Firouzeh Hotel Tehran

... tipped the scales 15kg over the maximum allowance, b ut the guy at check-in just pointed to the scale, smiled and waved us along. As we walked to the gate we just hoped that not every baggage-happy passenger was getting the same soft treatment as us.<br><br>A few days before our flight back to Tehran an Iran Air plane had crashed in the mountains to the north of the country, en route to Azerbaijan. We had read in the papers, and our guide book, that flying on ...

... police were a little more lenient than elsewhere in the city.<br><br>That evening we ate a home cooked meal, something I'd been craving for a long time. It was nice to chat without any language barrier and without curbing any topics, which we so often had to do when travelling. We talked at length about politics, religion and the Islamic regime. It felt like there was another world that operated here in Iran. A dark world that we didn't see as a tourist, a world where people were ...

... we met a wonderful couple who not only helped us find the Consulate, but drove us to the door. God bless them. We put our names on the list and sat talking to the smiling guard outside while we waited, our extension was granted free of charge and the smiling guard even arranged for a taxi back to the hotel. <br><br>That was the morning adventure over and we had just enough time before the ritual protest march started to catch a taxi to the ...

... Persian, so that made the frequent close up camera work of young ladies breasts - some of which were barely being held in by the massively under-sized clothing) gave us cause for concern as to the likelihood of them arriving in one piece. Thankfully the thought police in Iran don't raid paddy wagons that often! To further enhance my possibly laboured point of the risks involved, Mohammad had a 6 inch square screen to the left of the dash board in front of him as he drove on ...

... is unlikely to be one that we forget in a while. We stayed with Iman and his wonderful family for almost our entire month in Iran: from Karaj to Tehran; Isfahan to Shiraz; Rafsanjan to Kish; we were rarely without the help of a Haghighi family member or friend. That famous Persian hospitality is still very much alive and we were treated like kings for the entirety of our stay; perhaps that is the reason that it took us over a month to leave Iran. We simply love the ...

... Majid's friend, Armand, came out from the class and joined us in the hallway. Every now and then, I would peak into the classroom to see who the students were. Each time, I would see the students staring at me with curious looks. I did notice one very beautiful girl looking out into the hallway. I was scared to look into the class for too long as I didn't want to appear disrespectful so I kept my occasional peaks no longer than 3 seconds. Something really surprising then ...

... wife would do their best to keep their kids away from all of the issues they were trying to solve. After I got my letter in my hands, Ali and I found a cab to take us to the Syrian Embassy. We arrived at the Embassy 10 minutes before the official closing time. Unfortunately, they didn't feel like taking any other people today so I was forced to return tomorrow. Damn! I really wanted to get this visa situation over with. My plan was to do some sight seeing as I really didn't do ...

... told me life continued as normal in the privacy of their own homes, offices and shops. Throughout Ramadan it is not permitted to eat, drink or smoke in public during sunlight hours, in order to show respect for the holy lot, who seem to be in the minority here. I saw quite a few rebels breaking the rules by scoffing sandwiches down side streets or munching ice-creams behind newspapers (us included). However the rules are more relaxed for tourists and some hotel ...