Tehran Bazaar

Breakfast at the hotel consisted of eggs, thin, very light, crumbly bread, cheese, tea, and iced coffee. We planned to take the metro to Tehran's Bazaar when a man happened to offer his help. He was heading the same way for work, so before we knew it, he had bought a metro ticket for himself and one for us. We immediately offered to pay for them, but he wouldn’t hear of it. This is just another testament to the incredible hospitality and friendliness of the Iranian people. On the way to the Bazaar, he wanted to show us an old historical building. It used to serve as the parliament building. Today, some parts are a museum, while others stand empty. Tehran Bazaar covers a gigantic area with several entrances. The shops are organized by what they sell. Carpet shops are grouped together. Kitchenware is in one section. Shoe stores are in another, and so on. There are also many shops selling nuts and dried fruits. Taxis are expensive. The cheapest transportation option is the metro or your own two feet, so you can easily rack up a lot of kilometers in a day. In the metro, we often get offered a seat. Even though the car is packed and everyone wants to sit down, Iranians often point to us when a spot opens up. We’re not in Iran during the hottest months of the year, but it’s still quite warm for us to be wearing so many layers when the sun is shining. Jan can wear a T-shirt with long pants, but I have to keep my coat and scarf on at all times. As a tourist, the rules are a bit more relaxed. But since everyone is wearing long coats, I do too. The fashion here is mostly black, black, and more black. We’ve booked a flight to Shiraz, which is in southern Iran. We’re flying at 7:20 PM with Mahan Air. Looking back on Tehran, it’s a big, noisy, and hectic city filled with kind people. It’s one of the most polluted cities in the world, which we can definitely feel in our noses. The city isn’t as modern as we had imagined; it’s quite worn down. But every now and then, you stumble upon a fancy café... With 15 million people living in Tehran, the city is vast and a bit overwhelming. Things are spread out. People are incredibly attentive to us. At the airport, there was a businessman who came by every now and then to check if everything was okay. He also made sure we got to our gate in good time since all announcements over the loudspeakers were in Farsi. When we landed in Shiraz, he even checked to see if we had a hotel before he left the airport himself.