Flying in we could see the Alborz moutain range in the distance, covered in snow, and as it started to get darker the sky was red as we descended into Tehran. It has been quite hard to explain to people over the last couple of months our reasoning regarding visiting Iran, and a lot of people have questioned our sanity, a few even said we will get what we deserve. Iran has always been a country I have wanted to visit, the people are world famous for their friendliness and the country is steeped in history dating all the way back to the cradle of civilisation. Sitting on the plane waiting to fly in, there were only 12 of a possible 150 people on the A320 plane, and although it did cross my mind "what the bloody hell are we doing", I made the most of the free rows of seats.
By the time we landed it was pitch black outside, and the temperature dropped significantly as we disembarked the plane. The stark contrasts between Abu Dhabi airport and Imman Khomeini Airport were apparent as we walked through the dimly lit corridors there was no fragrant smell of duty free or American advertising banners, just bare walls and pictures of their leaders. I was expecting the spanish inquisition at customs, as we had been thoroughly questioned in Abu Dhabi but it never came; and we were in.
Having collected our bags, we started towards the exit to find a taxi. This little man who resembled Danny Devito called Ashkan, came over to us and offered us a ride to our hotel, he was a million miles an hour, and had very little english. Having agreed a price, he proceeded to drive our bag trolley onto the stair escalator, as it balanced there you could see he was struggling to hold the weight of it, but he kept smiling.
We got to the carpark and walked through it looking for his car, he stopped us right next to a nice looking SAAB, and as i went to get in he said "No not that one", and pointed to a tiny white SAIPA. The ride was something I will never forget. The lanes on the highways are merely formalities, we often drifted across four lanes with no indication, while Ashkan seemed to be calling everybody on his contacts list. Once we got into the city it was absolute pandemonium, it is how I imagine life would be like without traffic lights, like a giant game of chicken, but now we were dodging pedestrians too. I could see the terror in my Dad's eyes through the rear vision mirror, every time we'd narrowly miss a motorbike, car or pedestrian he'd close his eyes. But we made it safe & sound (kind of).
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| Tehran Bazaar Entrance |
The following day, it was our turn to join the hustle & bustle as we headed via train to the Tehran Bazaar, Tehran's equivalent of Westfield St Lukes. There are over 7km of lanes and alleyways throughout the bazaar, and it is quite easy to get lost. Thousands of people are walking through there at any one time, and at pace too, so you are always ducking and diving to avoid people.
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| Spice & Nut Traders outside Tehran Bazaar |
We then visited Golestan Palace built in the 16th century & renovated in the 19th century for the Qajari Royalty. The extravagance cannot be compared to anything present day. Everything was either gold or ivory or both, beautiful artwork and sculptures from all over the world. No photos could do it justice, especially the room completely tiled in mirrors, you could really see yourself from every different angle.
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| Golestan Palace |
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| Inside some of the rooms, Golestan Palace |
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| More rooms, Golestan Palace |
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| The Mirror Room, Golestan Palace |
The following morning we got up early, ready for a full day of sightseeing, only to find that it was a public holiday. Thankfully the museum was open, which housed some of the oldest relics from back in the paleolithic or paleo era, super healthy looking skeletons, you could really see why the diet has taken off. There was also "The Salt Man", who came a cropper in the 3rd or 4th century down a salt mine, and was preserved '"well".
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| Old mate Salt Man, Tehran Paleo Museum |
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| Dual Bulls from Persopolis, Paleo Museum |
That afternoon we decided to catch the Tehran Metro up north to Tajrish and then walk up to a city called Darband in the foothills of the Alborz Mountains. The Metro was so easy, full of Iranians going about their day, and in 30 minutes we were there. The walk up to Darband was a little misguided, it was probably and hour or so longer than I expected. We eventually found the ski lift we'd been looking for and took it right to the top. From here you could see right down the mountain, and back to Tajrish. We had dinner on the side of the mountain, in a little room resembling a canary cage, and caught the Metro back home.
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| Tehran Metro |
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| On the chairlift heading to Upper Darband |
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| The walk down to the restaurants in Darband |
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| The restaurants in Darband |
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| Healthy dinner on the mountainside |
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| Busy traffic in Tajrish |
Few things to note, much to my horror I discovered Facebook & Tinder and all their subsidiaries are banned. My blogs hosting site is also banned, so I'm getting my sister to upload it in NZ. Just another thing, it is highly offensive to give the thumbs up to Iranians, apparently it means 'up yours', in New Zealand however I am an avid "thumbs-upper", and it is a suprisingly difficult thing to stop, so my current count of people I've thumbs upped is around 10.
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| Hello darkness my old friend |
Please excuse the formatting, I'm trying to do this on limited internet, and on my phone.
Hope you all are well!
Nick + Tony
