Tehran Off The Beaten Path

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Bonyad-e Neyshaboor established in 1980 by Prof. Fereydoon Joneidi the Iranologist & Linguist.

Bonyad-e Neyshaboor works on Shahname & Iranian history & languages.

Shahname reading sessions are held on 5 pm ,Saturdays.

Pahlavi Persian Language courses are starts at October.

Bonyad-e Neyshaboor also hold valuable library.

address: no 4, Jalalieh st., Keshavarz blvd.

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Park-e Laleh (formerly called Park-e Farah) is one of the 800 parks in Tehran, established in 1966, provides pathways for walking and shade for picnics and relaxation.
Around the park are some popular coffee shops, fast-food outlets, and shopping centers and designer boutiques.

Iran's National Rug museum is in the northwest & the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in the west, Laleh Hotel in the north.

Located at Keshavarz Blvd. between Hejab junction & Kargar junction.

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Darband is a very popular hiking trail into the Alborz mountain Tochal, in the north of Tehran & north side of Saad Abad palace.
A chair lift is also available for those not interested in hiking.

The Darband means closed gates

The initial start of the trail at Darband is about 250 metres long and is dotted with a number of small cafes and restaurants. These are quite popular and are busy in the evenings, as locals and tourists alike visit the many hooka lounges (locally called ghavekhane sonnati) along the trail.

Darband can be reached by bus from Tajrish Sq.

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DarAbaad is Mountain Resort in the northeast of Tehran.
Many people use Darabad as the starting point for hiking the southern slopes of Alborz, especially in the summer.

Nature and Wildlife Museum of Iran is located in area.

DarAbad can be reached by bus from Tajrish Sq.

Emamzadeh Zeinali & Einali is small Emamzadeh & small cemetery located among beautifull garden in north east of Tehan.

Emamzadeh means Imam-born, refers to an immediate descendant of a Shi'a Imam.
The word is also used to refer to a shrine that is specific to Shi'a Islam and in which the Emamzadeh is buried.

Address: Pone 3 alley, Ponak Blvd., Ashrafi Esfahani

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Firouzkouh, is a city that is located in north-eastern region of Tehran Province ,in the middle of Alborz Mountains.One of its natural attractions is Tange vashi. A great place in the middle of mountains.
Actually the best time to visit this place is the summer...other times it's freezing. There is no place to stay at night...but there are some parts for camping and stuff. Most people don't stay the night there...because you can visit the place very well within a day, that would be enough, morning till evening!
You can participate in tours to visit this place. When u get there,u'll see really tall and amazing mountains around u, they have srounded u all the way, and there is water in the middle...so u have to walk all the way between them in the water and small rocks under ur feet... so u have to wear suitable shoes. In some parts the water will be around ur waist...although u'll get really tired in the end,u'll really enjoy this walk and also it's funny. cuz that place is crowded most of the times and it's fun to see peopl around u, they scream they laugh, they fall in to the water.In the middle of the way there is great beautiful plain, that u can have rest and enjoy the view and then go on .
You can see other pics of Tange Vashi in the personal album.

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The Imam Khomeini Shrine is sited halfway from Tehran city centre and the Imam Khomeini airport.

The fastest way to arrive there is taking the metro to the Haram-e Motahar station; the price is definitely cheap, only 650 rand.

The building, still under construction, is imponent but it's not beatiful by any means, The four golden painted minarets reach a height of 91 metres, like the age of Khomeini when he died, while the dome has painted 72 tulips, which represent the 72 martyrs who died with Imam Hossein in Kerbala.

Outside you will see some people making picnic in the gardens in front of the Shrine, since this is a place of pilgrimage and a lot of pilgrims come from far away. There are some shops in the left part of the building but they don't offer anything interesting so avoid them.

Non-muslim can enter without a problem.
Bags are not allowed inside, but I had my mp3 player with me and the guards asked me to show it, but they were more curious than afraid and they let me enter with it. Cameras are allowed.

I was surprised by the fact I expected a lot more people in the shrine, instead inside there were no more than fifty persons.
The women have a different entrance and they can mourn the Imam in their zone, which is separated by a banister.
As used, the people pray and kiss the cell where is situated the coffin of Khomeini and a smaller one situated on the left which is the coffin of his son. In front of the coffins there are the pictures of the two ayatollahs, but you can see them even better looking up at the banner hanging from the roof, in which you can see from up to down, Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, Imam Khamenei and Ahmed Khomeini.
Many people put an offer inside the cell as you can see in the picture. You can take photos of the cell too.

The Shrine is just one kilometer away from Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, which deserve a visit as well.

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Behesht-e Zahra cemetery is just one kilometer away from Imam Khomeini Shrine, I took a taxy to get there but if it's not too hot it's an easy walk.

This is the place were rest in peace 200000 souls of the Iran-Iraq war, making it the biggest cemetery of that war.
Arriving from the Khomeini Shrine you will see first the civil cemetery of Tehran, then, after the poster of a dead by during the war, the Iran-Iraq war cemetery starts.
This is different from the other one because most of the tombs have a sort of reliquary where you can see some object of the dead like a book, a clock or a picture of one of the Imams; you will see plenty of Iran flags hanging from the reliquaries. It was touching indeed to see those pictures and those little things.
Some of these martyrs were really young when they died, most of them being members of the Basij corp, the infamous fanatics of the islamic revolution.

At the end of the cemetery there was a building and in front of it there were a partially destructed vehicle and a tank from the Iran-Iraq war. From the building I heard coming an ipnotic song which later I recognized as a sort of pray to the martyrdom of Imam Hossein.
It was definitely a grim atmosphere, especially because I didn't see many people visiting the tombs.