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Jottings on a trip to Iran
Posted by
MikeP
,
24 June 2012
(Very disjointed, I put this together from various emails I sent whilst I was there!)
Nothing here is as bad as you hear from outside, not even the hectic traffic! I haven’t seen one woman wearing the full niqab covering the entire face – you can see more like that in Crawley or High Wycombe than here – but they all keep their heads covered. Many are fashionably and smartly dressed. I was surprised to turn on the TV in my room and find BBC World News and CNN, which is odd as the websites are blocked.
An interesting taxi ride through the seething traffic, with a one eyed driver who got lost on the way to the Homa Hotel, which is about as much of a landmark here as Marble Arch in London so I wondered how much he could see. However his taxi didn’t have a mark on it and he seemed to be able to squeeze his car at high speed through gaps in the traffic before they even appeared. Maybe there is a God! I don’t understand how they get so close to the other cars without actually hitting them.
Today started off with the taxi driver getting lost on the way to the office. After 20 minutes we’d gone in a huge circle and ended up less than a mile from the hotel. I had no idea what he was trying to tell me as he only spoke Farsi, but I had to direct him across Tehran in rush hour traffic by pointing. They just cut straight across 6 lanes of speeding traffic to change direction. My hair will be white when I get back but I’ll never complain about French, Spanish, or Italian drivers again (had to get those digs in!).
No internet for the first hour, and very slow for most of the day, this is a prelude to tomorrow as the internet will be cut off because there are going to be street protests against the high cost of living here. (It is expensive, last night I paid 226,000 IRR which is nearly £14 for a very ordinary small kebab and rice and a fruit juice). I wasn’t not sure if this story of the demos is a story or true, but they say it will be in the centre of town which is nowhere near where we are. There is definitely a rumour going round as someone else mentioned it to me.
DAY 4
A milestone. First the taxi driver didn’t get lost this morning after having practised on the two previous days. I have finally grasped the art of driving here. You have to be in the wrong lane for whatever your next movement is going to be, so when turning left you must be in the farthest right hand lane, and vice versa. Immediately before the required turning place, you put your indicator on and you turn. It’s so simple I can’t believe that the backward drivers in other places haven’t thought of this (Cape Town k-taxis being the notable exception). The fact that there may be 12 lanes of traffic between you and the target turn-off is quite irrelevant, you simply ignore that fact and squeeze through the gaps, as they are probably doing the same thing in the opposite direction. The remarkable thing is that you see Mercs and Landcruisers and so on, all totally unscathed, doing the same. This morning most of the cars had snow on them and the drivers were just peering through holes they’d cleared in the front window. Obviously having restricted vision is an asset when driving here, I now understand why I was quite safe with the one-eyed driver. I will not be surprised if my next taxi driver has a white stick or a guide dog.
The demonstrations that were supposed to have taken place were cancelled due to the snow and rain but apparently are re-scheduled for tomorrow, unless it rains again .....!
I am, briefly, a millionaire, as I changed £100 this morning and got 1,830,000 Riyals. One of my colleagues did it for me, I would have got a mere 1,670,000 if I’d done it myself, a difference of 10%.
Although the BBC website is blocked, the BBC News TV channel isn’t and I was amused to see that Muammar Gaddafi said : “My people love me”. I think a couple of important words were left out ..... “My people would love to kill me” is what was meant!
Must go, off to the strip clubs and pole dancing bars. Difficult to choose as there are so many, and of course with the bars on every corner there are plenty of distractions.
Today is the weekend here. I was going to go up into the mountains to see the snow but it started snowing heavily last night after a few flakes during the day, and this morning the whole town is covered in thick snow, so I decided to stay put as the snow has come to me. It’s still snowing now at 1530 local time.
A taxi I took was a rusting hulk held together by paint. There was a plank over a hole in footwell, through which the exhaust pipe, spewing fumes from a leaking joint, could be clearly seen, heard, and smelt. Underneath was just the road.
Last night I was taken out for dinner by one of the people I’m working with and his wife, very nice couple, educated young people who both speak perfect English, are highly educated, and like so many are leaving the country because they see no future. We went to a lovely semi traditional Iranian restaurant, but 9 out of 10 dishes on the menu were lamb, so for a change I had to have chicken for the 999th time since being here! The reality of this country is quite different to the crap you read in the press, but there are a lot of restrictions. At least when you walk around at night though you know you’re not going to be approached and harassed by drunks and beggars.
I have to say that although this has been in interesting assignment, it’s been very hard work and despite the warmth and hospitality of the people here, it’s dull here and the city is a bit of a dump. The only TV stations are in Farsi and even the locals say they are dire, otherwise there’s BBC World, CNN, and Al Jazheera in English, they are all repetitive and dull but AJ is the least bad of the three. There are no cinemas showing Western films other than a few very heavily censored ones. The websites for most of the Western press are blocked.
In the old days of the Shah this place was a paradise, and a preferred night stop for PanAm crews who enjoyed non-stop partying. Now of course alcohol is forbidden (but attainable if you know how), but the other restrictions one reads so much about are no worse than anywhere else.
The work ethic of the people is impressive, truly hard-working and keen to learn, however we had a problem with cheating during the qualifying exam, but that type of behaviour is well-known closer to home, and when confronted about it, they confessed and showed considerable shame!
The night before I left, I was taken out to a splendid dinner at a traditional Iranian restaurant and showered with gifts and gratitude. A most rewarding and interesting trip.
Nothing here is as bad as you hear from outside, not even the hectic traffic! I haven’t seen one woman wearing the full niqab covering the entire face – you can see more like that in Crawley or High Wycombe than here – but they all keep their heads covered. Many are fashionably and smartly dressed. I was surprised to turn on the TV in my room and find BBC World News and CNN, which is odd as the websites are blocked.
An interesting taxi ride through the seething traffic, with a one eyed driver who got lost on the way to the Homa Hotel, which is about as much of a landmark here as Marble Arch in London so I wondered how much he could see. However his taxi didn’t have a mark on it and he seemed to be able to squeeze his car at high speed through gaps in the traffic before they even appeared. Maybe there is a God! I don’t understand how they get so close to the other cars without actually hitting them.
Today started off with the taxi driver getting lost on the way to the office. After 20 minutes we’d gone in a huge circle and ended up less than a mile from the hotel. I had no idea what he was trying to tell me as he only spoke Farsi, but I had to direct him across Tehran in rush hour traffic by pointing. They just cut straight across 6 lanes of speeding traffic to change direction. My hair will be white when I get back but I’ll never complain about French, Spanish, or Italian drivers again (had to get those digs in!).
No internet for the first hour, and very slow for most of the day, this is a prelude to tomorrow as the internet will be cut off because there are going to be street protests against the high cost of living here. (It is expensive, last night I paid 226,000 IRR which is nearly £14 for a very ordinary small kebab and rice and a fruit juice). I wasn’t not sure if this story of the demos is a story or true, but they say it will be in the centre of town which is nowhere near where we are. There is definitely a rumour going round as someone else mentioned it to me.
DAY 4
A milestone. First the taxi driver didn’t get lost this morning after having practised on the two previous days. I have finally grasped the art of driving here. You have to be in the wrong lane for whatever your next movement is going to be, so when turning left you must be in the farthest right hand lane, and vice versa. Immediately before the required turning place, you put your indicator on and you turn. It’s so simple I can’t believe that the backward drivers in other places haven’t thought of this (Cape Town k-taxis being the notable exception). The fact that there may be 12 lanes of traffic between you and the target turn-off is quite irrelevant, you simply ignore that fact and squeeze through the gaps, as they are probably doing the same thing in the opposite direction. The remarkable thing is that you see Mercs and Landcruisers and so on, all totally unscathed, doing the same. This morning most of the cars had snow on them and the drivers were just peering through holes they’d cleared in the front window. Obviously having restricted vision is an asset when driving here, I now understand why I was quite safe with the one-eyed driver. I will not be surprised if my next taxi driver has a white stick or a guide dog.
The demonstrations that were supposed to have taken place were cancelled due to the snow and rain but apparently are re-scheduled for tomorrow, unless it rains again .....!
I am, briefly, a millionaire, as I changed £100 this morning and got 1,830,000 Riyals. One of my colleagues did it for me, I would have got a mere 1,670,000 if I’d done it myself, a difference of 10%.
Although the BBC website is blocked, the BBC News TV channel isn’t and I was amused to see that Muammar Gaddafi said : “My people love me”. I think a couple of important words were left out ..... “My people would love to kill me” is what was meant!
Must go, off to the strip clubs and pole dancing bars. Difficult to choose as there are so many, and of course with the bars on every corner there are plenty of distractions.
Today is the weekend here. I was going to go up into the mountains to see the snow but it started snowing heavily last night after a few flakes during the day, and this morning the whole town is covered in thick snow, so I decided to stay put as the snow has come to me. It’s still snowing now at 1530 local time.
A taxi I took was a rusting hulk held together by paint. There was a plank over a hole in footwell, through which the exhaust pipe, spewing fumes from a leaking joint, could be clearly seen, heard, and smelt. Underneath was just the road.
Last night I was taken out for dinner by one of the people I’m working with and his wife, very nice couple, educated young people who both speak perfect English, are highly educated, and like so many are leaving the country because they see no future. We went to a lovely semi traditional Iranian restaurant, but 9 out of 10 dishes on the menu were lamb, so for a change I had to have chicken for the 999th time since being here! The reality of this country is quite different to the crap you read in the press, but there are a lot of restrictions. At least when you walk around at night though you know you’re not going to be approached and harassed by drunks and beggars.
I have to say that although this has been in interesting assignment, it’s been very hard work and despite the warmth and hospitality of the people here, it’s dull here and the city is a bit of a dump. The only TV stations are in Farsi and even the locals say they are dire, otherwise there’s BBC World, CNN, and Al Jazheera in English, they are all repetitive and dull but AJ is the least bad of the three. There are no cinemas showing Western films other than a few very heavily censored ones. The websites for most of the Western press are blocked.
In the old days of the Shah this place was a paradise, and a preferred night stop for PanAm crews who enjoyed non-stop partying. Now of course alcohol is forbidden (but attainable if you know how), but the other restrictions one reads so much about are no worse than anywhere else.
The work ethic of the people is impressive, truly hard-working and keen to learn, however we had a problem with cheating during the qualifying exam, but that type of behaviour is well-known closer to home, and when confronted about it, they confessed and showed considerable shame!
The night before I left, I was taken out to a splendid dinner at a traditional Iranian restaurant and showered with gifts and gratitude. A most rewarding and interesting trip.
