Bandar-e Lengeh Travel Guide

...Once again I went back to the immigrations to get the paper I needed. When it was time to leave I still hadn't got my passport back, and I was told there had been a ferry to Bandar-e Lengeh just a few minutes before and that they couldn't give me the paper that day as it was Friday, so sorry you can't go! It was not what I wanted to hear but what was I going to do! But then the policeman came running and I got the paper in the end and could leave.
So, it is not easy to leave Kish by boat, even if you have a visa, and entered Iran almost two weeks before coming to Kish (Kish is different from the rest of Iran as no visa is needed for foreigners to visit).

The boat was a small speedboat and all got life jackets to wear. The journey over to Bandar-e Chrak took 45 minutes and we did not see land all the way. In Charak cars are waiting to take passengers to different destinations. I paid IR 50 000 and shared car with some others. It is 89 km to Bandar-e Lenghe from Charak and the car had air-condition. In Lenghe the car dropped me just outside the hotel.

Instead of waiting on Kish for the Sunday flight I thought it was a good idea to take the ferry to the mainland and see Bandar-e Lengeh and Busher on the way (and I would arrive to Shiras the same day as the plane). Thursday I went to the port, just to ask which time the ferry to Bandar-e Lengeh left. I had written down some words in Farsi on a paper and there was a man at the terminal who knew a few words English. Well, they told me there was no ferry to Bandar-e Lengeh on Friday, but I could take a speed boat to Bandar-e Charak. Then a policeman came and he wanted to see my passport. I had it at the hotel, but had copies of the passport and the visa. He took me to another part of the building, asking if I was travelling to Lengeh without passport. I tried to explain I just came to the port to ask for the timetable. After a while he understood and I left.

Next morning I came to the port at 9 o'clock. When I wanted to by a ticket they told me I had to go to the immigrations first (even if I had a visa and had not left Iran). At immigrations they asked for my ticket, which I hadn't got. They walked around with my passport for 15 minutes, then told me to buy a ticket. At the ticket office they still didn't want to sell me the ticket, but after talking to the policeman I could buy the ticket. It was IR 38 000 and the boat was leaving as soon as there were 10 passengers. The last boat leaves at 4pm.

The text is too long so I continue in the next tip!

The day I arrived to Bandar-e Lengeh I went to the bus station to buy a bus ticket for the next morning. There was no bus before (or after) 10am I was told. As I came to the bus station the morning after I was told that the bus was leaving 10.30, and it finally left 10.40. For the ticket I had paid IR 30 000 the previous day, but just as the bus was leaving the man collecting money from the very few other passengers wanted to have IR 5000 more from me. As I showed the price on the ticket he changed it with his pen to IR 35 000. The bus was an old Mercedez bus without air-condition, but it was okay as the windows were open and I didn't sit on the sunny side.

The bus stopped only once (except when the staff filled up with water and ice) and that was for lunch. I was invited by the three staff to share their lunch in a small shop, bred, some sauce and Fanta. The man having the shop also gave me some peach drink for free as we left.

After 9,5 hours (when we were getting closer to Busher) the bus suddenly stopped and they said this was the place for me to get off. I was not prepared for this but gathered my things in a hurry, and there I was by the road, it was dark and a sign said Busher 15 km. But it was along the main road and the driver had spoken to a military man standing there before the bus took off and he stopped a minibus for me. The last passenger to get off the minibus asked some people on the street for direction to my hotel, but they couldn't answer. The driver drove to another hotel to ask and then drove me to my hotel. And he refused to take any money.

In Bandar-e Lengeh I paid IR 10 000 the first time I took a taxi to the bus station from the hotel and IR 5000 the second time.