Tahran, Iran Saturday October 17th, 2009

Sultan Muhammedi Family

Youngsters waiting for their dates

Younes and the view

The view at Derbent

The creek at Derbent

Zoroastrian Temple in Tahran

Younes preparing the coal for galyan

Galyan time in the yard

I stayed two more days in Tabriz. Younes Aga took me all the sightseeing places of Tabriz. With a midnight bus I travelled to Tahran. After arriving around 8:00 am in Tahran, I went directly to the Pakistani Consulate, but they were closed for the weekend (Thursday-Friday in Iran). Walking the streets of Tahran I came across the Carpet Museum and went in. Carpets being our family trade, I highly enjoyed looking at the magnificent antique carpets in the museum. In case I couldn't get the Pakistani visa, I stopped by a travel agency to check out plane tickets to India. There're tickets from Tahran to Delhi for $250, but the cash I have on me may not be enough to purchase. I didn't take into account the fact that none of my credit cards or the American Express Travelers checks I had taken with me would work in Iran (due to the embargo by the USA). The cash I have on me is barely enough for another week in Iran and flying over to India. Therefore, I have to speed up my Iran travels. Younes Aga called up a friend of his in Tahran to host me. I'm staying with an Iranian Turkish family in Tahran as well. I'm yet to spend a night in hotels after ten days in Iran. Staying with the Iranian families has allowed my trip to be more pleasant than I had expected. First evening in Tahran I got on the way to the house I would stay at. Since the number of people speaking Turkish declined in Tahran I had hard time finding the house. Apparently I missed the stop I was supposed to get off and went further out of the city than I was supposed to. Luckily, the son of the family came and took me to the house. The father is very happy to be hosting a Turkish guy, constantly keeps talking to me, we're having a good time even though I don't understand everything he says.

Next day (Friday) is the resting day of the week, so the son Younes (same name as the one in Tabriz) borrowed a motorcycle from a friend of his and took me around in Tahran. Motorbikes are as common as cars in Iran. Taking a motorbike tour of the city is as much fun as taking a walking tour. One is able to see many things on a motorbike he couldn't otherwise in a car. We went to the most popular get away spot for Tahranians called Derbent. It's located to the north of Tahran and people come here to hike, have picnics, and spend their holidays. There're walking paths alongside the creek that flows from the mountain top down. There're restaurants, tea and galyan (Farsi for hookah) shops lined all along the way. It's so crowded that I think the whole city population decided to come here. It's possible to reach the top by a five hour hike. We took a hike for an hour and half, rested looking at the beautiful scenery, and started heading down. After touring the city a little longer we headed home. We finished off the evening with the galyan party we had in the backyard (actually in the front in this case).

On Saturday, the first day of the week, we went to the Pakistani Consulate with the father. Despite acting little reluctant, consulate employees provided me with the necessary forms and told me to bring a letter from the Turkish Consulate. Unfortunately the Turkish Consulate is closed on Saturdays, therefore I'm not able to obtain the visa as I had planned and head towards Esfahan. My stay in Tahran has to be extended by a day or two. I take this opportunity to revisit the gigantic bazaar of Tahran, which had all the shops closed yesterday. After spending about three hours in this grand bazaar, where you can virtually find everything, I head home. In the bus passengers are constantly arguing with the driver. In a bus where the route and the stops should be predetermined I'm not sure what they find to argue so much about, but it happens every single time I'm in a bus. Little after the take off a passenger starts praying outloud and the rest of the passengers repeat after him. It's a funny scene watching them pray for a safe travel just for a bus ride within the city. Religion is like an obsession in Iran, it's not just the government emposing it to the people through all aspects of media and other sources, but also the people who are keeping it a significant part of their lives day and night. Religion is in the music they listen to, in their conversations, in their acts and thinking. There were many moments I wanted to scream out loud from so much emposure to religion.