day 376 – my train to tabriz was in the evening, so i had a full day left in tehran. the hotel was nice and let me stay in my room until late. i decided to use the day to actually see some of tehran. i’d been hoping to see the sights of tehran with the friends from chess.com, but since they were unavailable i wanted to see as much as i could before my evening train.
i got a taxi across town to azadi tower, tehran’s famous monument. it was a nice tower and i enjoyed looking around. i considered going up the tower but didn’t feel like it. i then went back to the other side of town to visit the palace (which was now a government building). i walked around the streets and saw a few small mosques. on my way back to the hotel i stumbled across a camera street. most of the stores were the usual camera crap, but one store was filled with leicas and hasselblads. i stopped for a look and talked to the owner. it was a damn nice store. one mint hassleblad medium format was $4000!
i checked out, grabbed a taxi to the train station and got my train to tabriz. this time the train was even nicer than the last one. we were only four to a compartment and had plenty of space. there was food, tea, fruit and dinner (fantastic chicken and rice). i couldn’t really talk to the others in my companion, but they were very friendly and tried to make me feel comfortable. i relaxed and slept well.
day 377 – i arrived in tabriz early. the old man from my compartment offered (translated by a lady in the next compartment) to let me stay at his house. i was flattered, but declined his offer. i headed out and got a taxi into town.
the mustafa story: i got a pre-paid taxi and told the driver the name of my hotel. the driver seemed friendly, introduced himself as mustafa, and we sped off in the direction of town. suddenly, far sooner than i had expected, the taxi stopped and mustafa announced that we’d arrived. what? i’d paid for a taxi i didn’t need. it was about a kilometer from the station and i could have walked. i was a bit miffed, feeling that i’d been ripped off.
i got out of the taxi and entered the hotel. the man at the reception told me the price and it was double what i’d been expecting. when he saw my surprise, he told me that there were two hotels with the same name and perhaps i’d come to the wrong one. the other hotel was much further away, in the centre of town, and would require another taxi.
thinking fast, i considered my options. another taxi driver had been lurking around hoping to make a little business. suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the door. i looked around and it was mustafa. he’d returned and was apologising profusely. we left the hotel and got into the taxi. mustafa explained that he called the pre-paid taxi booth and they told him it was the wrong hotel. he drove back to get me and take me to the right hotel.
he kept apologising but, relieved, i laughed and thanked him for coming back. we arrived in town and mustafa told me that the street was one way only … traveling in the opposite direction. he turned the car around so that it was facing the same way as the traffic, then reversed along the entire street, stopping right in front of the hotel. it was hilarious. rather than go around the block, rather than just pull over and make me walk, he went up the street backwards to avoid a ticket and drop me right at the door of my hotel.
the mustafa story: surreal, brilliant, and the epitome of persian hospitality!
ironically, i didn’t stay at that hotel. i found a cheaper one around the corner, but mustafa had already left and wouldn’t know. i was still grateful though for his incredibly kind gesture.
i had a small sleep in my room and then went for a very long walk around the streets of tabriz. i wandered into the bazaar and almost couldn’t find my way out. i bought some dried dates (which the shopkeeper tried to give me for free) and headed back to the hotel. i checked email, downloaded some songs, watched a movie, and slept.
day 378 – i had breakfast and hit the town for some sight seeing. the first stop was the poet’s mausoleum, which was very nice, and i took a few good photos. then i went to a small qu’ran museum. after that i walked around the bazaar looking for pens and razors. to my surprise, the stationary store owner spoke excellent english. i talked with him for a litttle while and ventured off in search of a chess board. the handicraft stores were shut and i couldn’t find a decent board, so i gave up the search.
i did a whole lot more walking, looked for a bookstore which might sell guidebooks, and gave up after a futile search. i was a bit tired from all the walking so i headed back to the hotel and packed. i had some tea and slept.
day 379 – my last day of solo travel – the border crossing between iran and turkey is not a simple journey. i caught a city bus to the terminal and then another bus for the four hour ride to makoo. from makoo there are no buses to the border (which was still 15kms away) so i had to get a taxi, which was surprisingly cheap. about a kilometer from the border no vehicles were permitted, so i had to get another ‘special’ taxi to the border post. it was ridiculous switching from vehicle to vehicle all the time … but thankfully it wasn’t expensive.
i exited iran, after waiting for the border official to scrutinise my passport and then take it to show his superiors, and walked 30 meters across to turkey. on the turkish side things were very disorganised. i had to buy a visa stamp ($20) but the office was not signed and hard to find. frustrated, one of the border officials helped me out, i got the stamp and entered turkey. i walked down the hill to the highway where a minibus was waiting to take me to dogubayazit.
when i got off the minibus, christina was literally right there, coincidentally walking along the street. we walked around town and found a hotel, then got some food. we returned to the hotel, got busy, and then watched some tv and checked email using the hotel’s free wifi.
day 380 – i had sheep stomach soup for breakfast which was not delicious but not terrible. i wouldn’t have ordered it if i’d known what it was, but i still ate it … it wasn’t too bad actually. we packed, checked out and got a bus to the city of van. the bus ride was a little slow, so when we arrived it was late in the afternoon. we looked around the stores for a guidebook but had no luck finding one. instead, i researched our next few destinations at an internet cafe. then we went back to the hotel, watched the movie ‘up’ (christina fell asleep) and i went to bed too.
