Train pulls into Tehran central station.
This is the city of Persians.
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| Waiting for the very late night train to Tehran |
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| Tehran central station |
We hop off.
Tehran Central is the same as all central stations anywhere in the world busy and bustling. The difference is there is no coffee houses or places to sit and get our bearings or meet.
No matter we head off and catch the subway on our way to find a hotel. There are plenty of hotels and we find one in a good neighbourhood that is clean and the staff friendly. It is to be our last hotel on this journey.
Tehran is a huge city 8,400,000 people. It sits in a valley surrounded by mountains. It featured as a major trading city on the Silk Road for 2000 years. It had been snowing overnight,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran
We found it to be a modern city albeit stuck in the 70s with ageing architecture and dull shops. A metro system is partially completed by a French company and extensions to the system are on hold because of the boycott by Western Nations. Tehran is reported to be the world's cheapest city to live in. We found it to be pleasant, but the traffic was horrific due to the lack of infrastructure.
Of late there has been civil disturbances not reported in the Western press due to control of the press and travel restrictions. The students demand freedom of the press, women want liberty and equality.
We spend the next two days enjoying the sites of the city
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| The Peacock Throne |
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| Shah Pavlovi summer palace for Guests |
- Shah's Summer Palace as it was in 1979 when the Pavlov's left for exile
- The Jewelery museum is breathtaking. And to think the Shah took a lot with him into exile. It is staggering the amount of jewels, gold and silver . The Peacock Throne is a treasure beyond value. Ceremonial urns, chalices, crowns and swords. There is nothing like it anywhere. We thought the Ayotollahs had broken it all up. But no, it is there for future generations to see.
- The original Golostan Royal Palace used by Shahs back to the 16th century. It is there in all its glory in good condition, fully furnished
- The Bazaar [and yes we did buy a carpet it is a Kerman Kilim / colour of the desert]. We wandered the gold market and bought some souvenirs gold and silk.
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| Golostan Palace Throne Room |
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| Just one of the royal Crowns in the Jewel museum |
It was time to say goodbye to Persia.
Citt and I got on the subway to ride the end of the line to get closer to the airport. The train stops 20km from the airport and it is necessary to get a taxi from there. As always we had attracted a group of young people who tagged along. They cheerfully guided us continually asking questions. They got me to the correct area for a taxi.
Citt bid me goodbye and sent wishes to all her friends as she shut the cab door on me. (Citt was leaving next day for Kyrgystan.) The Persians cheered as they sent me on my way.
I had a lump in my throat and an overwhelming urge to cry as we travelled on the road to the airport.
My mind was racing full of faces and places.
My mind was racing full of faces and places.
The guy on the bike at the border, a Hammam in the hostile Azerbijian border region, the houses cut from stone, the wonderous carpet Bazaar of Tabriz, honey on fresh hot crisp bread with goats cheese for breakfast, long bus rides with hospitable locals and lots of laughs. The sound of the police-man crunching the CDs containing beautiful music, our Kurds in the car taking us along with half the farm mad music blaring, the Esfahan Square with country folk riding old sulkies on a Sunday afternoon, women in black shadur swishing past mysteriously, the Christian Armenian cafes with huge meat meals and big fat cheery hosts, kebabs and more kebabs, grilled, broiled or just burnt, chicken, beef but no pork, ceramic covered mosques, citadels some still standing from biblical times, caravanserais still in use hundreds of years after the last camel train passed on the silk road. Banders, Kurds, Turkmanis, Persian, Baluchi, Jews, Turks, Assyrians and other tribes, the fish factory and our host Hojat, Arab dhows, the beautiul and hospitable family in Shiraz. Persepolis, summer palace of the Persian kings, Kerman, Moshad, and the Shahs Garden carved out of the desert, the richness of pomegranate juice over fresh salad, cold ice sweets, baklava and lucsious sesame seed Hulva, the engneering genius of the Quanut channels. Mosques, Christian churches, Synagogues, Zoastrian, Hindu temples, Shiite, Bhahi, Sunni diverse, friendly, hospitable people who made sure we would never get lost always sharing their food. Little kids loving the fun of a twisty balloon.
There is so many untruths about these people of Iran.
The truth was told early "that one never tells a Persian what to do". I do believe it!
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| Malcolm Williams-- Journeyman - blogger |
1 comment:
I reckon you found a lot more than most. Great stuff, tks.
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