Day 1:

Arriving in Tehran, I made my way to the visa office. Getting the visa was no problem, but it cost double what I was expecting, both from my internet research and from what they told me at the New Delhi Embassy. This used up my one week’s reserve cash, which I didn’t think this would be much of a problem. Oh how wrong I was…….

I jumped in a taxi and went to meet up with Sam (my good friend from NZ), who had arrived at 4am that morning and booked us a hotel for the princely sum of US$30 a night. After some high-fives we went out in search of food.

Ahhhh…. now this is what I’m talking about – Iranian food is AWESOME!!! Goodbye horrible ultra-spicy India, I’ve already forgotten everything about you. Iranian food is just what you’d expect – lots of meat and vegetables, well seasoned, not spicy; perfect.

I jumped on the laptop when we got back to the room and was surprised to find that Facebook was blocked. Luckily, the VPN I set up for China was still working, so no problem!

We were both pretty shattered, so turned in early for the night, after planning a rough 2 week itinerary to see a good chunk of Iran.

Day 2:

The Great Bazaar in Tehran

Apart from the little bit of cash I had after paying my high-priced visa, we had no money on us and went to the bank to get some out. I knew that Iranian ATMs didn’t allow international cards due to the U.S. banking sanctions, but I was under the impression that banks would let you buy prepaid gift cards with your credit card, and then use them on ATMs all around the country.

This was wrong.

It turns out that there is no way at all to get money inside Iran thanks to the United States government, except for some very shady dealings with some very suspect locals we met down at the carpet bazaar. Sounded like a good plan to me, so off we went!!

The bazaar was amazing, well worth the walk, and one of the only few sights we’d end up seeing in Iran.

We managed to find some agreeable carpet merchants, but both agreed that the situation was beyond dodgy and we’d be better off not doing the deal.

This still wouldn’t have been too much of a problem, except that I spent US$100 more than I thought I would just getting into the country, and Sam had no money at all. I had enough Iranian Rials on me to get us to the border and into Turkey, but not to pay for the room and Sam’s airport pickup. Not even close.

Enter this guy:

He was a Chinese business traveller staying at the same hotel we were. He overheard our predicament and offered to loan us some cash. He pulled out a US$100 note (the smallest he had!), and said we could just transfer him the money at a later stage. I asked if Paypal would work, and he said that would be ideal. The only thing he took off us was my email address, and wished us a happy trip. What a legend!!

Minus $50 to the hotel later, we had cash in our pockets and were on the move. We took a shared taxi to the Arzjantin bus terminal and booked ourselves a ticket for Tabriz, heading for the Turkish border. It was probably the most comfortable bus I’ve even been in, even more comfortable than the sleeper buses in Vietnam. Each seat was like an individual lazyboy, and I drifted off to a great night’s sleep.

Day 3:

In the morning we woke up to find ourselves in Tabriz. I’d planned to do a bit of sightseeing around the city, but I was bleary-eyed and still tired, and managed to book us straight on a taxi to the border crossing at Bazargan.

Oh well, sorry Iran, I gave it a good shot!

The border crossing – colder than it looks….

The taxi dropped us at the border crossing, we got our passports stamped for our Iranian exit, and then the fun started.

The long, cold road into Turkey

We left the warmth and safety of the Iranian border building, and stepped out into some of the coldest temperatures I can remember experiencing for a long time, probably about 4 degrees. We got in the queue for the border control and waited.

And waited.

And kept waiting.

Since we had no money, we hadn’t eaten since lunchtime the day before, and were getting pretty cold. After two hours of standing in the freezing cold I was starting to lose sensation in my toes. We had been walking/jogging up and down the little courtyard we were stuck in, and put on every bit of clothing we had on us. After all the things I’ve been through, ironic to die of exposure within throwing distance of warm, dry, buildings filled with food vendors.

The road into Turkey

I asked what the holdup was, and was told that it was a “system error”. Eventually we managed to convince one of the guards that we were actually going to die, and he let us stand in his little guard hut. Sweet salvation! – this 2x3m box had a heater, and I can’t even describe what a relief it was to get in there. Finally after waiting 3 hours, the line started moving and we left the box.

Big mistake. I think one or two people got through and we went back to waiting. But now I could feel my toes so I was pretty happy. Just when we were getting back to freezing to death again, the line started moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. By the time I got to the window my teeth couldn’t stop chattering. Blessed relief was only a stamp away, and then the guy told us he couldn’t process our passports, and we’d need to go to the other passport window.

You have got to be kidding me!!!

Finally we get through and run straight for the duty-free shops on the Turkish side. I buy us some overpriced sandwiches and we just sit there just thankful to be somewhere warm.

We take the minibus to Doğubeyazıt, and waste no time finding somewhere warm to stay and a lot of food to eat.

Turkey, it’s good to meet you.

The post The EPIC three day tour of Iran! appeared first on This Way to Spain.

New Zealand citizens are granted Visa-On-Arrival privileges, but I’d read some horror stories of tourists in my situation being deported. I have no idea how deportation works, but I didn’t have the money to pay for that.

The main thing that I needed at the border was proof of an ongoing ticket. I didn’t have the money for that either. I was hoping to catch the train into Turkey after my month in Iran. My sister came up with the brilliant idea of buying a 100% refundable ticket, getting into the country with that ticket as proof of my departure plans, and then simply getting a refund for the ticket.

I decided to take that idea to its next logical conclusion, and create an entirely fake departure ticket for free. I am not saying this was a smart idea.

WARNING: Kids, do NOT try this at home.

I present to you my entirely fictional ticket out of Iran:

 (For those interested, yes, this is an actual Cleartrip ticket, modified for a real flight, using the original fonts for authenticity.)

When I got to the check-in at the Indian end, the ticket was burning a hole in my pocket.

There was some discussion at the gate as to whether I could even come through without a visa on my passport, but a few phone calls and some explanations about NZ’s VOA privileges, and I was away.

At the Iranian end, I got off the plane and went confidently to the visa application window. I handed over my passport and documents and tried to look casual. The customs officer looked at the ticket and tapped some keys on his keyboard.

Then he gave me an odd look. Back to the ticket. Back to his screen. More typing.

He got on the phone.

His boss came over, and there was some furious discussion. Some gesturing at my magnificent forgery and some gesturing at me.

I am shitting my pants.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this worried in my entire life, and I am exerting every ounce of self-control to maintain a calm exterior.

Just when I was ready to confess the whole plan, he gave me a form to fill out, tucked away my ongoing ticket, and put a big shiny visa sticker in my passport.

I was in.

The post How to sneak into Iran appeared first on This Way to Spain.

Those of you who love the graphic details of my misery will be pleased to know I spent the majority of that week on the toilet, with brief breaks back to bed only to realise that I needed to be back on the toilet. I think I went two and a half days without eating anything at all, just drinking litres and litres of water. Finally I managed to start eating some food, only to vomit it back up, essentially just wasting the money I spent buying it.

But I got better and managed to see a good chunk of Delhi.

New Delhi Railway Station

The metro system here is fantastic, absolutely the easiest and cheapest way to get around if you don’t mind the huge crowd of people pushing and shoving and biting trying to get in.

Just a quick summary because I’m off to the airport, but some of the highlights of Delhi…

Getting my hair cut on the side of the road:

The temples and tombs at Lodi Gardens:

Running the gauntlet of not-spicy/insanely-spicy every time you order food at a restaurant:

And Jantar Mantar, the amazing observatory built in the 1700s:

Now I’ve run into a bit of a problem.

I applied for my Iranian visa on the 22nd of November. I went to the Iranian Embassy in Delhi on the 21st and they told me to go to iranianvisa.com and apply for the authorisation code which would be sent to the embassy, and then they would issue the visa for me. I paid for the express rush service, a princely sum of $150, and sat back and waited. Well, when I say “sat back”, I really mean parked myself firmly on the toilet with a bucket in my hands. It was not a good week…..

So now it’s the 10th of December, and still no visa. I’ve been emailing them every day and there have apparently been a bunch of delays in Iran that have slowed the process down. For instance, the pollution in Tehran is so severe that the government declared half of one week to be a forced holiday to minimise the amount of traffic on the roads. Things like that. So it’s now the last day I can get my visa and it’s not looking hopeful.

However, there’s a bright spot in all of this. New Zealand citizens are granted Visa-On-Arrival privileges in Iran. If it works, all I have to do is turn up at the airport and they’ll give me a two week visa for 50 euros. The only thing they require is a confirmed return ticket. Which I don’t have. I want to catch the train from Iran to Turkey. I have all the details for that so hopefully I can just talk my way out of it.

If not, I’m getting deported.

According to Wikitravel there were a few cases of tourists applying for VOA and being deported in 2010. I’m sure they weren’t from lovely New Zealand and probably didn’t have a good reason for being there, so I’m hoping that I end up fine. I have no idea what the process is if I don’t get a visa – do I buy another plane ticket? Can I buy another ticket? Do I live in the airport like Tom Hanks? Guess I’ll find out!

Who could refuse a visa to this guy?

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