Back to Tahran / Last Days in Iran

I arrived in Tahran in the morning and went directly to my house in Tahran. I met with Younes' wife, who had gone to her hometown visiting, and his father-in-law. I think I had started to stink since I hadn't showered in three days. I took a shower, cleaned up and spent the rest of the day resting and chatting at home. The next day I went to the travel agency I had visited before to get my plane ticket to India. Ladies at the agency were very affectinate towards me. First I got the same answer from them as I had from all other travel agents, that they could not sell me a one-way ticket, I had to buy a round-trip ticket. For some stupid rule I couldn't comprehend the purpose of, they're not allowed to sell one-way ticket to tourists. Cash I had on me was only enough for a one-way ticket, I was having financial troubles since I wasn't able to use any of the credit cards or travelers checks I had with me. Ladies made a few phone calls to help me but no one answered. It was only 3:00 pm but all the offices close at 2:00 pm in Iran. They told me to come early the next morning, that they would find a solution to my problem. I arrived early the next morning at the agency. They greeted me with the same warm welcome, sat me on a chair, and started working on arranging a ticket for me. In the four hours it took to make the purchase we constantly joked around and chatted with the ladies. The most sincere conversations I had with the other sex in Iran took place with these ladies. It was the most pleasant shopping experience I had with the compliments we would make to each other, marriage proposals I received, and non-stop laughing. Whenever the boss would come out of his office everyone would keep quiet, put on their poker faces, fix their head scarves, pretend to be working while I pretended to be reading a book, and the fun would continue as soon as the boss would go back into his office. With the ticket I bought from the agency I was supposed to fly to Delhi with a lay-over in Sharjah UAE the next day, but destiny had other plans for me. One who laughs a lot will cry a lot; I was to pay for the hours of laughing my buttoff at the agency very soon.

The very first day I arrived in Tahran I noticed an airport next to the bust terminal and later got it confirmed with Younes too. On the day of my flight I left home on time based on my calculations of the amount of time needed to get to the airport and two hours of waiting time before the flight. As I was taking the bus and the subway I kept asking people and got it confirmed that I was going the right direction, but it wasn't until I got to the airport that I found out it was for domestic flights only, and the one I needed to go was at the other end of the city (actually way out of the city). By that time it was for sure that I would miss the flight. I decided to go to the international airport anyway since my connecting flight was for the next day. After a long journey and hardcore bargains with cab drivers I arrived at the airport by night, spending the last penny in my pocket. I was too optimistic thinking I could catch the next flight out but there wasn't any flights to where I was going or even any ticketing offices of any airlines for that matter. Only good thing happening all day was the exchange office accepting to exchange Turkish Liras. I had 20 Liras (about $13) in my pocket left from Turkey, which was enough to get me back to the city. After another long journey I got home towards midnight. The family laid out my bed immediately after the first shock of seeing me at the door, and I felt in to a deep sleep hoping to forget this nightmarish day. Next morning I went to an internet cafe as soon as I opened my eyes, and started searching for flights. This time I got lucky and found a seat in a flight in two days that previously was full. I was able to use my credit card online since it was an Arab airline and didn't face the same embargo for the United States as Iranian companies did. It was my only chance of getting a ticket and was extremely relieved when it worked. I went back home with a peace of mind, showered, ate and rested. I spent the next two days resting at home. On the day of my flight I left home with the confidence of knowing the way, got to the airport in time and started waiting for my flight to UAE, where I will be spending a day before flying to Delhi.

Iran was a good starting point for my trip. It was a soft transition for me since their culture is very similar to ours. Thanks to the Iranian hospitality I didn't spend a single night in hotels in Iran, and amazingly spent only a total ol $130 in all three weeks of traveling. Transportation and museum entrances are dirt cheap in Iran, but can't say the same for food. They have many Turkish brand goods in the country, especially all the clothing and textiles come from Turkey. There's a big craze with getting nose jobs done in Iran, especially in Tahran. I don't think there's a single young Iranian girl who hasn't got her nose done. On any given day you're guaranteed to see at least 10-15 girls with their noses bandaged walking the streets. With all their bodies covered, only part they show are their faces, so there's a great emphasis on the beauty of the face, which results in nose jobs, plucked eyebrows and make up. Another thing one can't turn a blind eye to in Iran is the importance of their martyrs from the Iran-Iraq war. It's been 20 years since the 8 year long war between the two countries got over, but you can feel the tremendous impact it had everywhere you go. There're posters and signs all over the streets depicting the pictures of fallen soldiers (used as a propaganda material by the government) and pictures or little monuments in houses of the sons they lost.

Overall I spent three amazing weeks in Iran. People are unbelievably nice and the country deserves a much better recognition by the foreigners. It's one of the safest places to travel I think. I hope it will be explored by many more travellers, who can help to break the isolation Iranians are forced to live in.

Yazd / Iran

Alexander's Prison

Qanat (tunnels going down in the ground to bring water up from the depths of the earth)

Badgir (Antique air-conditioning)

These huge structures are carried over the shoulders on a certain religious mourning day.

I travelled to Yazd by the night bus. Bus left two hours later than the scheduled time, arriving at 8:00 in the morning to Yazd. I went over to the trainstation the first thing, found out that there weren't any trains to Tahran for that evening, and went back to the bus terminal to get a ticket. I spotted two guys at the ticket office, who were obviously tourists and were on the same bus as me coming to Yazd. We started up a conversation and found out that we all had the same plans of visiting Yazd for the day and traveling to Tahran at night. We decided to go around together, but first needed to find a storage place to leave our heavy backpacks to. By a new language I invented through mixing Farsi, Turkish, English, and sign languages we succeeded in finding a storage for the day. We left our backpacks and headed over to the city center.

One of the guys in our team, named Lucas, is Polish, and planning on going back to his country after visiting Iran and Turkey. The other guy is Hungarian, and he's on a longer trip like me that covers South Asian countries. Hungarian guy is fluent in English and very talkative, so he keeps talking about random stuff. He has degrees in Geography and Tourism, after teaching geography for two years he decides that his teaching sallary will not be sufficient to allow him to travel the world, so he quits and gets a job at a hotel. I feel sad for him for not being able to teach after listening to him talk so passionately and enthusiastically about geography and his students. He's also very knowledgable about linguistics. Gives us a long lecture on the similarities between Turkish and Hungarian, and the Turkish words they have in their language.

Yazd has been the most interesting city for me in Iran. It's a city in the middle of the desert that integrates and becomes a whole with the desert. One feels in a dreamland walking the streets of the old city. With its mud brick houses, narrow streets, domes, arches, and channels it's come to our day without the slightest change through centuries. Naturally, it's not possible to make such claims for the new city that's been growing around the old city. After stepping a foot on every street of Yazd (well, almost) we go back to the terminal to catch our busses.

Persepolis (Shiraz)

Overlooking Persepolis

Ahura Mazda ( Zoroastrian God)

Lions Gate

Second day in Shiraz. I was a little cold in the tent at night as it was chillier than I had expected. I hit the road to Persepolis in the morning as I had planned. It took about an hour and a half to get to Persepolis, where I spent a few hours walking around, and came back to Shiraz. I bought my bus ticket to Yazd from the terminal and came back to my tent. For the past two days I have been leaving all my belongings except for my money and camera in the tent unattended while I walk around all day in Shiraz. I figured I wouldn't run into any problems even though the foot traffic was high in the park, and I was right. I don't think I will have the same freedom and convenience in India, but have been very comfortable security wise in Iran. I was feeling little sleezy so spent the rest of the day resting at the park. I'm planning on returning to Tahran tomorrow night after visiting Yazd, building up my energy level for two-three days there and starting my new adventure in India.

Esfahan & Shiraz

Montazari Family in Esfahan

John and the backyard in Esfahan

Little Montazari having tea from the saucer

Meydan-e Imam (Imam Square)

Intracate decorations

My buddy the Molla

Inside of Mescid-i Imam (Imam Mosque)

Si-O-Se-Pol 33 Column Bridge / Esfahan

Under the bridge

Meydan-e Imam

Shops at Meydan-e Imam

Sunset over Esfahan

Potheads of Esfahan

Smoking hashish

Kerim Han Castle / Shiraz

Bazaar in Shiraz

Hafez's Mouseloum

I went back and forth between the Turkish and Pakistani Embassies for four days to get the visa. I would take care of the necessary paperwork at the embassies in the morning and walk around in Tahran for the remainder of the day. At the end, Pakistani consulate rejected issuing me a visa by not accepting the letter from the Turkish consulate (I'm not going to bother explaining details). So it was for sure that I had to fly to India from Iran. I was predicting the plane ticket costing about $250, which shortens my travels by at least two weeks.

I was hosted by the same great hospitality in Tahran as I had been in Tabriz. In the evenings offerings of food, fruit, nuts, desert, and tea would just not end. I had great joy with the family in the evenings thanks to the Turkish poems the father would read, coffee fortunes we would tell, and funny conversations we would have about random topics.

Once it was concluded that I wouldn't get the visa, I decided to travel the rest of Iran. In the morning the father took me to the bus terminal, bought my ticket, and put me on the Esfahan. I was planning on the bus ride not taking too long, and getting to Esfahan early enough to have some time for sightseeing, but it arrived around 6:00 pm. Throughout the bus ride I talked to the only other tourist on the bus, a guy named John from Canada. He was visiting Iran on a one-week transit visa after visiting Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia. He's planning on going back to Turkey before his transit visa expires and keep traveling in the middle-eastern countries. He was planning on staying with an Iranian guy in Esfahan he had met on another bus ride, and he offered me to come along with him, of course I accepted the offer on the spot. Staying with Iranian families and experiencing their way of living has been the best part of my journey. John called his friend from the bus terminal and was told to wait at the terminal, that someone was coming to pick him up. After such a short phone call and without taking any information we started waiting with some hesitation for someone who didn't even know John to come and get us. After half an hour a guy not knowing a single word in English but with a super enthusiasm showed up to pick us up. He started taking us to the car with a fast pace and I thought that he must have parked at a bad spot and he was hurrying before the car was towed away. We stopped at a street corner, he told us to wait there by sign language, and went running into a mosque!! After the prayer was over he came out of the mosque carrying a tray of tea. We had our cup of tea standing in the middle of a street and headed to the car. As the Iranian kept driving we were getting farther out from the city towards the quiet little towns. We pulled over to the parking lot of a place of which the of it I still haven't figured out, but suspecting it to be somewhat of a government building. Inside, a group of man whom didn't speak any English greeted us, started talking and laughing about us. John being a Canadian and especially with his wacky hairstyle (similar to a mohawk) became the hit topic right away. We didn't have a clue about what was going on but then figured out that one of the guys was John's friend's father, and soon after, the three of us got in the car and drove away. There was a large crowd waiting for us when we got home, but John's friend still wasn't there. Again mostly by sign language we found out that John's friend was in Tahran and wouldn't be in Esfahan anytime soon. We were both surprised and happy at the same time that he offered us to stay with his family eventhough he wasn't going to be there. As we kept sitting the number of people coming into the house kept rising. All the relatives were coming to the house to see us (especially John) and trying to communicate with us through the few English words the youngsters in the family knew. We concluded the evening after a long conversation filled with laughter.

The next day we went into Esfahan with one of the teenagers in the family. I have seen the most number of tourists in Iran in Esfahan (was the same case later in Shiraz). After seeing the major sights of Esfahan we started searching for a plane ticket for John for the next day since his visa was expiring. There wasn't any room in any of the flights so he decided to leave that night by bus to Tahran and to Turkey by train from there, and I decided to take a bus to Shiraz at the same time. After going home, giving John a haircut (still kept the mohawk), having dinner with the family and saying our farewells, we took a cab to the terminal. I arrived in Shiraz early in the morning, rested some at the terminal, and started walking towards the city. The city was still asleep and the only open places were the bakeries, so I got myself some fresh baked bread, opened up a can of tuna I had with me, and had a nice breakfast in a beautiful park. Numerous tents set up in the park caught my attention, and I thought it was a nice opportunity for me to utilise the tent I had borrowed from the family in Tahran. I pitched up my tent, napped for couple hours and started walking around in the city. After walking the streets of Shiraz all day long. I came back to the tent and decided to rest a little before going out looking for dinner. It had been only ten minutes before I heard a walkie talkie noise and two guys talking to each other right outside of my tent. We came eye to eye with two cops when I unzipped the flap of the tent. I didn't understand what he was saying in Farsi, but I muttered a few words I thought they would understand such as Turkiye, tourist etc. They took a look inside the tent and walked away. You shouldn't think of a forest, a big park, or a place outside of the city when I mention camping. Iranians pitch up a tent at every space they find including the sidewalks in the city. And this park is just a usual park in the middle of the city, where the locals come to take walks and hang out. I'm planning on visiting Persepolis, which is located in the outskirts of the city and taking a night bus to Yazd tomorrow.

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.

Second Day in Tabriz Sunday October 11th 2009

Having cooked sugar beets

Having picnic with the family

Yellow watermelon!!??

Bhaklah Master

Bhaklah (a type of beans) are very popular snacks in Iran

Bazaar in Tabriz

Kandovan

We arrived in Tabriz around noon yesterday. Younes' wife and in-laws were at the railstation to greet us (just to greet Younes actually). We went to the in-laws' house, and what a treat it was. Tea is served constantly, they place a sugar cube on their tongues and drink the tea that way instead of stirring in the sugar. There're a few cups of sugar always sitting on the coffee tables in the living room. They eat cucumber as a fruit with bananas and apples. Their cuisine is similar to ours (Turkish). They decorate the rice with saffron, pour creamy mayo over their salad much like Americans using ranch sauce. Food is eaten on the floor. They cross their legs the way Buddhists do during their meditation while sitting on the floor to eat. Since my legs are not as near as flexible for such a posture they make fun of my sitting style. Having a picnic is very common, if they're going out somewhere a flask gets filled with tea, some fruit and other food are thrown to the trunk immediately. They took me to a place called Kandovan, just outside of Tabriz. It was very similar to Capadoccia in Turkey. People live in caves turned into homes that are carved out on the similar rock formations found in Capadoccia. People still living in these formations give the place a charm that's missing in Capadoccia. In the evening we go to what used to be called Lake Shah, but now named Lake El, as everything relating to Shah was renamed after the revolution. I come across a TV show at home depicting the Shah era with everyone getting drunk, and public in total disorder. Although 30 years have passed since the revolution, propoganda cursing the Shah era and glorifiying the revolution is in full speed. Lake Shah was used as a water reservoir during the Safavid period and was turned into a big green, clean park during the Shah period. Tabriz locals come to this park in flocks to take a walk and have picnics. It's also very common for Iranians to camp out in a tent. It's possible to see tents pitched up despite the weather getting chilly at nights this time of the year.
During our picnic Younes Aga shows me their marriage certificate (more of a booklet), which includes pages with rules they're bound to follow, duties of both sides, signatures of witnesses, and one page stating the amount of gold husband agrees to provide to the wife. When couples are getting married a certain amount of gold agreed upon by the couple gets written down in the certificate and the wife has the right to request this amount of gold at any given time from the husband. If he can't or doesn't provide her with that amount when she requests, he can end up in jail! Although not commonly practiced, they said there's always someone every now and then shown on the news who ended up in jail for such reason.
Next day Younes Aga takes me to all the tourist attractions in town. At the same time we walk around in the bazaar, stopping by at his friends' shops to ge the news of what has happened while he was away. One of his colleagues takes us out for lunch to have a traditional dish of theirs called Abgush. It's quite a process having this dish. On a tray they bring you a brick cup with a stew that contains veggies, meat and a chunk of fat from the tail of the sheep (which is a delicacy). Also on the tray are an empty bowl, bread, and a metal stick with a round head for smashing the veggies. You first pour some of the juice from the stew and the chunk of fat to the empty bowl and start smashing it. Once the fat is all mixed in with the juice, you throw in bite size pieces of bread to the bowl, enough to soak up the juice and have all the pieces moist. Then you eat these juicy pieces of bread, which are delicious. Once you empty the bowl you pour out the rest of the stew from the brick cup, mash it all with the metal stick, and eat it like a dip with the bread. A must try if you're in Iran.
After lunch we go to the Sehriyar's mouseleum. Sehriyar is the most famous poet coming out of Tabriz. He lived in the 20th century and wrote poems both in Persian and Turkish. His most famous poem is "Haydar Baba", which is a long epical poem where he talks to a mountain called Haydar Baba about life, country, past and present and everything else. He's very much similar to the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in the sense that he was able to reach out to a wide range of people with his plain language and naive, sincere style of writing. We buy a CD of his and listen to his poems for the remainder of my days in Tabriz.