Introducing Tehran
Tehran isn’t my favourite city because it isn’t the nicest city either with. It’s a concrete jungle with characterless blocks, traffic clogged with old and new Hillman Hunters (called Paykan) and sometimes stifling smog from these old technology vehicles. It has 14 million residents and 12 ski-fields, which is great for people who like skiing in winter.
Morning sightseeing
Despite the large time difference, I managed to sleep till 0700 this morning. I pottered around till 0800 and then went downstairs to check on the check-out time. It was a generous 1400 which suited me very well as I have an evening flight from Tehran to Mashhad at 1920.
I walked to Manouchehri for some fresh bread on the way to Sa’adi Metro. My first stop for the day was at Taleghani where I looked for the “Down with the USA” mural outside the former US Embassy.
The former embassy itself had many murals on the fence but I just couldn’t see the one that I was looking for. I could make out the old US crest on the old entrance even though it had been chipped away.
From here, the Americans plotted (and succeeded) in overthrowing the Prime Minister in 1953 in order to protect the Shah. It is better known as the site where American hostages were kept for over a year.
Back on the metro, I headed to Mossala for the Reza Abbasi Museum. I had to take a private taxi from the metro to the museum as I couldn’t find anyone to share with. It was an exorbitant IRR20,000 but worth it.
The museum turned out to be free. But it wasn’t quite ready for visitors at 1000 so there was a brief wait. One floor wasn’t open due to renovations. The museum specialising in pre-Islamic and Islamic art was mildly interesting.
I had better luck with the taxi this time, managing to find a shared ride for 1/10th of the previous price, to Beheshti metro. I then metro’ed to the Sarkis Cathedral where I caught mass in progress. Iran is home to many Armenians; some had escaped here to avoid Soviet rule and the Turkish genocide.
The choir in the Armenian rite church was singing and altar boys (more like men) held and jiggled some kind of disc that made noise, acting like a tambourine. [Edit: Years later I found that these are called kshots, a liturgical fan and evolved from the need to keep away dust and flies from the communion bread and wine.]
Leaving the church I found the “Down with the USA” mural by accident. It was next to the church and TOEFL centre. I was very pleased with myself. Walking back to Taleghani metro I met an Australian man and I was very proud to show him my find. He’s travelling around the region and will go to Dubai next before going to Syria.
Lunchbreak
My next metro ride took me to Khayyam where I found a restaurant of the same name. I ate a gorgeous lunch of chicken with polo rice with zereshk (barberries) and some vegetables and pickles. It was accompanied by some flavoured chunky chips. Add to that a barley yoghurt soup with lemon and some cardboardy bread. It was a little too much but being Iran, it didn’t break the bank.
I metro’ed back to Sa’adi where I had a much needed shower. It was hot but not as bad as Malaysia. The sun was fierce but once in the shade, it was much more bearable than Malaysia.
Afternoon sightseeing
I looked for the National Museum. After a few wrong turns I stumbled upon a complex of some nice old buildings being restored. Soldiers there offered me a smoke in a pipe. I declined as I don’t smoke. Then they invited me to sniff if the tobacco was “original”. A bit dodgy I’d say.
I did find the National Museum in the end. It was the usual statues, pottery, bronze etc. The price included entry to the Islamic Museum which had beautiful calligraphy on pottery, bronze etc. Yep, you can tell I’m not a museum person.
To cool off I bought a can of “beer”, alcohol-free of course. But I still felt naughty walking around Tehran holding a can of beer-like beverage. I stopped at an internet café on the way back to the hotel to call the other half in New Zealand.
Flying to Mashhad
I finally left the hotel around 1645 after a full-on day of exploration in Tehran. It was a 30 min ride to Mehrabad airport, which is kinda slow when the ride to the new airport far far away was only another 15 min More (but much pricier due to the distance).
Check-in at Iran Air was swift and manual. If you have a ticket, they take you. The airport was crowded unlike my experience a couple of years ago. We boarded a Boeing 727-200 at a remote stand. After some musical chairs with a Medicine sans Frontiers couple, I ended in seat 4E.
It’s my first time in a 727 and perhaps also my first time in a rear-engined jet. It was whisper quiet taking off and inflight. To my surprise, this antique flying machine looked very new inside. It’s a credit to the maintenance team that do such a good job despite the trade embargo.
A nice mealbox was given out with coldcuts which looked like ham. But it wouldn’t be. I chatted to my neighbour who was a lawyer. He’s a karate champ and had competed in Kota Kinabalu in my country. He recommended that I put up at the Javaheri Hotel as it was owned by his karate mate. The flight arrived in Mashhad around 2050.
Unfortunately there was no room at the Javaheri Hotel. They organised an alternative at the Abrisham Apartment Hotel. The rep from that hotel was supposed to come get me but after some waiting the Javaheri staff walked me over.
With the time difference from Malaysia, I was starting to feel tired. The hotel was a bit pricey at IRR300,000 and I was starting not to care. But I bargained it down to IRR280,000 which was quite an achievement for a non-bargainer like me. The nice room sleeps three people and had a kitchen but had a squat toilet. Rooms can be hard to find at times due to the large number of pilgrims visiting Mashhad.
The receptionist was rather surprised that I didn’t have an Iranian visa. Malaysians don’t need one.