Blogs from North, Iran, Middle East - page 16

Iranians and their hospitality shall never let you leave the country without gaining extra kilos/pounds. Locals lure the weird-looking tourists with treats such as spaghetti 'n' ice cream, iced melon, juicy kebabs and fresh bread in exchange for posing with them in photos. Such generous offers become brutal to your expanding waistline as the 22nd street vendor offers their sexy merchandise. Mmmm....that's a hot chicken sandwich you got there, mate. Three photos with you, your pal Mohammed, and your cousin Ali Reza? All right, deal. In the city of Urumieh, mosques and Armenian churches are located close to one another by the bazaar. 'What, churches in Iran? WTF?' you may think - indeed, there's even a famous church built over the tomb of one of the three wise men here. In fact it is said ... read more

30 bedbugs bites were worth lighting myself on fire with scotch and a zippo lighter. But alas, as i wrote in my last blog, the self-bitch-slapping became a way of life as I toured western Azarbaijan to learn about Iran (e.g. random info like why small dogs aren't popular in Iran - mullahs/'teachers' preached that life is better without toying with stupid little bitches, hence it is a rare sight to see any poodles on the street, even in Tehran). Scratching my ass in the village of Takab, I ventured off to the famous sites of Takht-e-Soleiman and Zendan-e-Soleiman nearby. They're remarkable, and worth the bugs. You can even go on donkey rides for $2 climbing up the suicidal steep hills to see the crater of the Zendan, where tourists plummet to their deaths every ... read more

So a reader sent me a short youtube link to a redonculous parody travel ad to the Middle East: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hH1cPRXI0 Sure, it's black humor to it's deepest darkest black hole, but 'oh dear' enough to check out. Thanks for the worries, but Iran's really not all that dangerous once you're there as long as you don't confuse the country's name with its western neighbour's! (it has happened, no joke, at a UN Ambassador's university seminar. The guestspeaker who congresswoman made the mistake was not on 'wanna grab drinks after this gig?' terms with the Iranian UN Ambassador at least. Much of the American media, including the popular Glenn Beck, has said a lot of harmful comments about Iran. I'm a frat-party-ridden college kid so I cannot say that I am a specialist about the country...but ... read more

Not knowing what to expect, I secretly worried as I boarded Iran Air Flight#800, after all, it seemed like the only Japanese-equivalent of Lonely Planet edition of 'Persia' (NB Not 'Iran') was outdated since the Islamic Revolution and they just wrote random baulderdash to fill the blank spaces and inlcluded photos that were clearly from the 80s. Or was this really Iran today? I turned back to the dodgy Farsi phrases-section at the back, convinced that my previous knowledge of Arabic would definitely help. Ah, no. Only the numerals, I suppose then. It could be worse. And come to think of it, the random pet name my Sunni Muslim friend gave me was 'Aisha', which isn't all that pleasant when it comes to Shiite terms. Bother. Great start, mate. Anyhow. I decide to look around ... read more

Teheran: la mastodontica capital irani donde el caotico y monstruoso trafico hace que cruzar la calle sea un deporte de riesgo. Teheran nunca nos ha robado el corazon, nunca la recordamos con carinyo, tan solo la presencia de la Familia de Saeed ( novio de la hermana de Marc) que siempre nos reciben con una sonrisa en los labios nos hace la estancia mas acogedora. Pero esta vez hemos recorrido una Teheran desconocida para la mayoria de turistas, la Teheran judia. Contactamos con el Comite judio de Teheran , ya que queremos incluir fotos de esta comunidad en el libro fotografico que estamos preparando. La comunidad de judios en Iran no es muy amplia, y cada vez mas gente emigra a America o Canada, como el resto de iranis buscando una vida mejor ( mas libertad, ... read more