All posts related to travel and touring in Iran.
Here’s how NOT to visit a 7,000-year-old Iranian city: do your research beforehand, not after getting home. When I saw Meybod (MAY-boad) from the top of the 2,000-year-old Narin Castle, I was instantly sorry I hadn’t planned a longer stay. As far as the eye can see, there are old neighborhoods filled with narrow adobe walkways,..
Ibrahim is a blue-eyed 72-year-old shepherd in the village of Kharaghan, aka Qaleno-e-xaraqān, north of Shahrud. He spends his days tending sheep and goats in the rocky plains just south of the famed Cloud Forest. Some of Iran’s greatest philosophers and Sufi masters walked these same plains through the centuries. “I’ve been walking this field..
The above image depicts the quintessential visit to a wealthy conservative Iranian home in Mashhad. The Purpose: the annual obligatory Nowruz (the Persian new year’s day) visit to Saeideh’s eldest aunt on father’s side. Guests are all of Saeideh’s siblings, their spouses, children and her mother. The Room: giant, encompassing half the 210 sq mt..
Pretty much anything on this planet can be found at Tehran’s Friday Bazaar, at half the price and in a million varieties – if you can stand the crowds. The Jome Bazaar (JOAM-eh, Persian for Friday) is inside a multi-story parking garage near the Embassy of the United Kingdom on Jomhouri and Ferdowsi Aves. It..
Naderi Cafe is a 90-year-old Tehran institution, hangout for artists, students, nostalgic elderly, as well as grumpy waiters. The style is 1950’s Paris. Photos of famed performance artists, writers and poets adore the walls. Naderi (NAW-the-ree) has appeared in novels and films. The sweet cappuccino and the thick hot chocolate provide the perfect relief from new..
I wasn’t prepared for the shocking views at Naqsh-e Rustam and I’m glad I wasn’t. I stood there, mouth open and oblivious to our tour’s guide’s explanations, starring at what must be the world’s most stunning graveyard. Persian kings were buried over many centuries, in tombs carved into the side of the rocky mountain and decorated with giant..
“Now you know why Iranians are so proud,” my wife told me after I visited Persepolis today. “This history is why they think they have everything and no one else – the Americans, the Europeans, no one else – compares to them.” I’m tempted to deduce just the opposite, that contemporary Iranians – who don’t..
Vakil Bath is an old public bath turned into a museum in Shiraz, an exquisitely restored window into a bygone era when public baths were more like social clubs for business and politics. Ali Torkzadeh with Saeideh AjilchiAli & Saeideh plan their Iran roadtrips from their home in Mashhad. More about us here >>
Mostafa Rahemi, 80, is an attari (AT-tawry, traditional medicine man who heals using herbs and plant extracts) and a former bodybuilder. His store, filled with yellowing historic photos, is the only one left in an old alley in the ancient Shiraz neighborhood of Ghashoo-Ghashe, near Shah Sheragh Shrine. Rahemi (RAW-hemy) says: “Seven-hundred years ago, back..
Lavizān Forest Park is a large forested area in the Lavizān neighborhood in northeast Tehran, with stunning views of Tehran cityscape, which is, of course, usually shrouded in smog. Ali Torkzadeh with Saeideh AjilchiAli & Saeideh plan their Iran roadtrips from their home in Mashhad. More about us here >>
Iranian airlines feed all passengers with piping meals, service that is shocking to visiting tourists.
Readers’ comments on online articles about travel to Iran wildly fluctuate between praise and condemnation and I’m still getting used to seeing the sometimes jolting disparity. Case example: the 191 comments left on The Guardian’s Iran Holiday Guide in the 24 hours since publication. The article by former Londoner Haleh Anvari (who also authored the brilliant..