Blogs from West, Iran, Middle East - page 9

Tehran to Esfahan on a train - what an experience. If you think Immigration control at Heathrow is a nightmare, trying to get on this train was hell - talk about suspicious guards! Not the most comfy trip BUT a good experience and cheap great hotel BUT toilet mosques/architecture are beautiful markets are plentiful with all sorts of tat on sale friendly people practising their English on you is a nice and welcome interaction... read more

Isfahan, a la que los persas llamaban Nesf-e Jahan ( la mitad del mundo) es una de las ciudades mas antiguas de Iran. Es nuestra tercera visita a esta ciudad, y la razon principal para volver aqui era fotografiar su bazar. Atras ha quedado Teheran, aunque tambien nuevos amigos, la familia de Said ( novio de Estefania, hermana de Marc para los que no esten informados) que nos trataron como uno mas de la familia y de los que disfrutamos nuestra estancia en la ciudad. Pero poco hay que explicar de Isfahan, tan solo que como es la tercera vez que venimos pues ya esta todo visto y a parte de la plaza donde esta el bazar, el resto de la ciudad no es nada especial, como el resto de ciudades iranis.....la verdad es que empezamos ... read more

Esfahan (Isfahan) 27th January 2006 Woke up early morning as Hadi had to go for classes and he dropped me at the Imam square. I called Ali and finally he answered and we decided to meet at 9:30am. Until Ali came I sat down and wrote my notes as I was already had quite a backlog. When Ali came we went to the Manar Jomban (Shaking Minarets). Unfortunately it was raining and they weren’t shaking it. People had been stopped from going up and shaking it themselves from 2003. Instead there is a person the “minaret shaker” who goes up and shakes it for everyone to see. Essentially, when you shake one minaret the other minaret also shakes. Afterwards went to Ali’s place, he is quite a house builder himself. Had lunch there and copied loads ... read more

I got into Esfahan (Iranians sometimes spell it as Isfahan too), Kaveh Bus Terminal at 8:30am. I am at this massive bus station, no guide book, no mobile phone (it doesn’t work in Iran), no one speaks English and don’t know where to go. Last but not least only USD4/= i.e. Iranian Riyals (IRA) 36,000 in my purse. Wow what a feeling. The situation gets even better as I learnt later that Iran didn’t accept travellers cheques, no ATM’s, visa card not accepted due to US sanctions and I had changed my last USD10/= bill in Quetta, Pakistan. This is situation is worse but quite similar to Myanmar where they didn’t accept TC’s, no ATM and no mobile phones. I am now right royally screwed !!!! I had a few friends in Esfahan through Hospitality club ... read more

No one should leave Iran without a visit to Esfahan. I took the bus in the evening and since it's only six hour from Tehran to Esfahan I arrived in the middle of the night. Everything was very quiet and the streets were empty. After walking the silent city a bit I found a soup corner that was open all night, the owner was friendly, he gave me a tea and some bread for free. Together with the leftover cheese from the mountain that was almost a nice breakfast. When the sun finally came up I found a good backpacker hotel. Cheap, a courtyard with some plants in the center, and an Australian who told me how to play backgammon. Here I also met a German who had been studying psychology in Marburg, Germany. How small ... read more