Simorgh Hotel Tehran

... September and October could be other months of the year that you can take a trip to Alamut as the weather isn't unpleasant yet. Winter is the time when nobody recommends you to go there. Typically, any tour to Iran will be more or less about this time period.<br><br>In April or May, depending on the temperature and in the actual Spring, the breathtaking beauty of the mountains will make the long journey short for you. You don' see very rugged mountains ...

... buildings and palaces set around a perfectly manicured garden. We visited Ivan-e Takht-e Marmar with the most stunning mirrored interior, it was like standing inside a glitter ball. The mirrored entrance and staircase led to a palatial entertaining hall. This was an ostentatious room used for ceremonial occasions. We also visited the Aks Khaneh, the historic photography museum, depicting the Shah's life in a wonderful series of black and white photos.<br><br>After the Palace Nikki ...

... 15 hours behind the wheel and Steve still held his cool, although he may have run out of cigarettes! <br><br><br>We finally arrived at the peace and quiet of the Atlas Hotel and gave a collective sigh of relief. Steve had several text messages from Head Office after &#8216;Kristina&#8217; was spotted on the BBC News, right there in the thick of it all. I gather the messages started off asking if everyone was ok ...

... dernier), la puissance du Caire (quasiment pas de "quartiers" à proprement parler) ou le charme d'Alep (pas de ruelles!) ; elle cumule pourtant en sa seule moitié sud, hier centre de la ville, une quantité de musée dont le nombre et la qualité forcent le respect. Elle est, en son vacarme, sa taille et ses capacités touristiques, une capitale de calibre occidental ...

... smelly squat toilet waiting to mug my senses I got out of bed and peeked out the window. There, four floors down gleaming in the early morning drizzle was the paddy wagon, engine running. Didn't actually see Mohammad yek or Mohammad do (did you remember the Persian for 1 and 2?) and imagined that they switched the old engine on for a bit of the missing-in-action heat. As I said the wet weather has eased to heavy drizzle, but being Irish and more to the point having to sit on ...

... to eat. Agreeing to me tagging along we headed off to Cafe 78. This was clearly the place for the young and boundary-pushing of Tehran to hang out. Chadors which were only just on their heads. Manteau which most definitely weren't the tent-like black numbers which the fundamentalists insist on. Make up. Oh! The shock of it all. Steve and Gisella were welcomed like royalty (well, whatever passes for royalty in Tehran), even though they had only just been to the Cafe ...

... I knew most people couldn't even understand what we were talking about but it didn't stop them from observing us. Majid was just like Ali. I could tell that he enjoyed the attention. After taking the metro, we took a cab to the school we were supposed to visit. Majid was talking openly about politics in Iran and he was being very critical of his government. I was quite surprised that he would speak so bluntly in front of other people and I told him this. He laughed ...

... my role would be as his guest but I said I would let him know the next day. He made me promise that I would call him and let him know. When Ali and I left his shop, Majid stopped us from going towards the area we were heading. I asked him why we couldn't go in that direction and he explained that that was the area where the women's bras and underwear were sold and that men were not allowed there (or strongly encouraged not to go there). It was a private matter for women to be ...

... this was more than a cultural thing. This actually turned me into ice. I stopped talking and my body stiffened (maybe "stiffened" is a poor choice for the word I am looking for). What made matters even further worse was that he kept trying to convince me to sleep over at Shayse's place and he wouldn't take no for an answer. He then wanted me to promise him that I would spend at least one night at Shayse's place -any night. I said I couldn't promise him this as they had ...

... in light of the distress evident on Abbassi's face, I did not let it show. It's just one of those little things in life that I could never imagine until I had encountered it myself. Abbassi was a teacher in the local school and he introduced me to a friend of his who was also a teacher. This friend seemed very eager to go abroad to study, preferably with a scholarship. Abbassi took me to the permanent bazaar after I mentioned that I was ...