Esfahan is home to about 1.8 million people and is Iran’s number one tourist destination – and with good reason. It is a beautiful city and we were lucky to see it when the river was full of water (not always the case!). The first night we were there our lovely couch surf host Mohammad and his sister took us into town where we walked along the Zayandeh River admiring many different bridges, old and new. The Si-o-seh bridge (pictured below) was built between […]
Iran
Christian & Jewish sites in Iran
I was really surprised to find beautiful Christian sites on our travels in Iran plus a Jewish holy place. Iranians like to say how tolerant they have been of other religions, throughout history. This was quite new to me as the few Iranians I have met outside of Iran had escaped the country because of religious persecution. From what I understand there is quite a difference in the treatment of those who have always been Christian (e.g. Armenian minority in Iran- accepted) and Muslims […]
Singing under the bridge, Esfahan
One of the more memorable moments from our trip was hanging out under Khaju bridge in Esfahan one night, together with new German friends Reiner & Theresa, our host Mohammad and also Omid – a friend I have from the language exchange website italki. We listened to people sing all sorts of traditional Persian songs unaccompanied. It was only men singing as it is forbidden for females to sing in Iran. There were lots of people gathered all the way along the bridge and […]
Through the desert
From Yazd it is possible to do a few excellent day trips to nearby places of interest. Instead of doing this, we combined visits to these places with a longer drive into the desert past Garmeh for an overnight two day tour finishing up in our next destination- Esfahan. We took in some very cool little villages, camel riding, an overnight stay in a desert guest house, then the following day had a stop at Naiin. It was a lot of driving in the […]
Zoroastrian Sites
Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s first religions to propose the belief in an omnipotent, invisible god. It was founded in ancient Iran around 3500 years ago by the prophet Zoroaster. Although now one of the world’s smallest religions, for around 1000 years it was one of the most powerful religions in the world and an official religion in Iran from 600 BCE to 650 CE. The Arab conquest of Iran in 651 brought Islam with it and thus an end to Zoroastrian dominance. […]
Yazd, Iran
Most places we went to in Iran were above amazing, all with their own delights and highlights, so it’s hard to pick a favourite. But if I had to, Yazd would certainly be vying for the prize! For starters there was the hotel we stayed in. It was cheap; $20 USD per night for a private room, with 3 toilet shower rooms shared with one other couple and a decent free breakfast. Ok the room was not soundproof at all but we are good […]
Touchy Feely Mohammad
In our two months of travel in Iran, we had one rather unusual couchsurf host. We arrived early in the morning after a night bus ride to his city and took a taxi to the house. “Mohammad” came outside and greeted us with hugs which was slightly odd given that we’d just met and we were in Iran where, out of respect, many men won’t even shake an unrelated woman’s hand- rather place their hand on their own heart. It was around 5 in […]
Mystics, Sand Castles & Citadels.
Together with our couchsurf host Amir and the two German couchsurfers also staying with him, George & Leonie, we went on a fantastic day trip to three famous places in Kerman province: Mahan, Rayen & The Kaluts (desert). The first was Mahan, to see the Bagh-e Shahzde Gardens, built in 1873. Descriptions in the Lonely Planet say arriving here ‘is like being beamed onto a different planet… all flowing qanat water and tall green trees.’ We were, however, completely underwhelmed. The fountains which lead […]
Kerman, Iran
Kerman province in Iran’s South East had so far treated us well- with great stays in Shahr-e-babak and Rafsanjan, also Meymand Cave village. Now it was time to check out the big smoke, the city of Kerman itself. After a slow trip there followed by lovely hospitality from the driver who picked us up, we eventually got dropped off in the city at a mobile phone shop our couchsurf host, Amir, owned. His shop was in a street with lots of other mobile phone […]
18 Tips for Couchsurfing in Iran
For the first-time couchsurfer Iran will provide a wonderful introduction to couchsurfing – but quite possibly spoil you if you want to couchsurf elsewhere! For the seasoned couchsurfer Iran is a dream come true with many incredibly hospitable and interesting people wanting to host. If you have never couchsurfed before I would recommend at least a few nights doing this if you come to Iran. It is an amazing way to get to know Iranian people and something of their family life, their food, […]