating- *** (too big, too much like a proper hotel for me- personal preference)

Cost/night- 1 117 000 IRR (USD $28)

Inclusions- queen room (squat toilet), breakfast (good), water, wifi, toiletries +++, bar fridge, telephone

Pros- Super, super clean, HUGE room, balcony facing street with opening doors, wifi signal was good in room, close to a park

Cons- Expensive to buy tea- have to get it in hotel coffee shop (+tax/service), really late time for restaurant opening. Location is 11 km from central Tehran so expensive to get there and to sightsee, isolating kind of an experience



Hotel- Hafez

My rating- ***** for Room 114, **** for 3rd floor room

Cost/night- $35

Inclusions- twin room (but single occupancy), breakfast, water, tea, fruit, wifi, soap

Pros- Excellent staff, modern boutique style lobby- excellent place to chat with other travellers, good wifi signal, first room had a great bathroom - western toilet, pretty clean

Cons- Wifi signal not good in rooms, 2nd room bathroom had traditional squat- not as clean or as good as first room but they are happy to show you different options

Contact- Fatima 6670 9063, Bank Alley off Ferdosi St, Tehran

[e-mail]



Shiraz

Hotel- Golshan

My rating- *****

Cost/night- $30 USD

Inclusions- double room (western toilet), breakfast (excellent), water, wifi, tea, toiletries, bar fridge

Pros- Wonderful atmosphere, great food, excellent wifi signal, perfect spot for walking to attractions, super clean bathroom. Parviz, the owner, can arrange all sorts of things for you- just ask.

Cons- None

Contact- Parviz Rostamnezhad [e-mail]

http://www.golshanhostel.com/




Yazd

Hotel- Kohan Hotel

My rating- ****

Cost/night- $25 USD

Inclusions- twin room (western and squat toilet), breakfast (good), wifi, tea, toiletries, bar fridge

Pros- located in old city, great spot for walking, great huge central courtyard, rooftop- awesome views over city, friendly reception, lots of travellers around to chat with, clean, good a/c

Cons- wifi in lobby only- super slow at times

Contact- Corner of coin museum, Alley number 40, Emam street, Yazd

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]



Garmeh

Hotel- Ateshooni Guesthouse

My rating- *****

Cost/night- $25 USD (although my stay was part of a package)

Inclusions- room with matresses/linen, shared bathroom/toilet, fan, wifi, all meals, water and tea/coffee. ###- NB- I had a room up in the main house, not in the actual lodge so my experience is quite different in terms of room/bathroom to staying at the lodge itself

Pros- great atmosphere, great food, really clean bathroom and room, great total experience. Good activities on offer plus lots of exploring can be done on foot around the lodge. Rooftop views are pretty special too.

Cons- A bit chaotic with large tour groups for dinner, no wifi

Contact- Ateshooni Guest House, Garmeh Khor & Biabanak, Esfahan, Iran

Tehran Office (English Speaker): [phone]

Cell (24 hours): [phone]

Garmeh village: (+98) 31 - 4634 8156

http://www.ateshooni.com/

[e-mail]



Esfehan

Hotel- Dibai House

My rating- ****

Cost/night- 40 Euro

Inclusions- twin room, tea, wifi, western toilet, shared bathroom, excellent european breakfast, communal kitchen

Pros- Atmosphere, location great for pretty much everything, super clean, large courtyard

Cons- Expensive for what you get, wifi signal poor except in a couple of specific spots, no meals except b/f available

Contact- 1 Masjed Ali Alley, Harunie, Isfahan, Iran


Phone: + 98 311 2209786 Sufi


[e-mail]

http://www.dibaihouse.com



Agencies and Activities

Trekking Mt Damavand Program
Ardeshir Soltani

Mobile: [phone]

http://www.damawand.de/

$1400 for Private Tour (much less to join group)

Inclusions- Visa support, pick up/transport from IKA to Tehran Hotel, Mt Tochal trekking 2D/1N programme including all transport, guide and food, 1 night Tehran Hotel, Mt Damavand trekking 4D/3-4N programme including all transport, guide and food, climbing permit and return transport to IKA. Guides are insured and licensed.

***** Highly, highly recommended- great communication, great company, great support, great, great, great!



Pars Agency

Shima Kashfi [e-mail]


• Flight to Shiraz $58



• 2 Day Sightseeing and Home Stay. $210 for Private Tour (much less for group- can split cost between 4). Day 1- Pick up from Shiraz Hotel. Drive to Persepolis, Necropolis and Pasargadae visiting Arsanjan and Bakhtegan lake on way to Deh Mord Village in the hillside of Zagros mountains. Home stay in village. Day 2- Drive to Yazd via visiting Harat and Meymand and Zeinoddin. $210 inclusive of all driving/guiding, all meals and home stay accommodation.


**** Highly recommended- great communication, good guide and vehicle.



Full Moon Desert Trek
Ateshooni Guest House, Garmeh Khor & Biabanak, Esfahan, Iran

Tehran Office (English Speaker): [phone]

Cell (24 hours): [phone]

Garmeh village: (+98) 31 - 4634 8156

$370 - 4 nights- 2 at Ateshooni, 2 in desert including all transport from Yazd and to Esfehan and between desert pick up and lodge points (bus and car), all food and drinks and desert guide.

*** Recommended, it all worked out in the end but next time I'd organise it when I got there directly with Ateshooni

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Comments

[KL]

Gillian, what an amazing story, and an amazing trip. I stumbled on your blog post searching for Lombok, but was riveted by your trip to Iran. Not sure I'd be up for the mountain climbing, but it all sounded fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[gillg]

Thanks Keren
Enjoy the Lombok trip!

[Julie Parkinson]

Brilliant blog
Very informative and interesting blog.I very much want to travel around Iran like you did.I have travelled extensively in India alone on local transport but was a bit apprehensive about the safety of Iran.You have made me see it is possible.Thanks for sharing.If you have any advice I would love to hear it.