The Persian language or Farsi as it is called in Persian, is for me the most beautiful language in the world! I don’t know why I love it so much but I do. When I first heard Iranian friends in Denmark speak it back in 2000, I just fell in love with the sound of it. Now I’m discovering it is not just a beautiful sounding language but very poetical. For example a common way to say thank you is ‘Daast e shoma dard […]
Iran
Rumi wisdom…
Listen with ears of Tolerance. See through eyes of Compassion. Speak with the language of Love ~ Rumi This mural was painted by a workawayer on the wall of the accommodation at the restaurant in Qeshm, Iran, where I workawayed (twice). Sarah C from Ireland painted this in January 2017 and chose the quote with the host Annelie… it’s another of Rumi’s wise sayings! The art reflects Southern Iran… camels, desert, and a woman in typical Bandari dress. I love it!
Money Matters Iran
I kept a record of every cent we spent in Iran, so we know how much money we spent on what. Hopefully the info below can give you a rough guide in terms of costs if you plan on travelling to Iran. There are no ATMS in Iran that accept foreign cards so you must take USD or Euros in cash and exchange them. We took USD and the rate we had in Feb & March 2016 was 1USD = 34,000 Rial. My husband and […]
Food in Iran
This is not at all a comprehensive post on Iranian food… it’s more about our experiences eating, on a budget, in Iran and a few other food related notes. Being a vegetarian meant that my consumption of Iranian food was often limited to eggplant dishes, fresh greens and salads, rice, yoghurt and bread. I was not complaining – the food overall was very good, fresh and divinely presented. Iranians make the best rice in the world too and there were many varieties of bread […]
Handicrafts in Iran
From the south to the north of Iran I met women who were designing and sewing beautiful designs on their clothing, putting me to shame as I can barely sew a button on a shirt! I saw amazing carpets everywhere & traditional things used for spinning, dying and weaving wool. This post is for my Mum & my Aunty Carolyn and anyone else out there that enjoys spinning, weaving, fabrics, handicrafts etc… On the boat to Qeshm I had a conversation with the woman […]
Getting around Iran
We found getting around Iran no problem at all. In fact the infrastructure for transport is excellent – good roads, regular comfortable buses, not so regular but certainly comfortable, cheap trains too. There are lots of taxis and opportunities for private drivers. If you don’t know any farsi it may be challenging so I recommend at least learning the numbers and some basic phrases. Flying within the country can also be a good option given the long distances between cities and availability of reasonably […]
The Amazing Aras River Valley & Babak Castle
Talk about saving the best for last… we had a real treat in our last two days in Iran. 🙂 Things didn’t go too smoothly when we arrived in Jolfa but once we got on the road exploring the Aras River Valley – first west then east of Jolfa-  we were blown away with how beautiful it was! The last destination before we left for Armenia was Babak Castle and it was incredible… our last hours in Iran were quite possibly the best!! We […]
Tabriz & Kandovan
Tabriz is rated pretty highly as a place to visit but to be honest I’m not sure what is so appealing about this city, when compared to other cities in Iran. The bar had of course been set so high after almost two months in the country, visiting cities like Esfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and Dezful which were all so fabulously interesting. Â Perhaps the cold weather and grey skies didn’t help either – there was a very dramatic drop in temperature for us, even snow […]
Outdoor Art in Tehran
No visit to Tehran is complete without a look at the former US Embassy and the dramatic anti-American images on its walls. These images, commissioned by the government, show an Iran that is sometimes represented in western media, yet one which we rarely saw evidence of. Whilst palaces, nature, ancient historical sites, deserts, hospitable people and great food contribute strongly to the impression of the country, for the tourist a place like this is also interesting to see, as the events that emerged from here […]
Tehran’s palaces
Golestan Palace When we got to Tehran Antony wasn’t feeling too flash so I set off to explore a couple of palaces on my own and left him at the hotel to recover. Â First up was Golestan Palace, in walking distance from where we stayed. I wasn’t alone for long as there was a large queue outside and some friendly locals started chatting with me in line. Later inside we were taking selfies together (of course!) before going our separate ways. There are 17 […]