"Iran" a Iran Travel Page by Sambawalk

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC. The Medes unified Iran into a kingdom in 625 BC. They were succeeded by three Iranian dynasties, the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids, which governed Iran for more than 1000 years. After centuries of foreign occupation and short-lived native dynasties, Iran was once again reunified as an independent state in 1551 by the Safavid dynasty—who promoted Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. Iran had been a monarchy ruled by a Shah, or emperor, almost without interruption from 1501 until the 1979 Iranian revolution, when Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979. I am so glad that after 13 years of dreams, I finally visited Iran for 2 weeks.

In Esfahan, Iran, a bus driver took extra miles to drive me, after dropping off all passengers, to the train terminal just because I am his friend from foreign land. Iranians are so proud of their country and make visitors welcomed by always greeting "Welcome to Iran! Welcome to my country!". Where else on earth do people care of foreign visitors, except for the time they try to make tourists money?

My trip to Iran was a continuation after my 11 days in Yemen. I flew Emirates in the following routing: Singapore - Dubai -Sana'a (11 days) - Dubai (12 hour stay) - Tehren (14 days) - Dubai - Singapore. My itinerary was as follow:

Day 1: Tehran - Kerman . (Iran Air Tehren-Kerman IR457,000) O/N Akhavan Hotel IR300,000 (after intensive bargainning) .
Day 2: Day trip to Rayan, Mahan, Joopar(Car+driver IR300,000), Kerman. (O/N bus to Shiraz IR55,000)
Day 3: Shiraz. Day trip to Pasargadae, Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab. (IR450,000 per car) O/N Anvari Hotel IR150,000.
Day 4: Shiraz. (O/N bus to Yazd IR55,000)
Day 5: Yazd. O/N Silk Road Hotel IR200,000.
Day 6: Yazd - Esfahan. (Bus IR35,000) O/N Pars Hotel IR150,000.
Day 7: Esfahan.
Day 8: Esfahan. O/N sleeper train to Tehren IR55,000)
Day 9: Tehren - Zanjan. (Train 1st class seat: IR37,000). Day trip to Soltaniyeh by minibus (IR3,000 one way). O/N Hafez Hotel IR100,000.
Day 10: Zanjan. Day trip to Takht-e-Soleiman. (IR450,000 per car)
Day 11: Zanjin - Qazvin. (Bus IR20,000) O/N Hotel Iran IR180,000.
Day 12: Qazvin. Day trip to Gazor Khan (Alamut Castle) and Lamiasar. (IR600,000 per car)
Day 13: Qazvin - Tehren. (Train 2nd class: IR6,000) O/N Hafez Hotel IR220,000.
Day 14: Tehran - Dubai- Singapore.

All prices as of May 2008. Compared to prices in previous years provided by other VTers, they go up substantially, especially the day trip car cost. This mainly due to inflation and the ration on gasoline imposed by the Iranian government since 2007.