After 5 days in Esfahan, we waved good-bye to the most generous couple we’ve ever met in our lives. Just hours later the wheels of the plane were lifting off and we were flying to Tabriz (that’s right we flew… only $40 each!). We arrived around midnight and took a taxi to our hotel where we checked in and passed out.
Prepare For Tabriz!
As the end to our amazing adventure was growing near, we were less interested in “seeing the sights” and more interested in just enjoying the little things in life that make travel so wonderful. We slowly sauntered around the central bazaar (the largest covered bazaar in the world), and did a little bit of Christmas shopping and hard-core bargaining.
This Rug Is Worth US$20,000!
We met an overexcited guide from the Tabriz Tourist Information Office and he set us up with a driver to head out to Kandovan, a cave village known as Iran’s Capadoccia.
Canada Will Look Worse When We Go Home!
We met our driver and headed out on the road. The drive to Kandovan was almost as beautiful as the village itself, with the highway winding through hills and desert valleys. As we approached the little town we could see a small skiff of snow on the mountains in the backdrop not very far from where we were! Winter is approaching Iran and our walk around Kandovan was a chilly one.
Cave House In Kandovan
During our time in Tabriz we didn’t get up to too much. We did the one day trip to the Cave Village and after that we just wandered around the town and enjoyed our last Date Milkshake before hopping on an overnight train to Tehran, Iran’s bustling capital.
Date Milkshakes… How We Will Miss You!
We arrived in Tehran early in the morning and checked into our beautiful hotel, Golestan. Our room was very nice with a beautiful view of the Damavand and Alborz mountains that fringe the chaotic capital. We figured we were pretty lucky to see as far as the mountains in one of the most polluted cities on earth so we immediately went out on the town to enjoy the clear sunny weather.
We headed out for lunch and then on to the American Embassy, the site of the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Today, the building is not only a “den of espionage” but it is now also home to some pretty impressive anti-American graffiti. We snapped a couple of photos to show here but we had to be careful because these pictures are technically illegal (you see the risks we take running Goats On The Road?).
After the Embassy we headed over to the National Jewel Museum which houses a bewildering collection of jewlery from the previous Shahs (Iranian kings). There were countless rubies, diamonds and emeralds set in the strangest assortment of everyday devices. One king had his horses laden in diamonds, even the ring on the horses tail was covered in precious gems. You know you’re rich when you can let your horse shit on some of your jewels!
Preparing To Go To London… Back To The “Real World” Soon.
Our time in Tehran came to an end and with it the end to this amazing adventure. We had travelled from China to Iran, through Central Asia on on of the most epic overland journeys the world has to offer. We “slept” in the airport the night before our flight and as the plane lifted off, we were too tired to realize how profound this trip had been, but we knew it was over as we fell asleep. Our true feelings about the trip didn’t surface until we returned to Canada. More about that later…
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