Homa (Tourist) Tehran

... ch 20000 nikdy neviděl.

Po chvilce vysedávání v parku a milém rozhovoru s neznámou Íránskou ženou jsme se vydali zpět do hotelu. Po cestě na hotel si zvládl Dolda jen pomocí perštiny (a rukou) objednat chleba a poté jsme se ještě stavili na večeři v místní restauraci. Zítra plánujeme prohlídku dalších míst v Teheránu, tentokrát raději bez průvodce.

... br>Tehranis based here. We were dropped at the Southern bus terminal and
took a taxi one hour north to reach Nikki and Heath's new home.




We
drove down a small attractive alley, guarded by diplomatic police and
gingerly knocked on what we thought was Nikki and Heath's door. We
waited anxiously, knowing it was late and also very aware that the
house number didn't match the one given in Heath's email. After a few
minutes, the door opened and there stood the lovely Nikki in ...

... Dragoman style. Out came the tables, chairs, washing up bowls, gas burners and wonderfully large kettle for tea and coffee. Ahhh, a short wander to the nearest pile of rubble for some bladder relief and then we’re tucking into fresh fruit salad, yoghurt, cornflakes, chicken meat slices, luncheon with pistachio nuts and tomato, cucumber, soft cheese, bread, olives...


Several hundred kilometres to ...

... and safe wandering around. In fact, I had several Tehranis approach me to ask where I was from, and one woman adopted me and showed me where a bazaar was that she thought I'd be interested in checking out. A ex-coworker of mine has a friend Amir who lives in Tehran, so after Kate left I arranged to meet up with him and his fiance. They couldn't have been nicer and entertained me all afternoon and evening in northern Tehran which is where the ...

... so colorful, and finding similarities between the people of different nationality, religion and culture is a way to make connections to the rest of the world. In addition to this, I found an exciting reading called The Age of Nepotism that talks about different cultures and the ways to connect with others. You should check it out, as well as the site www.theageofnepotism.com

... immense, la technique de certains de mes conducteurs me régalant. Un mot concręt supplémentaire : si les minibus et les bus sont légions entre les villes iraniennes (comme chez les arabes), les trajets entre les murs se font dans une contradiction assez géniale : le trop grand nombre de bagnoles rend la circulation impossible, mais dans le męme temps il ...

... we were "mugged" for our US$150 local payment (Explore! is not alone in this offensive add-on to your holiday cost), and for the tip kitty contribution which I had completely forgot about. Bang went another US$50. Hmmm. At this rate of going I'll be out of money and I haven't even left the hotel! Our paddy-wagon (christened as such by me as it was a pea green colour and there were three Irish on the trip. No logic whatsoever, but it worked for me!) collected us ...

... him) -Why are you so interested in the Middle East? (This area of the world is always in the news so I want to understand it more) -What is your job back home?( IT Consultant) -How could you afford this trip? (I saved for 5 years) -What is your salary? (I told him) -Is this per month? (I wish. It is per year.) -What did you study? (International Business) It was obvious the man was suspicious. I got the feeling that he thought I was a spy or something. In his head, my trip ...

... people in line he pointed to. Unfortunately for them, most get denied by the Canadian government. So they look at other options. Using a stolen/fake passport is one of them. He said something to me that stuck. He stated 'Iranian people are free but they are not alive'. I assume he meant to say that they are alive but not free. Or maybe not. But I understood his point.. I finally got into the consulate and was greeted by a sweet Iranian woman. One thing I immediately noticed ...

... along with a head shot of myself. They were surprised that I was Canadian and seemed a bit confused on how to move forward. One gentleman picked up the phone and called somebody. When he was done, he told me that I needed to also get a letter of recommendation from the Canadian embassy. Damn! So close but yet so far. I was afraid they were going to tell me this. I told Ali where I needed to go and he offered to lead me there. Before we took off, I reached into my bag and ...