Tabriz is the fifth most populous city in Iran (pop. 1.4 mill) after Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Karaj.
It is also named as City Without Beggars, City of Underpasses and Overpasses, The Safest City of Iran, Iran’s Healthiest City, Cradle of Iran Investment, Diesel Engine Production Hub in the Middle East, Chocolate City of Iran (we didn’t see any), Second City of Tower Construction of Iran, and the Second Largest City in Attracting Health Tourists in Iran.
We wake up after a good nights sleep at the Caspian Hotel and immediately make our way to the breakfast table. Since the meal is nothing in particular to write about, we won’t mention it, suffice to say that the Tv was on in the dining room and apparently Spongebob Squarepants is a huge hit in Tabriz, if not Iran.
The dining room at the Caspian Hotel
After filling the emptiness inside, we talk to the concierge about exchanging some money. We desperately need to exchange Dollars for Rials. As a westerner, you cannot get money out of any ATM’s or indeed banks in the country due to the trade embargo, so you have to bring enough American Dollars with you for all your expenses for the whole stay.
500 000 Rial – or about $19
Not only is the concierge forthcoming, his English is very good – so good, that after our business with him is done and we pay the extortionate $90 for our room, he, together with some associates, insists on taking pictures with us and the car outside the hotel. With our camera. He also asks to have the photo downloaded on to a memory stick so that he can print it out and hang it up with the other VIP´s that have stayed at the Caspian Hotel.
We were happy to oblige 🙂
The guys at the Caspian Hotel in Tabriz
A few minutes later and we’re off to Iran’s capital Tehran, pop. 8.3 mill.
The way out of Tabriz is not hard to find as almost all the road signs are in both Persian and English, and soon we’re driving through what can only be described as desert.
Desert between Tabriz and Tehran
After driving for about 3 hours we get hungry and thirsty again. The thermometer hits 43°C, so we drop by a reststop on the way to Tehran, to see if we can scare up something edible.
What we find is nothing short of amazing: we do get water, tea, ice cream, crisps and the like, but the offering doesn’t stop there. On display are also weapons-of-less-destruction: knives of all sizes (fixed and switch-bladed), knuckle-dusters and more. We’re starting to wonder how dangerous this country really is, but soon find out that this is the regular tourist-souvenir crap you get pretty much everywhere.
Needful things
After filling up on liquids and crisps and leaving the machetes and switch-blades behind, we eat the miles for the next 6 hours until we reach Tehran in the evening.
Iranian crisps
The traffic this late in the evening is only medium manic, and we manage to navigate ourselves to our hotel after only getting lost twice.
We were advised by other travelers to seek out the Firouzeh Hotel, and more importantly Mr. Mousavi, manager extraordinaire. Apparently, this man can help you with almost anything!
We are a bit worried that we’re going to experience the same thing we did in Tabriz – no hotels or at least only full ones, but after a short talk with the man behind the counter at the Firouzeh Hotel (not Mr. Mousavi who works during the day) we get a double room without any problem.
After driving 624 km from Tabriz, we are glad to park the car just outside the hotel – in front of a no-stopping-or-you-will-get-towed-for-sure sign and fall into bed.
Ah. Air condition.
Lovely.
You will get towed – but we didn’t
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