Day one
After some difficulty getting up, we asked the hotel to call a taxi, which arrived fast.
We decided to go first to the National Museum, being relatively close to the hotel and a must see according to the Lonely Planet guide we used.
It is situated in a huge building complex, but the visitable part took only the ground floor, absolutely possible to take in.
Persian Empire at its best, gives you an idea…
Darius and Xerxes receiving tribute (ca. BC 490)
B.C., but looks just like new!
After visiting, we walked the lovely tree-lined street starting at the side of the National Museum (in the same street, there is a ceramics museum /nice building, former Egyptian embassy/ and the science museum with a few interesting objects such as an optical illusion of an upward sloping slide with a real steel ball seemingly rolling up).
Tree-lined street
At this point, we became desperate for a coffee, and tried to find a coffee shop recommended in the guidebook. It was not there, so we asked a policeman. He did not understand much English, but wanted to help very eagerly, so stopped a few passers-by and asked them. Those young people spoke English and even phoned the coffee shop for us which was closed. What a nice first encounter with the locals!
While we did not find a good coffee shop (a rarity in Iran), we walked further and found a nice little restaurant to have our first Iranian lunch.
Kebabs come with slightly baked tomatoes and you can choose to have fresh onions with them. There are ones of delicious meat slices on a spit and another variety made with minced meat. Try the “doogh”, which is a great yogurt drink (similar to the Turkish Ayran, but perhaps even nicer). The one on the picture tastes especially nice, with some spices (Dalal) mixed in.
We did not give up the quest for a coffee though, and took a taxi to the Gandhi Shopping Centre (do not imagine a large complex, rather a small strip-mall on a corner). There are just a few shops there aimed at trendy locals, and indeed, coffee. The café even had WI-FI, just a bit slow.
Walking down the road, we spotted a small car rental company (no flashy branded office, just a small room with two people sitting behind a counter, some others wandering in and out). We asked for a driver for two days, as we wanted to move around more and thought to compare this option to taking taxis. In balance, it is a bit more expensive (depending of course of how many taxis you would take), but convenient, saves time and your driver can give you a few ideas of Iran and things to see. We did not decide immediately, but after some more walking in the area, took a cab back to the hotel.
Tehran is separated from the Caspian sea by dramatic mountains to the North. It is fantastic to see such scenery from right inside a huge metropolis. Here’s the view from the rooftop “bar” (no alcohol of course) of our hotel.
Mountains North of Tehran
By the way, there is a sort of divide in Tehran, the North part seems to be richer and more orderly.
Late evening we took another stroll along a long avenue called Valiasr street. Quieter and livelier parts came one after another. We later realized that this was a very very long street connecting South and North Tehran.
We discovered a huge (five storey) furniture store and decided to check it out for an idea on what locals prefer in (North) Tehran. The place was huge with a selection of everything imaginable, quite westernised.
Furniture store in North Tehran
It was 10 PM when we left the store, and since we wandered quite far away, we decided to take a taxi back. At that time, no taxis came along Valiasr street, but we discovered that there was a sort of “manual Uber” style service in Tehran and other parts of Iran. In many places, just any vehicle with free seats would stop and offer you a ride for a price similar as you would experience in a taxi. It seemed and was safe, but taxis are better as the drivers have a better idea on where you might want to go.
enrouteiran.com 