The Iran Trip - part 1

Are you sure you're going to IRAN ? no kidding ? exclaimed my wife when i first told her of my intention some 2 years ago. yessss, i'm obsolutely sure i'm going to visit iran. yes, i've to visit the persian state before the yankees destroy it (just as they did to iraq). we registered with a leading tour agency for the trip in late 2006, but that was cancelled as they couldn't convinced others for the trip. still very much amused about the trip, we registered again in early 2007. unfortunately it was cancelled on the eleventh hour as the ground handlers in tehran felt that it was not safe to visit the city then in view of the threat from the texas cowboy.

Lady luck striked. 3 weeks before the departure we were contacted by the agency that we'll soon be on our way to persia. There we were, on iran air enroute to tehran in late november 2007. it was a pleasant 8 hours journey. though the 747 was not equipped with personal lcd screen and on board entertaiment, the food was superb and plenty (sorry to say, they are more lavish with food than our own malaysian airline). though the immigration clearence was rather slow (anyway definitely much faster that in jeddah or cairo), one does not need to fill any embarkation form. that really makes sense as all they need to do is to look at your pastport and key in the datas into their computer.




tehran in late fall .a very pleasant weather with a temperature of 5 to 8 C. the city is very scenic with a background of snow cap mountains in the north. the streets were straight and lined with maple trees by the side. unfortunately the traffic in tehran is a real nightmare. the congestion was unimaginable. the cars were barely 6 inches apart. if one think traffic jam in kl or jakarta is bad, wait till you visit the city. crossing the road takes a lot of courage and skill. despite sanction from the west, there are abundunt shopping malls and high street stalls selling imported luxurious and branded goods. if not for the signs written in parsi, those high street stalls resemble those in the uk.

the iranians are generally well dress and very charismatic. unlike in other arab countries (opss, the iranian does not wish to be labelled as arabs), the gentlemen on the street are very comfortable with suite (like those in the west). and underneath their traditional chador, the ladies were smartly dressed with designers outfit. the iranians are also were hospitable and extremely friendly. having travelled half the globe, i've not come across any homeless people on the street of tehran (shame on you new york city!).




with more than 14 millions people, the city is really congested. as the public transport is inssuficient, the tehranians had to use the own cars to commute. and with no 'entertaiment outlets' except for the state owned cinemas, naturally the city dwellers pass their time shopping or dinning. restaurants are abundant and nicely decorated. unfortunately shopping in tehran (or in iran as a whole) is not cheap !. traditional or grand bazaar are generally packed with shoppers. changing currency in grand bazaar is easy as a lot of money changers (usually young men holding stacks of iranial rial in their hand or tied up to the seat of their motorcycle).




(one of the many stalls in the traditional bazaar selling dry fruits and nuts)


the highlands, an hour drive (exclusive of the traffic jam) north of the city is worth visiting. with it's snow capped mountains, it's just fantastic and scenic. we headed to the dizin ski resort but it was closed to all skiers due to unexpected snowstorm. anyway, it was not too bad as it was only -2 C. well, after all i survive the russian winter of - 38 C.





and thanks to our friend hossein hatami and his dear family for hosting us.