Tag: June 2010
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Laura’s Diary Entry: the bus to Tehran, Iran – June 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Daily Notes Pizza lunch for two: 57,000 rials (~$5.70) ($1 US = 10,034 rials) Bus from Quazvin to Tehran for two: 30,000 rials (~$3.00) Chris and I got an expensive hotel last night for $66.00. We needed a little western feeling to re-coop and collect ourselves. We had Internet and BBC…
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Laura’s Diary Entry: in Zanjan – June 19, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010 Daily Notes Breakfast: 14,000 rials (~$1.40) Taxi to bus terminal: 20,000 (~$2.00) Bus tickets from Tabriz to Zanjan: 90,000 (~$9.00), about a 4-hour ride Hotel in Zanjan: 450,000 (~$45.00) Dinner: 33,000 (~$3.30) Chris exchanged $300 US at a shop located in what appeared to be a gold souk. Â The exchange rate…
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Photos of Iran #1
Being in Thailand, all I want to do is put photos up about Thailand but as promised here are some more shots of things we saw and did in Iran. I also promise you that I’ll make a special post about Persepolis. I got some good footage and photos. For now, enjoy these.
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Photos from around Tehran, Iran
We are most likely in Esfahan as you read this, but all of these photos are from Tehran. I haven’t felt very comfortable pulling out my SLR here, so I’ve been using the point-shoot camera. Perhaps that feeling is irrational. Either way, all the photos I have posted here are from our little point-shoot, which…
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National Museum of Iran in Tehran
It had been a while since we’d visited a museum. I was beginning to itch because of it.  So to enterain ourselves during our first full day in Tehran we decided to checkout the National Museum of Iran. It’s the perfect size for a visitor to look at the entire collection in 2-hours, meaning you’re…
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Takht-e-Soleiman, the ancient Zoroastrian religious centre
The Unesco World Heritage site Takht-e-Soleiman is 42 kilometers northeast from a small town called Takab in Iran. It was the spiritual centre of the ancient state religion called Zoroastrianism. This 1500-year old site must have been remarkable in its heyday, because the fortifying walls that still stand are very impressive. It is truly a…
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Laws broken within the first 48-hours in Iran
It sure is getting hot wearing my head scarf and the knee length “manto” (a.k.a. thin jacket). It is the law for me to wear a head scarf. I have some other ones you’ll see me modeling in future photos.  Cultural pressure and local fashion make me feel like I should wear the manto. People sure stare…
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Romania: Bran Castle and the truth about Dracula
Images of fast moving clouds blackening the sky and a lightning bolt allowing me to see the silhouette of the castle  in front of me raced through my mind. Chris and I were about to visit Bran Castle, one of the magnificent castles of Romania. My imagination was going wild. I couldn’t help it. Dracula…
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Feeling homesick after 5.5 months of travel
For the first time in my life I have had people ask me where I’m from and when I say Canada they shrug their shoulders and say, “Where’s that?â€Â After 5.5 months I am officially homesick. Although some of my homesickness might be brought on by the fact that my entire body is aching, my…
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Ceausescu’s communist country came to a crude end on December 25, 1989
I’m sitting on a comfy bed in our quaint hotel room in Brasov, Romania. Located within the old city walls, we can almost touch the house across from us. We took a four-hour train ride here yesterday from the Romanian capital, Bucharest. After our time in Madrid and Morocco, it was refreshing to see the…