Escan Hotel Tehran

... e byl z velké casti zahalen ve velmi hustém smogu. <br> P&#345;i cest&#283; nahoru jsme na mezizástavkách neustále machrovali, &#382;e v&#367;bec není zima, &#382;e jsme mohli vyjet v sandálech a &#382;e se dýchá úpln&#283; normáln&#283;. No. Po ujití pár desítek metr&#367; jsme byli za své rouhání potrestáni, oblékli si t&#345;etí vrstvu oble&#269;ení a pom&#283;rn&#283; zt&#283;&#382;ka dýchali. Nad námi &#269;n&#283;l vrcholek ...

... that some of the boxes contained wine and beer from home giving us all of the motivation we needed to get the job done. We could appreciate what a big occasion this was for Nikki and Heath &#8211; until then they had been pretty much living out of suitcases while their freight inched it's way through the quagmire of Iranian governmental bureaucracy. Once all of the important cases were unloaded Sim and I took a trip up to Darband, a cute valley in the mountains ...

... had our tickets after paying an extra US$50 to change "Mike" to "Michael". We lunched with Glen at a popular vegetarian restaurant set in a park and adjoining a modern art studio, before heading back to the safety of the Atlas Hotel and a change of rooms. Yay, we now have our very own bathroom and the luxury of a terrace.<br><br>Glen joined us for an al fresco dinner on our deck, while we listened to the increasing noise levels in the ...

... cet immense complexe, d'une taille stupéfiante et dont je ne préfère pas imaginer la puissance émotionnelle les vendredi (sans parler du 4 juin, jour anniversaire). Tout près enchainai-je avec l'énorme cimetière "des martyrs" où reposent les victimes de la guerre "imposée" de 1980-1988 contre l'Iraq de Saddam Hussein (le bougre avait cru bon profiter de l ...

... looking-suitcase with wheels) the night before in favour of the large (oversized-sports-bag-looking-suitcase with wheels) suitcase allowing extra room for any Persian goodies I would purchase on my trip. The statutory required camera day pack was at the ready. Passport? Check. Money? Check. Suitcase? Check. Good to go. I drove to George Best Belfast City Airport as my father isn't the fastest driver in the world (you must mention the BCA part as no one will know what you're talking ...

... Ahmedinejad government is trying to close the Brit school by telling them that they do not own the land that the school has been built on. Since the Brit Embassy doesn't seem to take such statements seriously, the Iranian authorities deny the extension of the Brit teachers' working visas. Taxi drivers wait for you for hours, at a reasonable price. Having a film museum is a great idea! All film centers of the world ...

... restaurant. We must have passed 500 restaurants on the way and I asked why we couldn't just go to any of them and they said that they wanted to take me somewhere special. We drove for about 45 minutes. During the drive, Hasti would pump up the radio and sing and dance to the music. She was a fearless driver, like the rest of the drivers on the road. She would get her little car to roar up to 100 kms in the insane Tehran traffic. Meanwhile, she would turn to me and try to ...

... After the cab ride, we took the metro. I played the game again. I started talking to him and these young people standing next to us went over to Ali and asked questions about me. He just loves the attention. Before we walked over to Shayse's house, we stopped by some small shops to buy food. We were in an interesting neighborhood. All of the women were dressed in Chadors. They were covered in black from head to toe. AT this point I had mainly seen women with head scarves ...

... costs just 0.9p (yes, that is less than a penny!!). Nazli turned out to be a real gem - a 27yr old rebellious, down-to-earth new-age hippy with a very kind heart. Four years ago she spent time in Afghanistan assisting a medical team and is now a self-employed French teacher learning German, Russian and the accordion. One afternoon we accompanied her and boyfriend Nima to a modern art exhibition in an affluent northern part of Tehran. The artists (friends of Nazli ...

... on the subway platform, I felt transplanted to a Beijing populated by Iranians, because not only are the trains built by the Chinese, even the gloomy authoritarian drabness of the stations seem to bear the signature of Chinese engineers. The trains came every 10 or 15 minutes, too infrequent to serve a city of 14 million. As a result, I got very intimate with sweaty Iranian men in an instant when the first train arrived. Hairy armpits in my face aside, I found the ...