Home » Iran » Frustrations and Friendliness in Persia

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.
<br/>

Frustrations and Friendliness in Persia

Conor_purcell
2005-11-18 13:56:53

Displayed times (last time: )

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.

I had arrived in Tabriz, the first major city after the Turkish border, in mid-afternoon, an hour and a half ahead of Turkey. The border crossing had been uneventful - as a foreigner, I was whisked ahead of the hundreds of locals, and through to the other side in under 30 minutes. Rip-offs were attempted, but I'm glad to say I'm now fairly hardened against these guys. After having my minibus journey to the town of Maku paid for (my first experience of that famous Iranian hospitality), I took the four hour journey to Tabriz, and quickly settled into my hotel.

My plan was to spend about a week in the North-West of country, visiting a few mountain places slightly off the beaten track, before heading down to Iran's 'Golden Triangle' of Esfahan, Yazd and Shiraz. There's not a whole lot to do or see in Tabriz, but it's well worth staying for a visit to Kandovan, a little village of fairy-chimney houses, in the same fashion as those of Goreme back in Cappadocia. Here, the houses are more densely clustered together, accessible by steep, winding paths, and of course, there are no hotels, tour groups, etc. I spent a couple of hours wandering through the houses, and drinking tea on the far side of the river. It was quite a pleasant first full day in Iran.

But what would I do for fun? That night, I was sucked into Iran's social scene - I headed to the trendy 'Valiasr' district in east Tabriz,
and was immediately befriended by some lads of my own age. Our night on the town? Sitting in a cafe eating ice-cream, stealing glances at girls ankles (whoaaa!), before heading to a tea house for a long smoke of a qalyan. It was in the tea house that ...