Ramsar Hotel

... need around 20 km to continue on the same road to get to an intersection where you turn left toward Gazorkhan village. This village is just a few hundred meters before Alamut fortress. Believe it or not, travelers can hardly pinpoint the fortress when it is in front of their eyes even before they get to the village!

The Best Time to Take a trip to Alamut

The best time of the year to take a trip to Alamut would be in April and May to visit this ...

... project at Islamic Azad University, Tehran.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may refuse to participate in this study or in any part of this study. You may withdraw at any time without prejudice to your relations with the university. You are encouraged to ask questions about this study at the beginning or any time during the research study.
This survey will take about 15 minutes of your ...

... a thesis project at Islamic Azad University, Tehran.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may refuse to participate in this study or in any part of this study. You may withdraw at any time without prejudice to your relations with the university. You are encouraged to ask questions about this study at the beginning or any time during the research study.
This survey will take about 15 minutes of your time. Many, many thanks for ...

... 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.

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 ...

... all forms of life ceased to exist. The sudden contrast was astounding.

With about 50kms to go to Tehran we thought we were doing pretty well for time; little did we know that we would sit bumper to bumper in an enormous traffic jam for the next 3 hours. Our plan was to meet our wonderful friends, Nikki and Heath Fisher, and stay with them for a few days. Heath had recently been posted to work as a diplomat at the New Zealand Embassy in Tehran (covering Iran, Afghanistan and ...

... over and over and over again. It was a long day and it was already dark by the time reached camp, but luckily this means I can still say that I have seen Tehran even though we technically didn't stop the truck...! I spent the day sitting with Luke, listening to music and playing I-Spy. Our bushcamp outside Tehran was right on the motorway. Adam parked us between the trees (because technically you aren't supposed to stop by the motorway) and set up our tents in a long line behind the ...

... with the tides, crashing into the rock-strewn coastline with increasing urgency. I turned around to look at the hotel. It was completely dark.

It didn't take me long to decide to leave for Tehran later in the day. I want to buy some carpet before I leave Iran, which meant that I only have half a day left tomorrow to shop at the Grand Bazaar before they close on Friday and Saturday.

I came to Ramsar because ...

... a definite course of plan, so we just left it open.

Qazvin is compact enough to get around the centre on foot, so I set off for walk toward the Jameh Mosque. The city has a quaint, sleepy, and provincial feel to it. In the early 16th century, it was the capital of Persia. Parts of the former royal quarters still remained, though the size of the palaces and houses seemed to suit a local feudal lord rather than the king. I walked southward along a major road ...

... if I wanted to go to Alamut I had better come down right away because the other two foreigners who wanted to go are already downstairs waiting. I rushed down to the lobby and found Peter and Matthias standing there waiting for the car. We were happily reunited by pure chance.

Our driver was a humorless man who kept his car spotlessly clean. Communication was difficult because he didn't speak English at all. But along the way we managed to signal him to stop by a ...

... filing cabinets built into the integrated unit. The large switchboard, complete with plug-in wires and individual holes for the rooms, looks like it belongs in a museum. Singular men sat quietly on the frayed and sunken leather sofas in the lobby and stared at a luminous television screen. The chamber maids clambered up and down the grand staircase off to the side of the lobby, treading lightly on the threadbare fatigue green carpeting. I ...