We arrived at the Tehran train station around 4:30-5:00am on Saturday 1 November 2014. We’d had a reasonable amount of sleep and had given ourselves plenty of time on the train to wash, change into clean clothes and just generally feel fresh and ready for the next part of our adventure.
It was dark outside when we arrived, and the train station didn’t seem very big (we later discovered we were in a little offshoot of the main central station, which is quite big and probably would have had WiFi). We had planned to spend our first few nights in Iran couch surfing as it seemed like the best way to ease ourselves into the culture. However, with no WiFi access on the train and none at the station, we didn’t know whether our requests had been accepted and what arrangements were potentially in place. We decided to wing it and hail a taxi and try to communicate that we would like to be taken to a mid-range hotel.
The taxi driver didn’t speak English, but we loaded our stuff into the car anyway and as we were driving out, he stopped at the security gate and checked in with a man who did speak English. The man confirmed with us that we had no prior booking and would like to be taken to a mid-range hotel that costs around 15 euros per night. As is the custom in Iran, I sat in the back of the taxi and Jesse sat in the front seat.
We drove for about 20 minutes before the driver stopped at a very nice-looking hotel. The drive there was another story altogether: suffice it to say that speed limit signs and road lines are completely pointless in Iran.
When we parked, the driver indicated for us to stay in the car while he went in and talked to the hotel staff. After a few minutes, he came out and indicated for Jesse to come in, but for me to stay in the car. He reiterated this point by locking me in the car using a child-proof safety lock system! I found it pretty funny, but was also wary enough to locate where to unlock it from inside the car, just in case the taxi driver wasn’t the big fatherly teddy bear I had him pinned as.
They came out a short while later, and we drove off. Jesse explained that the place was too expensive, more like 60 euro per night. The thing with money and foreigners in Iran is this: the cash you bring in is the only money you have access to while you’re there. Credit cards are not accepted at all in Iran, and ATMs are only available to locals, not tourists. You need to bring in everything necessary in cold, hard cash and be careful about what you spend. Inflation is enormous in Iran and can change on a daily basis. We exchanged US $500 on the train, and got roughly 14 million Iranian Rials in return. Incidentally, the Lonely Planet guide we were referring to was enormously outdated (we later found out), and so that amount of money (which we thought would be more than adequate for 21 days) turned out to be not feasible. The cab ride alone cost us 500 000 rials. Fortunately, I had 500 euros that I hadn’t changed and Jesse had some more US dollars, so we should be fine. But back to the story….
After ten minutes, we arrived at another hotel. Again, the driver went in by himself to speak to the staff and indicated that we should stay in the car. Then he came out again and beckoned for Jesse to join him, and locked me in the car again. After five minutes, Jesse came out and got my passport and disappeared again. I know I shouldn’t have, but I kind of enjoyed having everything sorted out without my input. It gave me time to dream about wearing my play shorts. That’s probably the nice way of looking at it.
Things eventually got sorted out, and the men came out to grab all the luggage, and me, from the car. The hotel was quite nice, but I later found out a lot more expensive than our requested 15 euros. It was actually 45 euros, which equalled about 1.5 million rials. So in our first hour, we spent 2 million of our 14 million rials. Yikes!
It was great to have our own space and for me to be able to take off the many layers I was required to wear, and ditch my headscarf (which is generally quite snug, but a relief not to have to wear, nonetheless). By then it was about 6-6:30am. We decided to nap for a few hours, and ended up rising around 11-12pm. We had some leftover Iranian Pepsi and biscuits from the train, so we snacked a little. Eventually (not that we wanted to because we were so tired) we got up and went outside to explore and get something to eat. We seemed to be a less salubrious, quite industrial part of town. The traffic was very busy, and we played Russian roulette with our lives crossing the road. Basically, pedestrian crossings are entirely ornamental, and people (motorbikes, cars) just drive through at high-speed anyone. It is the combined responsibility of the pedestrian and driver to ensure there is no crash. I shat myself the first time I had to cross a busy intersection, but after a while there seemed to be a common sense/flow about it. Basically, everyone does whatever they need to do to ensure someone isn’t killed.
There weren’t a lot of restaurants on this side of town, and everything was written in Farsi, so we couldn’t understand anything or read menus. Eventually, we passed a very touristy pizza/fast food place. This is where we discovered how grossly misinformed we had been about the currency. We managed to order a pizza and burger, and got told it would cost us 20000 tomans. Basically, one toman is equal to ten rials. So what we were prepared to pay for in rials, we discovered was actually ten times more expensive – the meal would cost us 200,000 rials.
At first we thought we were being grossly ripped off, and hung back from paying whilst we tried to learn the Farsi phrase for “lower” and “I think it’s too expensive.” Eventually, we paid, and later found out it was correct. Doh!
We went home after that, and I napped for another few hours and woke up to loud drumming outside around 7pm. Jesse had been doing stuff on his computer. At 8pm, I was wide awake and Jesse then turned in. I got dressed up and went down into the hotel lobby cafe for a disgusting 3 in 1 Nescafe and to catch up on some emails. I also asked the lovely Persian lady on the front desk where I could buy some appropriate clothing, because I only had one outfit. She was so, so beautiful. She wrote down in English and Farsi a place for me to go, and how much it would cost me in taxi fare. She then offered to come with me and help me shop! I was so touched, and really excited. However, we were checking out the next morning and had loose couch surfing arrangements with our next host, and I felt hesitant to lock something in. I thanked her very much though, and was genuinely touched. Persian women are outwardly beautiful, and inwardly beautiful.
After that it was bed time – sweet, sweet bed time.