A stopover in Dubai

Going by Emirates gives an opportunity to visit Dubai too. It is worth it :). DXB is a nice airport, but if you stopover lasts like 8 hours, you will get bored anyway.

DXB :)

In April this years the citiziens of EU got the chance to enter the territory of UAE without the visas, which is great since the visas were a bit expensive before.

The most iconic place in Dubai is the Burj Khalifa. It is worth to see, but it's important to remember to book the tickets in advance online, especially on Fridays/weekends. Otherwise it costs an arm and a leg.

Hotels in Esfahan and Tehran

We've got to see 3 hotels in Iran. I think I'd just copy my reviews from Trip Advisor and add some futher comments)


Safavi Hotel in Esfahan:
We arrived there by accident after bad experiences with another hotel in Esfahan. They welcomed us warmly anyway and we could enter the room at last. The staff was really nice, not all of them speak English, but it wasn't a problem (there's one lady who speaks excellent English, so you just need to head to her). They helped us whenever we needed, booked us the bus ticked, called the taxi etc. 
Rooms were spacious and nice, wifi free (though you needed to go down to get a piece of paper with 30-minutes password), breakfast included (not bad, bread, Iranian bread, jams, eggs, scrambled eggs, ham, cheese...). 
European bathrooms, if you count it as an advantage. (Ok, maybe not THAT European, but at least had normal toilets, not a hole in the ground)

And the most important thing- the location. You can go by foot to all the amazing places in Esfahan. 
Next to the hotel there's a grocery, and the hotel has a restaurant itself (It wasn't the best though, but if you're hungry it's enough :D).

Dibai house, Esfahan:
We have reserved the hotel with advance (about two weeks), and noticed the owner that we would arrive at early morning (it was about 6 AM, but we waited on the train station a bit before going to the city). We were assured that it is ok and we can call anytime. So we did, but nobody picked up the phone. After struggling to find the hotel for about 30 minutes, we were ringing the door , but nobody has opened . We were wandering around , which was scary. The Dibai House is in really terrible, deserted location, with half of builings around being demolished. Some strange people were hanging out there. 
The owner of the hotel didn't call us back, and we didn't know what to do. I understand if she was asleep or anything, but I guess it is rude since she didn't even call us back.
I do not recommend .

Atlas hotel, Tehran:
If you are used to sleep in 5* hotels, you will not like it I guess. 
We stayed in Atlas twice. We arrived about 7 AM , but the staffs gave us a room anyway, and didn't charge us for an extra night. Most of them speak English very well. Male staffs were extremly friendly and helpful, but women working there seemed like it's their punishment to work there. If possible, always talk to any of male staff.

After we checked out, we still could have left our baggage in the hotel and go out. 

Wifi is free, but works good just in the lobby and the part of hotel with restaurant. 
If possible get the room in this building, since it's not so loud.

Rooms were confortable, not too clean though. They clean it everyday, but not too well I guess. It's an old building and it's visible. 

Breakfast is really basic, included in price. (iranian bread, jams, juice, tea)

Do and Dont's in Tehran

Probably Tehran is the first city you will arrive to in Iran, if you are going by plane. It is not the most interesting city in Iran, but you can enjoy it anyway :).

Firstly, BE CAREFUL ABOUT TAXI DRIVERS. Do ask for a price before you go anywhere, otherwise they will have a ride around Tehran and charge you like for limousine. Most of them don't know English (also, if you ask them, they will say "of course", but then it turns out that "of course" is the only thing they are able to say). Learn basic persian phrases, like telling the destination, numbers, bargaining and whatnot. It's useful and not that hard. :)

Secondly, make a plan before you go. Wandering around Tehran is not  pleasant experience, especially in the rush hour. Expect a REALLY bad traffic and pollution. Crossing the street is not an easy skill, and it may give you a heart attack. And so does walking on the pevement, since the motorbike drivers don't care , and drive there as well. And usually faster than you'd expect. I was warned that pickpocketing is a problem in Tehran, but I haven't felt endangered anyhow.
About the pollution... well if you are an asthmatic, do take a hygienic mask. Seriously, I don't have any problems with lungs, but sometimes I was choking of all this dust in the air.

Thirdly, you can skip many places in Tehran, but don't forget to go to the Museum of Jewels , the Bazaar and Azadi Tower. They're just worth visiting.

The bazaar isn't as amazing as in Esfahan, but still impressed me. Maybe you will not find all these amazing hand-made Persian things there, but you will get to see daily life of Iranians. I bought some interesting things there anyway, which I couldn't find anywhere in my country for sure. And again... they're cheap! :D

Transport in Iran

Generally there are three ways of transport between cities- bus, train and plane. We have chosen bus and train, and both were fine.
Transport is generally cheap (they've got a petrol, right? :)). From what we heard, a plane is about 40USD. For both train and bus we paid not more than 5 USD. At first I was more favorable to the train , since I saw how Iranians drive, but now I'd rather recommend a bus.

The train.
The train was just fine. We've chosen "the first class" , which was a simple carriage with couchettes. Not sure if the air conditioning was there, it wasn't unbearably hot, but not cool either. It was possible to sleep there anyway (I slept like a child. But don't forget to drink a lot, I woke up completely dehydrated).
It is also a great opportunity to talk to Iranians, they are so talkative and communicative.
Also, there's a restaurant compartment and water in every compartment.
Oh, and Persian restrooms of course. Not in the best condition. Not at all .
Ah, and the strange thing about the tickets. You can't buy them on the train station , you must go to a travel agency. But it's not far at least :)

The bus
Take the "VIP" buses. They're air-conditionned, with really confortable seats, which you can set in horizontal position. Literally! Also you'll be able to get some snacks and cold water all the time. We had one stop, in the middle of the desert, next to Qom. Really scruffy place, don't eat anything there. :)

Visa

Iranian visa is not that hard to get as you may suppose. At least as long as you're not in an "enemy" country. But  even if, it's still possible to get it.

Before you go to embassy or send them any documents, I advice to apply for a visa in KEY2PERSIA. It's a travel agency that helped me to get the visa- by giving me a verification code. It costs 30 Euro and is worth it, trust me.
There are also other agencies, but I can't say whether they are good or not. I recommend key2persia, even if sometimes it took them some time to reply my emails. Ms Zahra, whom I contacted was really nice and helpful , and I got my code after 3 days (which is fast, since I was informed it might take up to 10 days). Don't forget to add the scan of your passport to the application.

Onca you have a verification code, you can bring/send your documents to the embassy. The visa costs 50 dollars, at least in my country. Attach two passport photo and a copy of your travel insurance.

I received my visa after 5 days, but be prepared that it might take longer.

Good luck :)

Iran part I - a plane + before you decide to go...

I think Iran is not a common destination for tourists. I decided to give it a try.
I want to share my experience with you, in a case you needed some info . I will update my blog and I hope to enclose all the information- hotels, taxi, food etc.


Firstly, remember that Iran is an Islamic Republic. What does it mean for you?
Well, you will not be able to drink alcohol. No, not even beer. And no, no night clubs. You can go to one of illegal parties, they're really popular as far as I know. But really, do you go to Iran to PARTY?

As for a beer, you can buy non-alcoholic Iranian equivalent:

But I do not recommend it . As long as you don't like kvass. It tastes like kvass . 

For a woman, going to Iran means wearing kind of hijab. Before you say NO-NO and imagine a woman in burqa, take a quick look at http://manteausdaily.wordpress.com/ to see what the Iranian hijab really is. 

:)

To go to Iran I have chosen Emirates airline. You can get to Tehran from loads of cities with a stopover in Dubai. It's an expensive option though. At first I wanted to choose Pegasus, but I met someone working there who dissuaded me this idea. But if you don't want to spend half of your budget, then Pegasus seems like a good option. Just try to make your connection time longer that 2 hours. Otherwise your baggage might have a forced stay in Istambul. 

I think it's easy to get to Tehran from most of Asian countries.

I am personally going from Hamburg- as I told, with Emirates.

If you live close to Moscow , you can choose Aeroflot. Other options are:

- Tyrolean Airways from Vienna (about 680,31 € round trip )

- Belavia from Minsk (about EUR: 432,81)

- Gulf Air via Bahrain from Paris, Athens, London, Istanbul or Larnaca  (I can't check the price tho)

- Lufthansa from Frankfurt (500 Euro to 700 Euro)

- Qatar Airways from any city via Doha (about 600 euro)

- Turkish airlines by Ankara

- Oman Air via Muscat

- Mahan Air from Dusseldorf

- Iran Air from Amsterdam, London, Vienna, Milan