Not the fastest email communications (3 or 4 days) from Uppersia,
especially the previous 2 weeks before the tour was to begin which
created a bit of anxiety and I even contacted another travel agency who
contacted Uppersia for me, and got them to respond to my email.
Canadians,
Americans, and Brits are required to take a tour through a licensed
travel agency. Independent travel is not allowed. With the recent
nuclear talks and the reopening of the British and hopefully Canadian
embassies, maybe independent travel will be allowed again.
People
wonder if it is safe to travel to Iran. The three things that might
make you feel unsafe are: 1) crossing the street since cars do not pay
attention to traffic lanes and if the road is marked for 3 lanes, then
there will be 5 or 6 lanes of traffic. Not at all like Canada where
pedestrians rule but unfortunately many are killed each year because
they think they can cross the street through a non-existent glass
bubble; 2) riding in a taxi is an adventurous experience because their
sense of space is very close and you will come within inches of other
vehicles, but not to worry, you are only going 20-25km per hour, and we
only had one minor scrape in two weeks; 3) the air pollution especially
in Tehran. It is hard to believe that all vehicles in Iran still burn
leaded gasoline. The technology for unleaded gasoline production has
been around over 40 years, but not in Iran. You will smell and taste the
air from the vehicles.
Ironically, our two weeks were booked by
the terrorist bombings in Paris when we arrived on Nov. 13th in Tehran
and the memorial service in Paris when we returned to Tehran on Nov.
27th for our flight home early the next morning on Nov. 28th. The
terrorism was not occurring in Iran but in France, despite friends and
family members who wondered and worried to the contrary.
I never
felt unsafe in a western sense of feeling unsafe. Iranians are warm,
welcoming people and love to practice speaking English and might even
have coffee or dinner with you if they get to know you. We had one meal
with an Iranian family and spent another night in a family run hostel
that included dinner and breakfast. We were warmly welcomed each time.
I
had a wonderful two weeks of touring Iran. We had a small group of 3
men and the pace was fairly intense but we were up to the challenge. The
weather was perfect, sunshine each day, no rain, lows about 4-5C and
highs 15-18C depending on where were were. I can’t imagine visiting
during the summer when temperatures can reach 150 F in the desert and
well over 100 F elsewhere. Much of the activities are outside, so
temperature is very important. We had ideal weather, what I call long
sleeve shirt weather, although others wore a light jacket at times.
Having
Seyed Ali Mohammad Hosseini as our tour guide was a delightful
experience. Ali is a warm, friendly, approachable young man, and a true
professional at what he does. I think that our group were not the
easiest group to be around and Ali handled himself with courtesy,
humour, and patience even when members of the group were demanding and
challenging. Ali did a good job “herding cats” so to speak. He didn’t
leave any of us on top of the Towers of Silence (Zoroastrian mountain
tops where the dead are left to be devoured by vultures) , even though
the thought crossed my mind because of some of our behavior .
We
visited wonderful sites that were included in the tour itinerary as
well as unscheduled sites such as Pasargadae and Qom. After the Qom
visit, one of the tour members thanked me for requesting the visit. Ali
arranged for the change in itinerary and private transportation from
Kashan to Tehran via Qom. The van was very adequate for our needs and
reasonably priced. The opportunity to meet and speak with Imams in
Isfahan and Qom were highlights of the trip. The Armenian section of
Isfahan and the beautiful church painted with scenes from the Bible was
also a highlight as well as the dinner we enjoyed at Hermes restaurant
the same evening.
I did my Master’s Thesis on Cyrus the Great,
so the visit to Pasargadae and Persepolis were musts for me. Ali
provided personal resources about Persepolis from his studies under the
late Dr. A. Shapur Shahbazi of the University of Shiraz that were
unexpected and a real treasure. Even on our free days, Ali made himself
available and he accompanied me to the Coin and Archaeology museum in
Yazd. The restaurants we ate in were all very good and there were no
food issues among any of the tour members.
Ali had a few days
when he was feeling ill but he carried on his duties when he should have
been resting, including one of the free days when he accompanied us to
sites. Ali went beyond the call of duty several times during our two
weeks.
Ali is well connected and every place we visited he seemed to
know someone or individuals came up to him and renewed their
friendship. Ali is a valuable asset to Pazira/Uppersia and undoubtedly a
major reason for its success.
I hated to say good-bye to him
because I feel like he is my new Iranian friend and I look forward to
returning to Iran with my wife who was not able to accompany me this
time because of her teaching responsibilities. Ali even befriended her
via Facebook and sent her several photos while we were on the tour. Ali
is becoming an experienced camel rider and it was great fun to take a
ride with him in the desert!
I have only fond memories of the
trip, and of Ali, and the trip was truly one of the highlights of my
travels that include over 50 countries. If Ali is a reflection of the
calibre of the rest of the Uppersia employees, then Reza, the owner is
very fortunate.
