Hiking in Tehran

The plan was to hike at Touchal which is in the Northern part of Tehran where people can hike or ski in the winter. Keeping this blog up to date is not easy, was going to log the previous day but was risking being late so did it later. Not sure about how to blog while in Esfehan and Shiraz, maybe internet cafe or just keep a paper journal.

Met up with Mina at 7:00am, then went to Touchal. We hiked a ways up before turning back. It is a hike but it is pretty dry and hot, not like hiking in the Rockies. There were some nice roses that lined the hiking road. After hiking up a ways, we came back down and took the gondola up 2 stations where there was a restaurant/station. Sat and had some breakfast, pita bread with honey, cheese, nuts, etc. with coffee tea. After that we came back down and called the driver to come get us.

We went to Tajereesh Bazaar and had a look around for stuff to buy. Mina is looking to bring back Saffron but prices have gone up since she was there last. I bought a little jewelry box and 2 makeup mirrors. We had some pomegranate drink and I had some traditional Iranian ice cream. Trying to pick up little things from Iran. I do want to get a Hookah pipe ;-) and a small carpet yet. Mina went off to visit friends and the driver(Mohamee) and I went to see the Shah's palaces.

Apparently, nose jobs are very popular in Tehran. You can see women walking around with bandages on their noses. For muslim women it is all in the face, so rather than tatoos, piercings, the nose jobs seem to be the fashion. Mina can tell those who have had them, she also said if she stayed another month, she would get one.

Reza Shah is the Shah before the last one and Mohamed Reza Shah is the one that the Yanks and Brits put in power before the revolution. Seems like they get these shahs and whenever they aren't happy with them, they have a revolution to get them out.
The palaces were very nice, they like French furniture. Reza Shah Palace had some very intricate rooms where the whole room was covered in intricate mirror detailing. The photo above is at the entry of the Reza Shah's palace, seems smaller than his son's but higher quality and better(higher) location on the same grounds. Some guys wanted to have a picture with me because I was from Canada.

Came home, Sally got some stuff for the party tomorrow night. I actually tried some Zoolbia(Iranian desert) for the first time. I am probably one of the few people in the world who tried to make it at home without ever trying it first. So I now know what it is like. I will try and make it proper when I get home.

So I think I will try and relax tonight, tomorrow I am going to hope to see th Carpet Museum, and Tehran Museum of Contemorary Art, Park-E Laleh, and maybe the Azadi Square. Charles is also having a party in the evening.

Not sure how this blogging thing is going to continue, seems like a bit of work! Internet connections are dialup and slow here too. Facebook users beware because the site is filtered so you can't get too it in Iran. Youtube is also blocked.