Wednesday 19th October; the day our trip to Iran
with McCabe Travel begins.
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| street scene Shiraz |
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| tobacco for sale |
We have been looking forward to this with eager
anticipation for so long. The ladies of our 20 strong group have been agonizing
for weeks over what they can wear - to make sure they comply with the strict
hijab rules imposed by the
Islamic Republic of Iran. We all have our varied and
colourful headscarves, with a mix of tunic dresses, long shirts and trousers,
the idea being that arms and legs must be covered, and body contours not
accentuated in figure hugging clothes. I am comfortable in a mixture of my
sons' longer shirts and my own mid-thigh to knee length long sleeved tunic
dresses over a mixture of baggy cotton trousers I bought in Cambodia a couple
of years ago and a pair of denim jeans. Others wear Indian style tunics and
trousers in the Salwar Kameez style or similar and look smarter than any of the
rest of us. The men are lucky - short sleeved T shirts and jeans seem
acceptable everywhere - although sleeveless T shirts would not be normally
allowed in mosques for example.
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| street scene Shiraz |
British Airways have only just announced a resumption of
direct flights so we go by Turkish Airlines from Heathrow to Shiraz
with a change in Istanbul
- an overall travel time of about 10 hours. London
is three and a half ahead of Tehran.
Although the journey seems long and tedious in no way can this be blamed on
Turkish Airlines who look after us very well. The veggie option is excellent on
both planes and I enjoy watching Maggie Smith in Alan Bennett's The Lady in the
Van - an excellent film which helps while away some of the time. Coming through
customs at Shiraz airport is somewhat chaotic with little orderly queuing - but
we all get through the security here eventually, are met by our superb guide
Ali and are soon introduced to our equally splendid - and incredibly handsome
driver Mori.
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| shiraz bazaar |
Driving through the streets of Shiraz at midnight there are many pavement
shops, still very active at this late hour. We finally arrive at our hotel Homa
in Shiraz at 1
am - all incredibly travel weary - for a short sleep before being up again at
7am for breakfast, an introductory group meeting and off at 10.30 in the coach
for a city tour. And so much to see in the days ahead as we explore Shiraz before traveling Northwards over eleven days via Persepolis to Yazd, Isfahan, Kashan and Tehran, and seeing much more besides along the way.
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