Above: At Mehrabad Airport.
I had breakfast with Ada; we drank lots of tea and chatted for a while. It’s funny that I’ve taken an instant liking to her, Jan and the others. We’re so like-minded. Like I said, the more “strange” the destination, the more you’re gonna find in common with the travellers you run into.
Around 1030 I took a taxi to the airport, after settling my bill with the hotel. They seemed to have undercharged me but I didn’t protest since they had been rather disinterested. I notice women at the mosque were throwing keys down to men as part of a matchmaking process
At the airport, I was the first to check-in for the 1215 flight to Tehran Mehrabad. I had less than 4h transit there before my 1715 flight to Rasht in the north-west of the country, near the Caspian Sea.
My second flight of the day, to Rasht, was also operated by a Fokker F100. It looked brand new even though production ended 8 years ago. The ex-Brazilian aircraft had contradictory safety stickers: some said life jackets were under the seats while others said to use the seat cushion. There were no life jackets underneath when I checked, which is fine for domestic Iran. In fact, Air New Zealand Boeing 737-200 didn’t carry life jackets on domestic flights in the past.
Despite leaving late, we arrived on time at Rasht at 1850. I took a taxi to Keyvan Hotel where there was a room available. I went out in search of dinner. There weren’t many choices so I settled for the tried-and-tested chicken kebab with bread, which came with blackened (grilled) tomatoes.
I followed up with an ice-cream, bought some water and fruit before calling in at an internet café briefly. I called it a day and retired early for the night.