Wainy316 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 (edited) Just dropped a week from Asia in October which means Philippines will have to be wiped. Compromise with the missus, she wants to do a week long cruise. Cruises have never appealed to me but she swears by them, we'll be leaving from Venice and stopping off at Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Ephesus, Athens, Katakolon and back to Venice. All places I've never been and apparently I will eat like a king all inclusive so quite looking forward to it. Edited July 9, 2014 by Wainy316 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tonyh29 Posted July 14, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted July 14, 2014 (edited) So Part 2 …Iran After a 24 hour delay thanks to planes going techy we finally arrived in Shiraz ( did get the bonus of a day in Istanbul , which is always an enjoyable experience , can’t speak highly enough about the place) Landed at 2:30am , walked up to the immigration officer who said “welcome to Iran , hope you have a great stay here” quick glance at my visa , a stamp and through you go … luggage was put through an x-ray machine and that was it , probably 15 minutes after the wheels hit the tarmac and we were in . Shiraz is a small town down in the South , a bit more laid back that Tehran , we could almost certainly have got away with wearing shorts for example (and women could probably get away without a headscarf ) but we stuck with the “rules” to be on the safe side . First surprise I guess was buying Pepsi or Coke soft drinks ( and Fergies autobiography in the book store) , I just assumed with sanctions and the like western products would be a no no , but they even make the stuff there … second surprise was the people , some of them walk by without a word but most of them time you got a nod or a hello or even a where are you from , I’d say 90% of the encounters we had started with “Hello , where are you from” Me- “England” Welcome to Iran .. why is your national football team so bad “ We even got this off some old lady in a museum in Tehran later in the trip !! Some people wanted to chat more than others , but not once did we encounter any ill will towards us , the young girl at reception commented on how she loves the British accent as she blushed away to herself , all very charming .. So Shiraz A few mosques and palaces to look at ( all very pretty but as you’ll soon see in Iran its quiet easy to get a little mosque’d out after a while ) but the main draw was Persepolis , home of the Persian Empire … think of Athens or Rome ruins but with less tourists and a few degrees hotter … The Iranians are quite proud of that period , no slavery used ,only paid labour , they had insurance policies and everything back then , if the style of art looked familiar it was because they paid top $ and artists travelled there from afar to work and bring their influences with them … Our guide even wrote to the director of the 300 films to complain about how Persians had been portrayed ( the director to his credit replied and just said they were using artistic license to make a film ) Then after 2 days we took an overnight coach to Esfahan … 7 hours on a comfy coach with air con all rather civilised .. until you get on the road and find the coach had no lights and the roads clearly weren’t built by the Romans , still we survived and shared a few sweets with our Iranian travellers as we cast nervous glances at our driver who appeared to keep nodding off Esfahan is Iran’s second biggest town , again mainly mosques and palaces but boy are these building a work of art … part of the education in going to these places is the whole Sunni / Shiite thing and how they differ and how you can identify these differences in the buildings that you get taken to … interestingly you don’t hear the call to prayer all the time in Iran , go to Morocco and it’s like clockwork , even when I was up in the Atlas mountains but Iran we only heard it a couple of time … One of the WC cups we watched cut away 10 minutes into the game for the call to prayer and then carried on showing the match !! Social life in Iran seems to centre around the Parks , everyone gathers there for picnics and social chit chat ( and to smoke hash if my nose serves me correctly) and as such there lush green and water everywhere .. the knock on effect is that the river that runs through the city is completely dry and has been for 5 years now ..interestingly they blame it on global warming and not the huge dam that they built in order to supply the lush gardens with fresh water 24 hrs a day .. our hotel had a pool here but it was timed males at some part of the days and females the other ( if you visit Iran with a girlfriend they will probably make you stay in separate rooms , it;s ok if you are married though ) ..during our many chats over tea and soft drinks our guide here explained how people are free to marry whoever they wish .. and then added “ as long as the woman is a virgin” ..but then went on to say that couples can enter into short term marriage arrangements if they wished for any reason … probing a bit more it seems you can get married for 1 hour to 1 year if you so wish , thus you aren’t breaking any adultery laws when you check into Hotels ,or if you want to live together for a while before finding out you don’t like each other that much !! I think it’s only the Shiites that allow this , not the sunnis (or the other way around i forget now ) … other bits we learnt were that the boys are deemed to be “adults “ aged around 14 to 15 and the girls enter adulthood aged around 9 to 10 … We visited an Armenian church here as well , all very European looking with huge artworks , he explained that Jesus was a prophet and not the son of God and that a look alike took his place on the cross , hence he didn’t rise from the dead … I asked about the fact that in the Bible Jesus was a Jew , and was told that no he wasn’t , no animosity or anger more a simple matter of fact with his answers , tbh nothing was taboo .. Saddam they didn’t celebrate when he died , but they were happy that he was dead , Iran actually wanted him handed over to them to stand trial but the Americans weren’t having it , they believe the headscarf rule will be gone within the next 10 years but the alcohol ban will never go and that’s a good thing ( this despite the fact vast amounts of the population seem to drink at home at any opportunity .. it was interesting how many Iranians we met that had been to Thailand and Pattaya in particular , I can only think of 2 reasons for going there (drink and women ) but these Iranians all claim to have part taken in neither , right o mate you aint fooling anyone !! ) Took a cable car ride up the mountain and got a good view of the whole area and encountered hundreds of locals having picnics and enjoying the views , lots of Hello , where you from as we walked down the hill ... Siosepol Bridge over the now dry river was another beautiful hang out place to see and chat with the locals and even without the water it still looked stunning Then it was the train to Tehran , we’d heard the rail network wasn’t good , they weren’t kidding , 9 hrs to travel 400 KM … we had to check in with the local police before we boarded the train (I guess so they know where we are) .. even this turned into a conversation about the World Cup and one of the policemen bringing out a plate of donuts for us to share with them as he did the paperwork , shared some sweets with them and was told I am now an honorary Iranian we had a sleeper compartment that we shared with 3 Iranians , they didn’t speak any English , but one of them paid for our coffee and we all sat there smiling and grinning at each other until it was time to break out the beds and get some sleep ( around 4 am I heard my mate let rip from the bed above mine , followed by coughing from the other side of the compartment and one of the Iranians opening the compartment door whilst gasping for air , was about 25 minutes before I could stop giggling into my pillow !! ) .. Tehran has driving abilities like I’ve never seen , don’t worry about road signs , direction of travel or any semblance of traffic law … and yet they don’t seem to have any accidents or road rage , though we did hear that 12,000 motorcyclists die a year on the road , seems they are bottom of the food chain and fair game Tehran again has some interesting museums , palaces to go look at lot of European influence here as the ruler at that time had travelled Europe and fell in love with the place ... the American embassy has anti American murals on the walls , but tbh it looked more like lip service than any real anti American feeling , the people we spoke to can’t wait to welcome the Americans back … The Milad Tower is something like the sixth tallest concrete tower in the world and part of a complex underneath it .. come sundown when the Muslims can eat and drink again it becomes a huge gathering place for food and drink and shopping , they were filming Iran's version of Ant and Dec that night so I'm probably on TV over there as I was right in line with the camera I probably can’t really do the place justice by writing about it , it’s nothing like how you imagine Iran to be , it’s just so friendly , so genuine and at least during my stay so very very safe .. never got ripped off on the prices anywhere , ( they have started to drop one of the zeros on the prices so you get a little confused ) and you can walk around the streets on your own at night , your only real worry is a dry throat from having to speak so much … I did get invited to come have a smoke a few times in the park but it didn’t smell like any tobacco I’m familiar with so I declined I went home via Azerbaijan a 90 min flight from Tehran … another new country and with the oil rather a wealthy one .. when the airline portable walkways are lined with thick carpets you know a place has too much money !! My hotel is part of the “flame” which is 3 towers that light up at night time whilst giving off a flame effect with hundreds of lights , stunning view of the city from my hotel room , bloody long walk down into town at night time for a beer , few hundred steps !! The hotel upgraded my welcome drink to an alcoholic one when they heard where I had spent the last week , it’s the small touches in life one appreciates J Mentioned it in another thread but I also witnessed one of the most bizarre drink related fights I’ve ever seen here , absolutely bonkers … Baku has an old city , come nice old buildings , lovely parks and greenery , a sombre area showing the victims of the Russians sending the troops in back in 1990 .... no “wow” factor as such but a very pleasant and enjoyable place to visit …. Go further afield from Baku and you have wildlife , some beaches and some cultural areas so I may go back and explore it again at some stage .. current plan for Baku is for a huge casino resort with the world’s tallest building going up next to it .. oil money at its finest !! In short , go to Iran before it really opens up , there is a touch of irony in me a tourist saying go there before the tourists ruin it but for me that is one of Iran’s USP’s the fact that you aren’t falling over westerners everywhere you turn and that as a westerner you are a bit of a novelty act …. Just make sure you like mosques before you book Edited July 15, 2014 by tonyh29 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Long weekend in a cottage at Barafundle Bay coming up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_ Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Going Brussels in Feb (4 days) & Venice end of March (4 days). Not sure on the main hols yet, went Cuba this year and that was awesome! Wouldn't mind going to Iceland as it looks pretty cool there, thinking about Costa Rica too. Ended up going Mexico in end!! Coming back tomorrow though Got 6 days hol left, anyone recommend a good short break? I'd say 6 hours max flight time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Turkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Going Brussels in Feb (4 days) & Venice end of March (4 days). Not sure on the main hols yet, went Cuba this year and that was awesome! Wouldn't mind going to Iceland as it looks pretty cool there, thinking about Costa Rica too. Ended up going Mexico in end!! Coming back tomorrow though Got 6 days hol left, anyone recommend a good short break? I'd say 6 hours max flight time. depends on what you want to do ...and budget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Yeah, do you want sun? If so, then Sharm el Sheikh, or Dubai? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshVilla Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Week in Santa Eulalia, Ibiza in September. It'll be my 3rd time going back there, always stopping in the Es Cana/Santa Eulalia area. Just right for a relaxing holiday; not too loud or too quiet, plenty of boat trips and places to visit and Estrella Damm on draught Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_ Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 .depends on what you want to do ...and budget Probs 500 quid tops and not really fused! Last year I had a similar number of days hol left is drove round Europe, did 2800 miles in 6 days... Went Berlin, Auschwitz and Paris. Could do something similar bit north Italy, Austria etc? Not been Austria so don't know what it like there, love Italy though. Other options Iceland or Dubai but probably out of budget. Egypt would be good but it a bit crazy there atm so will avoid until that's settled! If I went there I'd want to go pyramids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milfner Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Could go to Vienna for a couple of days then get the train to Bratislava? They're only something like 50 miles apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You really don't want to go to Bratislava unless you are caring suitcase nukes to detonate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You really don't want to go to Bratislava unless you are caring suitcase nukes to detonate What's wrong with Bratislava Tony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 You really don't want to go to Bratislava unless you are caring suitcase nukes to detonate What's wrong with Bratislava Tony? How long have you got It was more the people , we got pulled over by the police ( only crime I can think we committed was driving by the dozens and dozens of prostitutes who lined the road once you crossed in from Vienna )who took our passports demanded money and then made us follow them out into the middle of nowhere before driving off Then the locals decided that they didn't like English people and started abusing us and pushing and shoving whilst I tried to get a bloody burger in McDonald's .. Next the hotel also ripped us off ( said we had drunk about 8 beers from the money bar ( we hadn't even opened it ) and over charged on the room and threatened us when we refused to pay This was a long time ago and maybe the Neanderthals have evolved into civilised people by now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 HAHAHAHA I remember you telling that story before actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_ Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 How long ago we talking? People at work described Poland like that when they went there but I went there last year and it was really nice there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 2000 I appreciate there are bent coppers everywhere so it could just he luck of the draw ... I've been to Poland a couple of times and never experienced any issues , for example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_ Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Ah a while back then! Don't think the hotel thing would happen now purely because of the internet and sites like trip advisor, loads of bad reviews and they'd get no customers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Just dropped a week from Asia in October which means Philippines will have to be wiped. Compromise with the missus, she wants to do a week long cruise. Cruises have never appealed to me but she swears by them, we'll be leaving from Venice and stopping off at Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Ephesus, Athens, Katakolon and back to Venice. All places I've never been and apparently I will eat like a king all inclusive so quite looking forward to it. I have always considered myself a bit of a rough and ready traveller but had my first cruise experience and loved it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Just dropped a week from Asia in October which means Philippines will have to be wiped. Compromise with the missus, she wants to do a week long cruise. Cruises have never appealed to me but she swears by them, we'll be leaving from Venice and stopping off at Dubrovnik, Corfu, Santorini, Ephesus, Athens, Katakolon and back to Venice. All places I've never been and apparently I will eat like a king all inclusive so quite looking forward to it. I have always considered myself a bit of a rough and ready traveller but had my first cruise experience and loved it! What was so good about it? I've never been convinced either.. nearly booked one once with the ex but split up before booking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Brussels and Luxembourg booked for December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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