OnTheRoad

So, it's been a while. A very busy while in this part of the world. I've snuck up a small horde of photos without getting in a post though, and you may have noticed red lines sneaking around the far west of Iran in the travel section, so you could tell something was up, anyway.

So take a peek at the map anyway, you can see how close we crept along that Iraqi border. Incredible terrain there, past the Takht-e Soleiman, through the Howraman Valley and onwards south to Bushehr.

I'd managed to collect Mum from the Imam Khomenei airport and introduced her to Tehran by taking her to a fancy local restaurant for a sausage sandwich, one of the fine points of Irani cuisine. Heh. Well, one of the cheap but tasty points anyway. We hung out in Tehran for a few days and then headed off towards more interesting parts of the country.

After a brief stop in Zanjan, where we were adopted by a couple of young locals and shown around, before I badgered them into locating a teahouse for us, where we sat for a happy our knocking back chai and smoking from a huge qalyan (aka sheesha, hookah, etc).

The next day saw us employ a variety of transportation techniques to get out to the Takht-e Soleiman, an ancient Zoroastrian ruin. First minibus, then hired taki, then two savaris (shared taxis) got us from Zanjan to Sanandaj via the Takht-e Soleiman and well worth the effort it was. Beautiful setting and impressive ruins made it one of the better days of my Irani leg.

Up early the following morning, we were out at the crossroads of Biya Kara looking for a ride in the morning sun. The weather had turned it on for us, and high in the mountains the air was clear and the sun was warm. After a bit of heavy negotiating, we were rescued by a local English teacher, who took us in, fed us and arranged transport through the Howraman Valley with his uncle. As a bonus, he hooked us up accommodation with his extremely hospitable sister and family in Ravansar on the other side! Thanks Naser, you made it a great day for us :)

After all this exertion we relaxed for a couple of days in Kermanshah, rainy, cold, Kermanshah. Not so much to do, but I did get some work done finally and much tea was drunk along the way as well.

From Kermanshah the destination was Shush, but getting there was inconvenient. We ended up on a night bus to Ahvaz (ah, the nightbus, my old foe, once again we meet) and then, sans sleep, jumping on a minibus back 100 or so km to Shush. Full of energy (bah) we headed almost straight out to Choqa Zanbil and Haft Tappeh (photos to come some time soon...), old elamite ruins nearby. Choqa Zanbil was very cool, and we spotted also that rare animal, the tour bus tourist, travelling in multitudes to the site; six tour busses arrived while we were there! Western tourists as well!

Quickly we pushed onwards, back to Ahvaz and down to the Persian Gulf city of Bushehr, described by one Lonely Planet reader as "resembling Grozny after the third Russian war". Parts of it were certainly true to that statement, but it was as much a good thing as a bad thing, with the small streets and crumbling local architecture actually appealing in a strange way. A few more years and people will be buying it up, gentrifying it and it'll look great.

The biggest problem down there was the heat, and it's a killer. My body is well past it's adaptation to the South East Asian clime, and I no longer feel comfortable with the temperature in the mid 30s. I guess I should get used to it though, I am planning to pass through India during monsoon season after all... I ramble, however. That's what you get here folks, a little too much stream of consciousness at times. That also accounts for the spelling mistakes.

So, up at the crack of dawn (more or less) we jumped a bus this morning and got ourselves into Shiraz. Checking into a hotel we discovered the consequences of such an early departure, as, for the first time, I had left my passport behind somewhere. Damnit. Frantic phonecalls later and the passport is now (hopefully) in the mail, en route to Shiraz to catch up with me. Fingers crossed, eh?