I first visited Tehran in 2009 just before the Green Revolution. I am staying again next to Laleh Park which is in a pleasant and serene part of town, a short walk from Tehran University, the site of both pro-Khomeini demonstrations in 1979 and anti-establishment demonstrations in 2009. A good start to the day, especially if one is there on a weekend (Thursdays and Fridays in Iran) is a run or brisk walk around Laleh Park. There are plenty of impromptu football games and basketball games in the park on weekends as well as a small bazaar that caters mostly to young locals, selling locally designed and made clothes and scarves and other handicrafts. The Carpet Museum, which has some amazing 17thC examples, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, are also in the Laleh Park.
The Laleh Hotel’s front desk has a number of sweet old fogies who speak good English (sometimes with a touch of the French accent) and dole out useful advice (like - don't change money in the hotel: bad exchange rate!). One of them at the reception insisted on regaling me with his encounters with Bruce Lee; apparently he once had a cameo role in a Bruce Lee film and insists that the karate artist was killed by some sort of criminal conspiracy... The Laleh also has a great bookshop that has out of print books about Persian history and sights in Iran, as well as books that are only available in Iran. Edward Eastwick’s book on his three years as a diplomat in 19thC Persia should be an interesting read, not to mention it is beautifully bound in leather. I also bought an interesting book of photographs by a top Iranian photographer on all of the churches in Iran. Over 99% of the Iranian population is Muslim and less than 1% are Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian or of other faiths. While historically, Muslims have tolerated “people of the Book”, the phrased used to describe people who also believe in one God and Jesus, Gabriel, Abraham etc, it cannot have been easy for people of minority religions to have survived in this part of the world after centuries of Muslim conquest and given the intensity of the ruling Shia faith. In Iran, the Christians are largely Armenians and the largest Armenian church is in Tehran, dedicated to St Sergius (or St Sarkis). It’s a modern white cathedral guarded by a fierce pastor who reminded me twice not to take photographs. St. Sarkis is not particularly beautiful but it is significant as it is the most important Christian cathedral in Iran. It is on a quiet street which has a couple of good handicraft shops and pastry shops including one which sells excellent cream puffs!
Tehran is the location for many excellent museums and former palaces of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties. It would take a good 3-4 days to see all of them. As this was my second visit, I decided to aim for the best and the unknown. I re-visited the best museum in Tehran: the Reza Abbasi Museum – absolutely not to be missed, especially its pre-Islamic sections and the calligraphy sections; and the Golestan Palace with its famous marble throne and Hall of Mirrors. I also went to more “fringe” places that I hadn’t visited in 2009 like the St. Sarkis Cathedral and experienced some snapshots of “everyday life” in Tehran. My guide took me to the Friday bazaar where Turkmens from Gorgan (in the northeast of Iran near the border with Turkmenistan) sell their handicrafts. It also seems to be a bazaar for antiques/secondhand goods as well as handicrafts (candles, incense, photoframes). I was interested in what seemed to be an old miniature painting but the seller was asking for more than almost two million rials (~US$140) and I didn’t have that much cash left as I was trying to use my all of my rials before leaving since the rial cannot be exchanged back into any other currency outside of Iran. The bazaar closes fairly early at around 3:30pm as the Turkmens have to pack up their goods and drive hundreds of kilometres back to Gorgan.
After the bazaar, I had a quick bite – shawarma in a baguette with onions and peppers – and then we catch a bus down the street to where the car was parked. The buses are green and divided into the men’s section in front and the ladies’ section at the back. My bus wasn’t very packed and was quite clean. When ladies leave the bus, they then walk outside the bus to the entrance at the front where the conductor is standing and either pay by their Octopus/Oyster card or in cash. It’s all pretty easy and exactly as we would expect anywhere else in the world. And then, it was time to head to the airport where I board my Emirates flight to head back to HK via Dubai. Of all of the countries visited so far, Iran has left the deepest mark.
