Global Wanderer

9/7/2023 – 10/7/2023

Our final full day in Iran began with breakfast at the Seterah Hotel before jumping into the car and heading towards Tehran. Before we would get there though, we had a stop to make, in the town of Kashan. Kashan is probably most famous nowadays for the Fin Garden, a traditional Persian garden, with canals that were actually flowing with water! The heat in Kashan was intense, about 46º, and was beginning to remind me of the Kyzlkum Desert in Uzbekistan, and Dad of his time living in Riyadh, and so visiting the garden, which was a few degrees cooler thanks to the water and trees, was definitely worth it.

The detailed ceiling on one of the porticos in Fin Garden.

Despite Fin Garden being the main attraction in Kashan, Dad and I found that the most interesting site in the town was the Boroujerdi Traditional House. This is a house, kept in its original style, built by a merchant back in the Qajar era (so it’s about 130 years old). Obviously, being the house of a merchant trader, it was quite opulent back in its day, but some of the most fascinating features of the house were the purely architectural – for example, from the entrance of the house to the interior courtyard, there was a subtle slope, punctuated by a few shallow steps. By bringing you below street level, the temperature dropped instantly – and you only realised how much you’d descended by when you went back up! The living quarters of the house were styled like an indoor courtyard, with a central room fanning out into different doorways, facing the interior courtyard. Underneath the main living area was an underground living space, about half the size of the entire house. This room was around 26º, compared to the 46º outside, and apparently remained around the same temperature throughout the entire year, unaffected by the weather – amazing how much better these traditional designs were at dealing with the heat and the cold!

Finally, we got back on the road to Tehran. The only other stop we made was at a petrol station along the way, where we inexplicably ran into the only other Australian who seemed to be touring the country. We’d heard from a number of people working in the hotels and sites about another Australian, who was travelling across the country on his motorbike – funny that we finally ran into him! The Northern Territory numberplate was a bit of a giveaway! We had a quick chat whilst Kharoush fuelled up the car, and then we returned to the road, watching as the desert landscape gave way to the outskirts of Tehran, and the empty road began to fill with traffic.

We finally pulled in at the front of Howeyzeh Hotel, where we’d be staying for one last night before flying out of Iran. Given it was now getting quite late, our stomachs were still not 100%, and we were both tired, Dad and I went back to the place we’d been the previous week for dinner, acquired a soren pizza, before retiring to a much better room at the hotel than last week, but still with only a single teabag.

Thanks to Dad, who had decided that we should go for the slightly dearer Emirates flights to Manchester via Dubai, we didn’t have to leave the hotel in Tehran until about 6:30. The traffic on Tehran’s roads is absolutely horrifying, and it took us almost an hour to reach the airport. After checking in, and ensuring we were all set, we said goodbye to Kharoush, and passed through the exit controls, drawing our trip to Iran to a close. Once we passed through security, we bumped into someone who recognised our Australian passports. Turns out he was an Afghani, who had family in Iran, who had spent the last 13 years living in Perth. I swear, wherever you go, you are bound to find someone who is from, or who lives in, Perth. It’s such a strange phenomenon but it literally happens everywhere!

Clearly, however, flight drama was attached to me, as we saw that our flight was delayed by 40 minutes. We already had a tight (70 minute) connection in Dubai, which would now be reduced even more with the delay… not to worry though, as Emirates were well and truly to the rescue. After explaining the situation to the chief hostess, we were told to sit in the business class seats at the front of the plane for the final 45 minutes of the flight, so that we’d be right at the door when it opened. The crew were exceptional, and double-checked the flight information numerous times to ensure we would catch our connection. After gaining some time with favourable winds, we landed in Dubai with about 25 minutes before our connecting flight’s gate closed. As the door of the plane opened, we darted off, whilst an Emirates employee ran alongside us telling us directions to the gate. Along the way, there were approximately 10 staff members set up at different points with signs pointing to our Manchester flight. We actually made it to the gate with time to spare! Can’t commend Emirates enough though for facilitating that transfer so smoothly – and particular credit to the cabin crew who did everything they could to make sure we made that flight. I think in future, it might be worth me paying the premium to fly with them and do my transfers in Dubai!

Probably the only time I’ll get to sit in business class on Emirates!

Finally, at a touch after 7pm UK time, our gigantic A380 touched down in Manchester, we passed through immigration, and were met by my Mum and eldest sister. What an amazing trip through the Caucasus and Iran, and it was really awesome to be able to do it with my Dad (nice to have a travel partner for once!).