Archive for 'Iran'
iran during ramadan and a diplomatic nuclear crisis - what a week!
Days 80-89: For something completely different, we visited Iran for ten days. (Links in this entry go to my other posts about Iran.)
Despite evident concern of friends and family that Iran would not be safe to visit, to the contrary we found that Iran was an easy place to travel and the people the most […]
Posted: October 7th, 2007 under Iran, Tehran, Yazd, Shiraz, Esfahan.
Comments: 3
nose jobs in iran: everybody’s getting one
I’d read about this phenomenon somewhere before we arrived in Tehran so it didn’t come as a surprise but Kate didn’t believe me until we’d seen the third or fourth person walk past with nose adorned with a delicate white post-surgical plaster.
It really is all the rage here. Pity the young woman (and even the […]
Posted: October 7th, 2007 under Iran, Photos, Tehran, Esfahan.
Comments: 1
flying in the name of god
Day 89: Kate boards the Iran Air Fokker 100. We took three such flights: Tehran to Yazd, Shiraz to Esfahan and Esfahan to Tehran, and flew in a Fokker 100 each time. Air travel in Iran is incredibly inexpensive by international standards. None of our flights set us back more than $30, and each replaced […]
Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under Iran, Flights, Bus, Photos, Tehran, Yazd, Shiraz, Esfahan.
Comments: 2
the things that you climb a hill for
Day 88: See the hill! See the ancient Zoroastrian fire temple on top of the hill! See Kate climb! See Kate in her State-enforced hijab! See Kate sweat!
The view was OK. Fire temple abandoned some millenia ago due to lack of Zoroastrians and the not inconsiderable effort that would be required to keep the damn […]
Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under Iran, Esfahan.
Comments: none
those shaking minarets
Day 88: No trip to Esfahan is (apparently) complete without a visit to the famous “shaking minarets” at the tomb of Manar Jonban some 6km out of town. Here I will let the English language panel at the tomb speak for itself:
“The building known as Manar Jonban is the mausoleum of Amoo Abdollah Gariadani, an […]
Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under Iran, Esfahan.
Comments: none
imam square, esfahan
Day 87: In Esfahan, all roads lead to Imam Square, the second largest square in the world after Tianamen Square in Beijing but ahead of Red Square in Moscow. We entered via the maze-like bazaar from the north to catch our first glimpse of the square and its two beautiful mosques, to the east and […]
Posted: October 2nd, 2007 under Iran.
Comments: none
regent’s mosque, shiraz
Day 86: One of the many beautiful mosques in Shiraz was the Regent’s mosque, currently under renovation, but with unobstructed views of the beatifully decorated iwans (entranceways), in which Kate is standing here, pretty as a picture in her compulsory floral chador.
Posted: October 1st, 2007 under Iran.
Comments: none
persepolis: the greatest persian city?
Day 85: Kate writes: Having visited some of the famous ancient cities of Greece and Ancient Rome earlier in our trip, it was only fitting to visit Persepolis, one of the great sites of the mighty Persian Empire.
Built from 518 BC onwards, Persepolis reflects a vast, cultured and powerful people at its zenith. You […]
Posted: October 1st, 2007 under Iran.
Comments: none