- 2014 Getting away to Middle East Dubai Iran 1 Month TripIn the past while I was reading traveling books or blogs regarding Iran I would jot down some useful information. The thought of having a trip to Iran had been in my mind for 1-2 years, I am just finding a right time to get it done.
Checking Iran Air Ticket
Thus I would search the air ticket price to Iran time by time. Far from 6 months before, I found out there is plane by China Southern Airline to Iran capital Tehran, but there are two transits – Hong Kong – Beijing – Ürümqi – Tehran. But I could not find this deal in their website and could only find it through Zuji. As I could not confirm whether I will really go in January 2014, I did not buy it and the price raised from HKD$5440 to $7xxx…So the cheap air ticket is gone. I searched again later and knew that Iran Air has flight from Beijing to Tehran. However, Beijing is far away from Hong Kong. Mahan Air also has flight to Tehran from Guangzhou or Shanghai, both way tickets including tax are RMB5675. This price is higher than what I expected as I also needed to count the price for me going to Guangzhou airport by train/bus, that will be an extra of around HKD$400.
Ship to Iran?
So I kept on searching and found out that I can take a ship from Dubai to Iran! That will be around HKD$1200 for both ways. I asked the company by email the schedule of the ship from Dubai to Iran and vice versa as I need to know if the dates match my flight schedule. Details of the ship ticketAfter confirming there are ships, I checked the air ticket for Hong Kong – Dubai and see if it will be cheaper as there are many flights to Dubai from Hong Kong. Lastly I got the Emirates air ticket for HKD$4640. Adding the price of ferry tickets it will be HKD$5840. This is what I expected to pay! So I bought the air ticket at the last day of sale.
All the rest were finding host in couchsurfing, setting up the route and time staying at each place, etc.
Even finished setting the itinerary, there were some amendments while travelling. As some places you want to stay longer all of a sudden/don’t want to go, this will make the trip more flexible and more comfort. I don’t need to rush for the plan. In fact, there are loads of photos online you can see. However, feeling a specific place and getting in touch with the people are more important for the trip.
25 days in Iran, I had visited most of the famous cities. With the remaining time I want to go to those cities less famous but still as attractive as those famous ones!
Lastly the schedule/itinerary is as followed:
Dubai (1 day)-> Sharjah (Where the ferry was) -> 1. Bandar Abbas (1 day) -> 2. Kerman (1 day) -> 3. Bam (0.5 day) -> Kerman (1 day) -> 4. Yazd (2.5 days)-> 5. Kashan (Abyaneh , Maranjab) (3 days) -> 6. Tehran (2 days) -> 7. Sanandaj (Palangan) (2 days)-> 8. Kermanshah (2 days) -> 9. Isfahan (3 days) -> 10. Shiraz (3 days) -> 11. Bandar Abbas (2 days) -> Sharjah (Where we took the ferry)-> Dubai (0.5 day)
Big Cities VS Small Cities
Most of the famous cities you may hear before shall be capital Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and Yazd, may be also Kashan. I went to all these cities. But in this trip my favorite city is Sanandaj, a place with men dressing in Kurdish traditional apparels. Also the people here are very nice. We can even see snowy mountains here~The less tourists the more locals welcomed us, especially in Iran. In little city 80% out of 100% will look at us even we already passed through them and said hello to us/got our attention. Some will say welcome to Iran~ welcome to [city name]. And some even gave us sweets. We are just like some stars stepping on a red carpet.
I believed that when you see tourists/foreigners in Hong Kong you will ignore them. As there are so many foreigners in Hong Kong, you will not get excited if you meet one as you regard them as normal person.
The things we need to treasure about travelling is you will know your country better. In comparison, how good/bad is your own one. Under the cultural shock, you will grow up, you will rethink, all this feeling you won’t have it while staying in your comfort zone.
Iran Visa
It is easy to apply for Iran Visa. You just need to go to bank to pay (HKD$700 at that time), passport copy, photo of you and go to the consulate in Wanchai. It takes 14 days to make the visa.http://www.iranconsulate.org.hk/html/english/ConsEN_L2.htm
So, let’s start the journey to Iran now!
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| Dasht-e-Kavir, Maranjab Desert, Kashan, Iran |
P. S: Why I chose to depart in January? If you had read some information about best season to go to Iran it shall be April May and Sep Oct. I will let you know in another chapter – Weather, culture, language and currency of Iran.
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