Articles from this Category
20 September 2005
Leaving Mashhad It was a short and interrupted night sleep. I woke at 0515 and showered. Prayers at the mosque were on and it was busy. I settled my bill with the hotel and was pleasantly surprised that it was less than expected, partially because I didn’t take breakfast today. I got to the airport […]
19 September 2005
Above: Imam Reza’s shrine takes up quite an expansive area, as you can see from the two photos stitched up above. I felt shattered today and slept till 0800. I decided to have the day off. I couldn’t handle another day of long bus trips especially if the sights were only so so. I took […]
18 September 2005
With a little bit of Malaysian time in my system, I woke up early at 0630 and was downstairs for a delicious breakfast at 0730. Crunchy cucumber, ripe red tomatoes, thick yoghurt, cheeses, bread, eggs, omelette and boring cornflakes. My plan today was to do a daytrip to Torbat-e Jam. I took a taxi to […]
17 September 2005
Above: View of Imam Reza Shrine by night, from my new hotel room at Razavieh Hotel. About Mashhad The holy city of Mashhad is home to 6 million people, saffron and the Coca Cola factory. Yes, Coca Cola Iran trade embargo notwithstanding. It is in the far east of the country, near the Turkmenistan and Afghanistan border. […]
16 September 2005
Introducing Tehran Tehran isn’t my favourite city because it isn’t the nicest city either with. It’s a concrete jungle with characterless blocks, traffic clogged with old and new Hillman Hunters (called Paykan) and sometimes stifling smog from these old technology vehicles. It has 14 million residents and 12 ski-fields, which is great for people who […]
15 September 2005
Above: Old phone in my room at the Naderi Hotel in Tehran. Leaving Singapore I woke around 0130 and dozed till 0500. My aunt insisted that I have some breakfast so I had a peanut butter sandwich before taxiing to the airport around 0540. The check-in desk for my 0745 flight to Doha was deserted. […]
28 October 2004
Above: Our camp at Jabal Rum in the morning. We had breakfast at our Jabal Rum camp around 0700. It was the usual Middle Eastern breakfast which I love, consisting of tomato, cucumber and cheeses. The hot pita bread was a bonus! After breakfast, we made our way to Aqaba, adopting two hitchhikers, one […]
27 October 2004
Setting off Today we head to Wadi Rum for a night in the desert, something Fiona particularly wanted to experience. We had absolutely no hurry today and took breakfast at a leisurely pace at 0900. Kim’s tummy played up this morning while mine yesterday afternoon. And Pat’s yesterday morning. On the other hand, Fiona had […]
26 October 2004
The Siq We woke at 0545 for breakfast at 0630, in preparation for our big day at Petra, the Rose Red City. We were at the visitor centre at 0730 to commence our walk through the Siq to Petra. Before we entered the Siq, Pat and Fiona said this wasn’t anything like what they had […]
25 October 2004
Above: Petra by Night. Lanterns in front of the Treasury (the pillars of which are seen in the background). Leaving Madaba We paid and checked-out from the Black Iris Hotel in Madaba. We had a nice chat to the owners. Their son studies in Switzerland (presumably in hotel management) and has an Indonesian Chinese girlfriend. […]