Thursday, September 11, 2008

Last day in Esfahan

shit, shit, shit... my booze plan fell through... I thought I had it all lined up perfectly, feic sake! Anyway, I'm off to Shiraz tonite where I have to try to get some of that famous wine!

Went out for dinner and a qualyun with some folks from the hostel last night. We all got different things so as to taste everything. Really nice aubergine dishes and meat wrapped in vine leaves and kebabs and stuff like that... Then we went to a deadly little tavern for smoking waterpipes. We had two girls with us so we had to sit down the back (girls aren't usually allowed in, but they make an exception for western birds).

On that point, I forgot to tell you that when I arrived in tehran, I got a bus to my hostel with all my various bags and shit hanging out of me. I got up onto the bus at the middle entrance and put my bags down and sat down (sweat running off me). I was surrounded by all these girls who were giggling at me and all the men started shouting at me beckoning for me to come to them... I didnt know what they were ranting about and then this man came up and started pointing to the women shouting "WOO MAN, WOO MAN... no, no..." and pointing to the front of the bus. And finally the penny dropped that the buses were segregated with women sitting at the back, men at the front and that I had sat in the WOOMAN section. So I had to get all my bags on again, trapse off the bus and back on via the the front door where I sat down and was surrounded by men laughing and pointing to the back of the bus saying "WOOMAN".

Anyway, so beyond that, all is going rather well. I'm managing to keep to my budget (partially cos the Iranians won't let me pay for anything) and am eating relatively healthily. My bowels are in good working order (a rarity) and any cuts or scratches that I've got have been kept free of infection... I still have a bit of a cold and am snuffling away to myself as I type but I'm gonna go to the hammam today to sweat it out of me!

There was 6.1 earthquake in Bandar Abbas yesterday but that's miles away from me so all is hunky dorey here. I am preparing myself for a shudder though as they hit Iran very frequently. (Remember Bam in '04).

Nightbus to Shiraz tonite and then some more sightseeing malarky, particularly Persepolis.

Peace out!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Conor
Je me marre!! Your story about the WOO-MAN in the bus made a perfect laughing start for this rainy saturday in France. Just like for your last trip in South America, I think I'm quite jealous ; it's a great experience you're living!
Well, for us, everything goes well. My "extreme" experience simply consists in making Abel having his breakfast without ending with milk, orange juice or even honey in the hair... But it's not as easy as you may think!
Enjoy you Shiraz. Tonite we'll drink a good old Bourgogne à ta santé.
Bonne route mon pote!!

Babar