Holidays in the Axis of Evil - an A-Z of Iran

Advantages: Fabulous people, fascinating things to see
Disadvantages: Headscarves, awful food, expensive visas

...When you announce to friends, family and colleagues that you've just booked a holiday in Iran (an 'Axis of Evil Tour' as they might see it), their responses tend to be fairly predictable. They range from the geographically mistaken 'but isn't there a war there?'(nope, that's Iraq) or 'aren't they fighting with Israel?' (nope, that's Lebanon) to the most predictable of all responses - a look of bemusement and the question "What on earth would you want to do that for?' So I say to you put aside the thoughts of mad mullahs and the bellicose but oddly attractive (in a Jose Mourinho despotic sort of way) prime minister Ahmedinajad. Try instead to think Persia - the world's first great empire and the land of carpets and fluffy kitties with squashed up faces. As there's so much I could say about this fabulous country I'm going to enforce...

koshkha 27.11.2006 (03.12.2006) · Read review
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Review of General: Iran

Iran - Not the country I had seen on the TV

Advantages: People, Food, History, Architecture
Disadvantages: Cars, Cars, Cars, Cars

...I travelled to Iran with my Iranian wife and daughter with no concerns at all, it was a place I had heard so much about that I was desperate to see it with my own eyes. The Iranian community had been amazingly friendly and hospitable since I had married my wife especially as I had failed to pick up more than very basic Farsi!! Our 2 week holiday was the most amazing time I have spent in my life so far. We didn't go with a tour we stayed with my wifes family in Tehran and then in Sari (Northern Iran) and visited many of the sights. Tehran - smoky, loud and continually moving. We walked most places as driving was a nightmare, the bazaars were a great treat and gold was well priced compared to the west (wife thoroughly enjoyed that part!!), Shah's palaces had to be seen to be believed the architecture and splendour, drinking tea in...

bbicuk01 07.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of General: Iran

Zorastrianism, Badgirs & Sweaty Wrestlers - the City of Yazd

Advantages: Amazing variety of things you really won't see anywhere else
Disadvantages: Best avoided in the summer months - this is seriously HOT and dry

... Yazd? It's my guess that you are probably NOT thinking 'Hmm, Yazd, that sounds familiar' because to date I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't been to Iran (or thought of going) who's even heard of this fabulous city. It might ring some bells if I mentioned that it was historically known by the rather more glamorous name of Ysatis - yes, as in the perfume by Givenchy. You can't help thinking that when the marketing people at one of France's leading fragrance houses sat down to brainstorm new names, they probably weren't thinking of women in chadors when they came up Ysatis. If I were to categorise the cities of Iran in terms of touristic appeal, cities like Esfahan and Shiraz would be the giants of Iranian tourism, Massad and Om the famous centres of religious pilgrimage tourism and poor old Yazd would be the sort of place...

koshkha 14.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Yazd, Iran

Life In Iran

Advantages: Moving animated education
Disadvantages: Some very harsh language

...I'm not a big fan of animated movies, I have a slight weakness for the likes of Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle but that unfortunately is my limit. I was however intrigued when I first heard about Persepolis, a very serious tale about the journey from child to woman in Iran from many a political uprising. The story of Marjane the movies lead character voiced by Chiara Mastroianni, is a harsh one at first living a carefree life in the 1970's before the then leader is overthrown. As each new political leader comes into play you find that the situation to some degree worsens. It's a harsh lesson to many western cultures that lead a more or less uninhibited or restricted life. The lifestyles of the Iranians are limited the movies they see, music they listen too, clothes they wear, and things they drink all at some point cause...

sghawken 18.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Persepolis DVD

What a way to go - Zoroastrian death rituals in Yazd

Advantages: Absolutely fascinating
Disadvantages: Not for anyone who's none to stable on their feet or freaked out by death

...of my very favourite authors, the Canadian-Indian writer Rohinton Mistry, writes about members of the Parsi community in Mumbai. Parsis are the current day descendents of Zoroastrians who fled Iran - or Persia as it was - hundreds of years ago. Consequently I had read a lot about the Towers of Silence and the rituals associated with the disposal of the dead though most typically in the city of Mumbai. Morbid reports are often made in Mumbai suggesting that the vultures in the city drop limbs on the balconies of the posh areas of the city near the Towers after stopping for a snack. I?m not convinced it?s true but it?s the kind of myth that make you want to know more so when we visited Iran in 2006 and I learned from our itinerary that Yazd was the main centre of contemporary Zoroastrianism in Iran, I was very excited about finally getting...

koshkha 05.04.2009 (06.04.2009) · Read review
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Review of Towers of Silence, Yazd, Iran

Cartwheels at the Caravan in Yazd

Advantages: Plenty of space and surprisingly quiet setting
Disadvantages: Outside the town so you'll need transport to get around

...On a group tour of Iran in 2006 we spent two nights at the Caravan, a large hotel located a few miles outside the ancient desert city of Yazd. The Caravan is close to a large but surprisingly quiet road and takes the form of lots of small white single-storey apartment-style chalets set back from the road and surrounded by gardens. Ciao have done a great job of finding a good photo that shows what these look like. There was nothing else anywhere near the hotel so be aware that once you are there, unless you have transport, there's nothing to see or do nearby. Pulling off the highway from the airport, the driveway brought us past a large building that housed the reception, the restaurant and other shared facilities and then to the accommodation area. Our tour leader hopped off the bus to go and get the keys whilst we unloaded the bags...

koshkha 17.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Caravan Hotel, Yazd, Iran

Nice salt and pepper pots too.

Advantages: Comfortable seat, warm and friendly service, good food
Disadvantages: Planes a bit old, Tehran airport confusing

...I really didn?t know what to expect from a flight on Iran Air; my imagination ran wild. A colleague of mine, who has flown with them several times, had told me that they are perfectly comfortable, the service reasonable and I would enjoy the flight. So early in 2003 I got the opportunity and took a flight from Tehran to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in Business Class. CHECK IN I was just in transit at Tehran, so didn?t experience the regular check in process. My inbound flight had arrived on time so I had about two hours in transit. It took a while to find where to check in but, with a little help it was done. Looking around the departures area of Tehran Airport I saw a reasonable sized duty free shop, a very basic cafe (a counter offering coffees and juice served in plastic cups). There were a couple of desks set up with PCs (the...

Vodkaboy 26.07.2003 · Read review
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Review of Iran Air

A man with a plan, a big moustache and some big big mosques

Advantages: Fabulous insights into one of history's great leaders
Disadvantages: No realy heart-stopping block-buster items

...'Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran' is the British Museum's latest 'blockbuster' exhibition and the third in their series of exhibitions on great leaders. Shah Abbas is in good company and follows in the footsteps of the first Chinese Emperor (he of the Terracotta Army) and the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Apparently the fourth in the great leader series will be Montezuma later this year. The exhibition opened on February 19th to a fanfare of publicity. I knew it was coming a long time ago because I subscribe to the British Museum's e-mailing list and I've been looking forward to the exhibition for months. I thought that was probably just me being a bit weird and a bit obsessed with Iran ? I didn't seriously expect that many other people would be as excited as me. I also didn't expect it to be so well publicised. There are posters EVERYWHERE...

koshkha 13.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Shah Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (British Museum)

A Massive Collection of Regal Bling

Advantages: Spectacular and over the top
Disadvantages: Massively paranoid security systems

...The National Jewels Museum in Tehran is located in the basement of the Bank Melli, close to Ferdowski Square. It is without doubt both one of the most impressive and one of the most paranoid museums that I have ever visited and an absolute must-see if you visit Tehran. Blaming Germany for more than just nicking the sunbeds We gathered on the street near the bank, just across the street from the German Embassy. Directly across the road from the Embassy building there's a memorial to the many Iranians killed by poisoned gas during the Iran-Iraq war. The text on the monument tells Germany that Iran will never forget that it was German companies who sold the weapons and technology to Saddam Hussein which he used to kill so many Iranians (and of course, his own people too). Why do I mention this? Well it might be perverse of me...

koshkha 20.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Treasury of National Jewelery Museum, Iran

used to be a city of dream

Advantages: a lot but not now
Disadvantages: the city has been destroyed by earthquake

...This a report of a trip a took several years ago when in Iran the power was in the hands of Scià Rheza Pavlevi. This a report of a trip to Bam, a small city that has been destroyed almost an year ago by an earthquake. Bam, that in Iran is called Arg-è-Bam, is located about 200 kilometres south of Kerman, and it is closed to the border with Afghanistan. The origins of Bam are dated back to the 3rd century but its current configuration goes back to the 16th century when the city was surrounded by high walls that included 38 towers. During the years Bam was famous a transit and relief point for the travellers along what has been known as ?the silk route?. Bam has been also a pilgrimage destination for Zoroastrian believers. In Bam was located the ?Temple of Fire? one of the main temple of this religion. Then on the ruins of this...

traveller55 20.01.2005 · Read review
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Review of General: Iran