Tehran Favorites

Favorite thing: There are certain countries that can obtain visas from the airport for 7 days. The list include 65 countries. The link is from the Iranian Consulate in Dubai. I got one month in the Airport. You can obtain this in all major airports in Iran

http://www.iranconsul.org.ae/newvizarul.html

Favorite thing: They dominate the roadsides in Tehran. Huge murals that take up the whole side of a building. Some are of men killed in the horrendous 10-year-long Iran-Iraq War (called in Iran The War of Iraqi Aggression).

Sad faces that stare out at you of men in uniform, with roses and butterflies, rainbows and tulips, to show that they are now in Paradise.

I wouldn't call them my favourite thing but they haunt you and you don't forget them easily.

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Favorite thing: Tehran, the capital of Iran, is not exactly a beautiful city... it's grey, made of concrete, of recent construction, polluted and full of traffic... and yet it had its perverse fascination. In particular it is a vibrant city, with a lot of museums to see and a thriving artistic scene - and many parks.

There are about 14 million inhabitants, and you would guess that each single one is out in the streets, driving his/her car - traffic is mad - the worse I have ever seen. I would never live in such a big chaotic city and yet - despite being a foreigner in iran - despite not knowing anyone except the odd fellow traveller we met here and there - in this crazy city, where we spent less than 48 hours, we ended up meeting 3 people we knew, two from Qaranagh and one from Isfahan.

On the light of these encounters - Tehran, with its 18,909 square kilometers, is the smallest capital in the world.

Favorite thing:
I found these signs inside a Metro station. Iran has a lot of rules, but if you look at theses signs you may get very concerned. It seems to be banning people, buildings, planes, trains and automobiles. It is actually a series of no smoking messages, but it does look a bit weird. Well, at least the Metro is nice and clean.

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Favorite thing: Unfortunately, David developed an angry rash the day we arrived in Tehran, but at least it meant we were able to sample the delights of the Iranian health system. Never again will I say that western health services are the best! This was Iranian ‘hospitality’ at its best.

At 06:00 I took David down to the reception of the hotel, to enquire about seeing a doctor. One of the staff hailed a taxi for us, and explained to the taxi driver where to take us. At the 24 hour emergency ward, we were immediately seen by a nurse, who took his blood pressure, pulse and temperature. As soon as she had finished, a doctor was available to see him. Whilst he was examining David, a nurse beckoned me over to the desk – there was a phone call for me: the receptionist from the hotel checking that we got there OK, that we were being seen by a doctor and if there was anything else we needed, to let him know. David was given some steroid and antihistamine tablets as well as some steroid cream. We collected the prescription and arranged for a taxi back to the hotel. We were gone for exactly an hour. Last time I attended A&E in my home town of Bristol, we were there for six hours!

The doctor we saw spoke excellent English, and suggested that David would benefit from seeing a specialist, and arranged for an appointment – at 14:00 that same day! In Bristol you would be lucky to be able to see a consultant the same year, let alone the same day!

The whole process, including a general doctor, a specialist and three lots of medicines, cost us around $10. We were extremely impressed with the medical service in Iran, and very relived when David’s rash got better after a few days. He never did find out exactly what it was, all the doctor could say was a severe allergic reaction. We’ll never know what he reacted to.

Favorite thing: Primero , if you are in Iran for tourism, don't waste your time in Tehran, other historical cities such as Isfahan and Shiraz are worth seeing
secundo, try to get a map of Tehran before getting there, it is so difficult to find one in English.
and if you only have a few days in Tehran, visit the ' Bazaar' which is divided in sections, the gold and Persian rug sections are a must....its unbelievable...( you can take the metro to get there)...
You can't not see and eat at Darband, a hang-out place with many traditionnal restaurants besides cascades at evening ...in north of Tehran ( take a taxi from Tajrish or anywhere)
The Jamshidieh park is another ' coup de coeur' you walk up around 600-700 stairs ...and you have different regional restaurant at different levels ( turkish, kurdish, etc)...once more, you need to get a cab.
The old palaces / museums are nice....don't expect a Versaille though.
whatever you do, just don't drive ;-)
hope you'll enjoy your trip

Favorite thing: just hire a taxi. its cheap and very efficient if you are atourist..they charge hourly and the rate is no more than 3 USD....
so usin a taxi for a whole day is like 24 bucks.!!.
And they wait you untill you are done...

Fondest memory: cheap fuel.. PEIKAN cars :) and the crazy motorcylists...

Favorite thing: More murals -this time of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and other religious leaders. This custom of portraying their leaders in this way comes as a surpise in such a emphatically Islamic state. But there they are, some stern, some benevolent, on the sides of buildings and on huge billboards around the city.