Gearriveerd!

Vanmorgen al druk aan de slag gegaan met mijn Farsi skills. Eerst maar op bed een tekenfilm gekeken en beneden de mensen een goede morgen gewenst. Morgen start het echte werk: Farsi cursus in Yazd.

Can't wait

The image shown is a hawk's bill turtle laying eggs on Qeshm island. They lay eggs in spring (maybe I am lucky but spring officially starts 21st march)

Story about turtles

My itinerary is as follows
26-2-2009 Amsterdam Teheran
27-2-2009 Teheran-Yazd
28/2 - 10/03 Farsi course in Yazd
10-3-2009 By train to Bandar-abas
11/3 - 13/3 Qeshm island
11-mrt diving
12-mrt diving
13/3 - 14/3 overnight in turtle guesthouse Shipdraz with breakfast, lunch, dinner
13-mrt 4wd island tour with lunch
14-mrt Bandar-abas to Shiraz
14/3 - 16/3 Shiraz
15-mrt excursion to Persepolis,Naqshe Rostam with tombs of Kings
16-mrt Shiraz - Ahvaz
16/3 - 19/3 Ahvaz
excursion to Shush, Zigurat and Shustar
19-mrt Ahvaz - Esfahan
19/3 - 22/3 Esfahan
22-mrt Esfahan - Teheran
23/3 -24/3 Teheran
24-mrt Teheran - Amsterdam

Making friends

In Iran there is a custom of hospitality / politeness called Tarof. You shouldn't be surprised to be invited to dinner by an Iranian you've just met. It is important though to assess whether the invitation is actually genuine. Therefore you can first politely try to refuse the offer. If he insists for a while it might be genuine and then you can accept.
In preparation of my journey I went shopping at some souvenir shops in Delft to buy some pottery. I hope the cups and little plates I bought make good presents in return for Iranian hospitality.
At Qeshm Island in the Persian gulf I hope to find some more friends in the water like the rare Hawk Bill Turtle.

Only three and a half weeks

In about three weeks I'll be leaving for Iran. I read a pile of books, got a visum, got my plane ticket. Just pray for good weather now ;). The first two weeks of march I'll be staying in the desert city of Yazd. After these two weeks I hope I will be able to say "you've got a nice skiing suit" just as well as my colleague. That shouldn't be too hard after two weeks of farsi lessons (5 hours a day :( looks a bit like work to me ;) )

Yazd was established 3000 years B.C. about 3000 years before the romans erected Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Picture : Jame Masjid (Mosque) in Yazd (courtesy of "Marco Polo een reis in Foto's")