Blogs from Tehran, North, Iran, Middle East - page 3

Dying to reach the shore We Have To Lose Our Minds To Come To Our Senses by: Steven Javaherian Sometimes it feels like we have to lose our minds, to come to our senses. These thoughts are triggered in me today as I mourn the recent loss of a very dear friend. Her name was Mitra She left us prematurely, and seemingly totally unfair. It angers me to admit to myself that life is unfair. But I know it is. Unless I am in denial. I ask myself whether suffering has to be part of life; hence, deemed necessary and fair? I ask myself; Does the glory of birth justify the gloom of losing and death? I ask myself; Why love ––if losing hurt so much? No clear answer. This is where I begin to lose ... read more

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), breakf... read more

Geo: 35.6962, 51.4229We broke our journey north from Esfehan to Tehran at Kashan famous for Traditional merchants houses, roses and the garden nearby at Fin. Designed for Shah Abbas I these are regarded as the epitome of Persian Garden design. Fortunately they have their own spring delivering water from the mountains so the sounds of splashing and gurgling were everywhere. Few flowers, a few roses, but lovely trees and a couple of lovely pavilions from which to enjoy it all. Also famous because a 19th Century reforming prime minister, Amir Kahn, was assassinated here by those not keen on his reforms - like public schooling.Next door to the traditional house we visited was a small mosque holding a special event. Those people in the neighbourhood who claim to be descended from the Prophet (you can tell ... read more

Ok. Now, I am Officially Stiff. At 0600 I get out of bed and discover that during the night my legs have died. The squat toilet is presenting a major problem as every muscle fibre is screaming with the tiniest movement, let alone full knee flexion. Breakfast calls and not giving in to the stiffness I take the stairs, pretty much so as to walk through the coloured light that the stained glass windows are giving off. The windows are actually the very best feature of the hotel IMO. There is a standard Iranian help yourself breakfast but it has extras- individually wrapped donuts and watermelon. Given that I have a few hours to kill before the flight to Shiraz I decide to read the English edition of the Iran Daily newspaper in the lobby. In ... read more

Awake at 0200 feeling really, really nervous. But no headache! Lie and wait till 0400 then get into the multiple layers that are going to protect me from the 'killer' winds on the summit. Meet the others in the kitchen and eat 2 biscuits and a cup of Nescafé with dairy creamer (yep, really!) then we're ready to start. It's now 0500, head torches on. Starting Elevation - 4200m. We have 1434 vertical metres to climb, 3.3 km total distance at a 31 degree elevation. I'm already puffing on the first small incline out of the camp. The sun is just coming up in the east and the surrounding mountains are black against that beautiful first orange, red band and lightening sky. I can't contemplate getting my camera out, it's too soon to break the rhythm. ... read more