Blogs from North, Iran, Middle East - page 4

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Middle East » Iran » North September 8th 2016

Along the highway are photos of men, who were killed in the war with Iraq about 20 years ago. About 1 million soldiers were killed on both sides. It hardly rated an international mention!... read more
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Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran September 7th 2016

TEHRAN REST DAY 2. 7 September, 2016. Blue Sky 30c Today was an easy day. Wandered down to the US Embassy, which was overrun in the Islamic Revolution in 1979, led by A. Khomeini. Murals on the surrounding walls now proclaim peace. The US is known as the "GREAT EVIL". Makes up for the Americans calling the clerics, "The Mad Mullahs". Afterwards wandered down to a great bakery producing Iranian sweet delicacies, as often is the case, they looked better than they tasted. Took them to a pleasant coffee shop where I consumed all. Then found a shop where I purchased an elaborate Backgammon board, made in the famed city of Estafan to the south of Tehran. Just need to find somewhere to display it, and learn to play !! Tomorrow we bus out of Tehran ... read more
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Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran September 6th 2016

TEHRAN REST DAY 1. 6 September, 2016. Today is a rest day, however everyone is programmed to be up at 5 am, so the hotel restaurant was full of riders at 7am. Breakfast wasn't worth the effort. I am disappointed with the Iranian food I have eaten, only one good meal to date. Not as varied or as tasty as I was hoping! Today walked to the Tehran Bazaar, the oldest here, was expecting something like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Firstly it was difficult to find, they are constructing a train station in front of the entrance so wandered aimlessly for an hour, until finally finding an unassuming ally which I by chance walked down. The building contains numerous stalls, but is not remotely colourful or bustling and was under whelming. It was a long ... read more
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Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran September 6th 2016

LAKE CAMP to SEMNAN 3 September, 2016. Stage 90 75 Kms SubT. Kms 1780kms. Road Condition: Good Weather: All seasons. brutal head and cross winds remainder of day, BLUE SKY HOT 33 max. Time in Saddle: Av Speed: av. kph. Av Cadence. RpmElevation: 1650m up; m downCalories burned : > 5500. Last night the winds blew hard. All night the tent flapped despite everything being zipped. Then it rained. On the sharp rocky desert floors where we are camping my tent has developed a small hole, fingernail size. It let in the water despite sitting on a ground sheet. My bedroll then became wet. A joy. Woke with a bad headache! Departed at 6.00, arrived at lunch at 11.30, totally depleted. So stopped and rode the truck from lunch to a hotel, surprise surprise. Wasn't hungry ... read more
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Middle East » Iran » North » Kashan April 23rd 2016

My time in Iran was quickly winding down. It was my final full day and we left Esfahan early, on our way to a historic village known as Abyaneh. The village itself has been in existence for the past 2500 years, back to a time where Zoroastrianism prevailed in this region. The village is situated about two hours north of Esfahan and is on a mountainside. Red sandstone is the main construction theme here and gives Abyaneh a distinct look. Predictably, many Iranian tourists could be found here. We walked the narrow alley ways and some of the locals were dressed in very traditional garb and were selling food and wares. Kurush, of course, gave us some historic pretexts about the place. I was then free to go around. The others with me decided on checking ... read more
Old Man
Abyaneh Village
Abyaneh

Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran April 17th 2016

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long and interesting history that goes back several thousand years. It has gone through various dynasties and was part of the famous silk road. This was home to the once mighty Persian Empire. In 1979, the Shah was overthrown, Iran became an Islamic republic, and as a result became polarized by many nations of the western world. Some might say that Iran does not respect human rights, and is fronted by religious zealots but it is also home to some of the friendliest people on the planet. One thing is certain, it would be an fascinating place for any traveler to get a glimpse. I was looking quite forward to it. I had been toying with visiting this country for a while, mainly based on feedback from other backpackers. ... read more
Tehran
Tehran
Persian

Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran March 12th 2016

Day 50 Tuesday 8th March 2016 - Qazvin Booked out of the hotel and got the same hotel driver that drove us to Kandovan to take us to the bus terminal, after a bit of negotiation with the price of course. As we saw the terminal from a distance we got excited as it is a huge modern building but as we got closer realised that it is not opened yet. The moment we got out of the taxi we were harassed by aggressive ticket sellers quoting a ridiculous 800,000 rials ($40 AUD) for both of us for a bus journey to Qazvin, so we pushed through to get to where the buses were parked. There were even more around the buses so we just keep saying “Qazvin” and one pointed to the bus ... read more
Tehran Bazaar
Golestan Palace
Alamut Castle

Middle East » Iran » North » Tabriz March 8th 2016

Day 44 Wednesday 2nd March 2016 Another day in Iran, another town, another taxi. Heading off to Kashan today by bus, but as we got the taxi to the bus terminal the driver tried to talk us into letting him drive us to Kashan for US$88 including a bit of sightseeing but we opted for the much cheaper bus. We had not prebooked our tickets and were not sure of the timetable but the taxi driver recommend a bus company that runs regularly to Kashan. It was 9.00am when we arrived at the counter and the bus was leaving at 9.30am how lucky, the trip was uneventful but it did give me time to think about why all men want to have their photo taken with Scott. Is it because of his good looks ... read more
Kashan
Kashan
Kandovan

Middle East » Iran » North March 5th 2016

Arrivé d’un séjour éprouvant en Inde, j’espérais sincèrement que le dernier pays de mon voyage, l’Iran ne me décevrait pas. Bien avant mon départ, au moment de la planification, j’avais sélectionné de nombreux pays, qui me fascinaient, et que je tenais à inclure dans mon itinéraire. Après une étude un peu plus poussée et réaliste des conditions de ce voyage, j’ai dû enlever environ la moitié pour des raisons de temps et de budget. Toutefois, je n’aurais écarté l’Iran pour rien au monde. Ce pays a exercé sur moi une fascination intime depuis mon plus jeune âge où, entre Sauver Ispahan et Prince of Persia, entre les documentaires sur Persépolis et les romans sur les guerres médiques, entre les pasdarans de Khamenei et les poèmes d’Hafez, il m’a toujours fait fantasmer. Bien conscient des limites d’un ... read more
Mosquée de l'imam Saleh
Vers le palais de Niavaran
Entrée du bazaar

Middle East » Iran » North » Tehran February 23rd 2016

Day 30 Wednesday 17th February 2016 Organised ourselves, had breakfast, grabbed our bags and jumped into a taxi for the airport. Got there 3 hours before the flight as Fly Dubai Airlines suggests and then sat and did people watching. The terminal was packed with people some even having picnics on the floor, the flights in this terminal seem to be all the budget airlines flying to India, Pakistan, Sofia (Bulgaria) etc. One of the announcements was a final call for Iraqi Airways to Basra not something we hear in Australia. We had to get a bus out to the plane on the tarmac and were finally in the air for our short flight to Tehran about 2 hours, in a blink we were landing. As we joined the queue to get through passport ... read more
US Embassy Tehran
Tehran
Iran




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