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There was no way around it. I was never going to find an Irish bar in Iran. In fact, I was never going to find an Iranian bar in Iran. With alcohol strictly off the menu, I was having serious doubts about the capacity for 'having fun' in Iran.
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Frustrations and Friendliness in Persia

Conor_purcell
2005-11-18 13:56:53

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/>"Eh, you know Bobby Sands?"

"Ah, yes, Bobby Sands, Bobby Sands!"

On arrival in Tehran, I was approached, then assaulted by at least 15 taxi drivers, who ignored everone else getting off the bus. I was the sucker, the rich westerner who would pay whatever they want. Now I must say, I did meet one or two straight, honest taxi guys in Tehran, but for the most part, they're all absolute scum. After asking for 100,000 Rials to take me to my hotel, I finally had one guy down to 20,000, still a rip, but I didn't care at this stage. He took me to his car, and locked my ruck-sack in the boot, and then disappeared. It was clear what was happening. In Iran, you can hire a taxi privately (which I thought I had just done), or share with four other and split the cost five ways. When he returned ten minutes later with four other Iranians, I said "Nah Dar Baste? (No closed door?", and told him I'd give him 4,000. Incredibly, he had the cheek to get pissed off with me,
even though I knew the other passengers were only paying about 2,000. I went to open the boot to get my bag, and he blocked me, and held out his hand for the money. I spat at his feet, grabbed a smallish rock off the ground, and threatened to smash his window, at which point he immediately opened the boot and gave me my bag.

Now anyone reading this at home knows that it's not like me to lose it like that - but the heat, tiredness, and the god damn principle of it overcame me. I told them all to fuck off, and decided to walk. One guy didn't give up on me, and grabbed my arm back, at which point I was ready to flip. But I was saved, as they say, by an Afghan girl, who presumably told them all where to go (they disappeared), and took me to the Metro. After paying for everything, of course, she gave me her uncles address in Kabul should I go that way.

Tehran is huge, ugly, noisy, and so polluted you can scrape the dirt off your ...