Linda's Travel Page

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Pictures:

Iran:

    Esfahan, December 15 - 17, 2002.   51 Images

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    Shiraz, Hormoz, Bam, and Mahan,  Dec 19-28, 2002. 22 Images

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    Persepolis, December 22, 2002, 32 Images      

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    Tehran, Dec 30, 2002 - Jan 3, 2003.    20 Images       

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    People, 47 Images

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Syria, January 4-9, 2003  38 Images

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Lebanon, January 9-11, 2003  22 Images

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Jordan:

    Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea,  January 13-18, 2003    41 Images

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Museums, 24 Images

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Summary:

I put the ratings of the US in the first column, so you get an idea how I rate these things.

What I wrote here is merely my opinion solely based on what I personally experienced as a regular tourist in the short time I visited each country. The info on Kyrgyzstan is 3.5 years old.

Pictures  Summary   Intro   Top Ten  Recommended Books and Links   Recommended Hotels   Visa Info   Gear   Iran   Syria   Lebanon  Jordan  Home

Intro: In November 2000, my co-worker Wade took a leave of absence to cycle around the world. A six-month vacation turned into two years. Once in a while, he does some work on his laptop and transfers the files to Impac via the Internet.  Since we work on the same project, we communicated frequently via email. About a year ago, I asked him where he planned to go next, he said through the Middle East and on to India and Pakistan. I mentioned that I had always wanted to go to Iran and Jordan, and naturally we started talking about my joining him for a short section of his trip.  We tossed around a few ideas, each with pros and cons. Our biggest constraint was how long I could take off. One month was as long as I could get away. We thought about cycling through Morocco, or Jordan and Syria, or Iran. Finally we narrowed it down to Asia only since Morocco is too far out of the way. There was no way we could cycle through Iran, Syria and Jordan in one month, so if we were to do a bike trip we'd have to give up a country. As our work project dragged on and on, we couldn't take off in September as we had hoped. The only time we could go was around Christmas. I'm a fair-weather person, don't  like the idea of cycling in the ME, or anywhere else, in winter. The situation in the ME was kind of sketchy and cycling was only going to make us stand out even more.  I voted to travel as regular tourists so we'd have time to visit Iran, Syria and Jordan.

Wade lives with his Spanish girlfriend Amalia in Madrid, Spain. Amalia wanted to join the trip and she also voted against cycling.  After going back and forth a few times, we decided to travel as regular tourists to Iran, Syria and Jordan, leaving sometime in December.

I booked flights from SFO to Tehran via Frankfurt, arriving on December 13th, 2002. Wade and Amalia booked flights from Madrid to Tehran, arriving on the 14th.  The organized tour part of the trip consisted of one day in Tehran and three days in Esfahan. On the 5th day we flew to Shiraz and were on our own from there on.

Top Ten list:

1. Arg-e Bam. The mud brick city is awesome

2. Emam Khomeini Mosque in Esfahan

3. Shage Cherah Mosque in Shiraz

4. Baalbek in Lebanon

5. Hiking up Mt. Tochal in Northern Tehran

6. Hammam in Aleppo

7. Jewels Museum,Tehran (Oooo... Ahhhh...)

8. Petra

9. Sunset over the Dead Sea

10. Downtown Beirut

Recommended books:

    - Lonely Planet Guidebooks of course.

    - Neither East Nor West : One Woman's Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran by Christiane Bird

    - Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran by Elaine Sciolino

    - Honeymoon in Purdah: An Iranian Journey by Alison Wearing

    - To See and See Again: A Life in Iran and America by Tara Bahrampour

    - Foreigner by Nahid Rachlin

    - At the Drop of a Veil by Marianne Alireza

    - Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean P. Sasson

    - Princess Sultanas Daughters by Jean Sasson

    - Princess Sultana's Circle by Jean Sasson

    - Behind the Veil: An Australian Nurse in Saudi Arabia by Lydia Laube

    - Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel

    - Motoring With Mohammed: Journeys to Yemen and the Red Sea (Vintage Departures) by Eric Hansen

    - Crossing Borders: An American Woman in the Middle East by Judith Caesar

    - The World of Islam by National Geographic

    - Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir, et al
 

Links:

    - Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Middle East Branch

    - Ruth's site - everything you need to know about Jordan

    - Al Jazeera English site

    - Iran Testing the Waters of Reform National Geographic article

    - Net Iran - Almost everything you want to know about Iran. Highlights: Interview with Mrs. Khomeini, Iran's Female Police academy

    - Iran Air online schedule

    - Saudi Trip Photos and Reports

    - Fear of the Kyrgyz Police (Guess I'm not the only one.)

Recommended Hotels: (Keep in mind that we were there during winter. You might not be able to get the same price during high season.)

    - Sasan Hotel in Shiraz (Tel: 337 830, Anvari St).$10/night  It's next door to Anvari Hotel which is highly recommended by Lonely Planet. Sasan is much newer and cleaner than Anvari and I only had to pay $2 extra per night. There is a portrait of Khomeini waving at you at the entrance. 

    - Future Tower Hotel, Damascus (Tel: 232 2814) Can't remember how much I paid, but it was good value for the room.

    - Hotel al-Faisal, Aleppo(Tel: 221 7768) $20/night Nice and clean rooms.

    - Cairo Hotel, Hama (Tel: 222 280) $6/night LP was right about this one. Spotless rooms. Close to downtown, Internet in the lobby. Best $6 I've spent on this trip. 

    - Plaza Hotel, Hamra, Beirut  $54/night. It's not a budget hotel, but I was ready to splurge a bit after four weeks on the road. It would be considered a 4-star hotel in the US with all the amenities. Good value for the money. 

    - Saraya Hotel, Amman (Tel.+962-6-4656791 FAX.+962-6-4656792 Mobile. +962-79-5527707, email:fayez_alkayyali@yahoo.com) Email or call Fayez Alkayya, the hotel manager and he'll take care of you. He sent a driver to pick me up from the JET bus station and took me, along with three other guests, to the Dead Sea the next afternoon free of charge. Since my flight was at 3 am, he let me stay in my room until 12 midnight. I was really impressed!

    - Movenpick Hotel, Petra $65/night, dinner included. A 5-star hotel that lives up to its reputation. The 5-course dinner alone was worth the price. Too bad they had to close the swimming pool up the hill due to lack of tourists. 

Hotels you should avoid:

    - Anvari in Shiraz ($7/night) Dirty and noisy. Sometimes the hotels recommended by Lonely Planet are the ones you should avoid. :) It was being renovated when we were there. The construction noise went on from 7 am to 6 pm. It'll probably be a better place once the construction is done. Still, why not stay at Sasan for a couple of bucks more?

Pictures  Summary  Intro  Top Ten  Recommended Books and Links  Recommended Hotels  Visa Info  Gear  Iran  Syria  Lebanon  Jordan  Home

Visa:

    Iran - If you are not a US citizen, lucky you. Fill out a simple form and send it to the Iranian Embassy in your country and you are good to go. No sponsor or organized tour required.

    If you are a US citizen, you need to do a bit more paperwork and perhaps pay a little bit more, but it really isn't that bad. I'm sure Iranians who want to visit the US go through a lot more hassle than we do, so stop whining. There are two ways of getting an Iranian visa: you can either go with a tour agency or have an Iranian sponsor you. The bottom line is that the Iranian government wants someone to be responsible for you when you are there. The advantage of going with a tour agency is that everything is arranged for you including your visa; the downside is you have to pay more. There is no minimum number of people required for the tour. You can have a "group" tour tailor made for you only. We paid $800/person for a 5-day tour, which was a bit overpriced considering we spent less than that in the next 2.5 weeks. If you don't want to pay that kind of money, find someone in Iran who is willing to sponsor you. There are many Iranians living in the US, you should be able to find a link easily. If you've exhausted all possibilities, send me an email and I might be able to find a contact for you. Your sponsor needs to apply for you at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. You need to let your sponsor know where you want to pick up your visa. Once your visa is approved, you'll get a reference number. Send your passport along with the reference number to your pre-selected embassy and you'll get your visa in a week or so. The Lonely Planet Iran describes the process in great detail. 

    A lot of people asked if they could get a visa longer than their tour. Theoretically no because you need someone to vouch for you for the entire time, but there are ways to get around it. Here is what we did. We signed up for a 5-day tour with Cyrus Travel and asked them to get us 30-day visas. They said they needed a sponsor for the remainder of the trip, so I gave them the name of an Iranian rock climber that I got to know on the internet. They called her up and confirmed that she did exist, pulled some strings, and got the visas for us. Wade and I waited for almost a month and a half to get our visas while Amalia, a Spanish citizen, got hers in two weeks. I used Cyrus Travel in San Jose for several reasons: it was recommended to me by my Iranian friend, it's close to where I work and it has an office in Washington DC, so all passports are hand-carried to the Iranian Interest Section. Here is their web site: http://www.cyrustravel.com/. They also offer pretty good rates on flights to other ME destinations.

After our 5-day organized tour, we traveled everywhere on our own. No one ever asked us about our sponsor.

I've heard reports of people getting Iranian visas in Turkey and Pakistan, but I've also read reports about people being turned down in those countries. The only thing I know for sure is that you have a better chance getting a visa from your home country.

Keep in mind that you have only 30 days to enter Iran starting from the day you get your visa. It does present some problems for overland travelers. Good thing that you don't need to submit your passport while waiting for the reference number. Tell your friend or travel agent that you'll be picking up the visa in Turkey or wherever. Female applicants need to wear a scarf that covers both the hair and the neck in their visa photos, like mine here.

     Syria - US citizens need to apply at the Syrian Embassy or consulate in the US. Syria recently raised the price from $65 to $100. Ouch! Always ask for a double entry visa (same price) so you can visit Lebanon and return to Syria. You can not enter Israel from Lebanon overland. The departure tax at the Beirut airport is $56 and that's probably why most people come back to Syria and leave from Damascus. Someone on LP Thorn Tree said he got a Syrian visa at the Lebanese border for $15. I've also heard people getting their visas in Cairo.

    Lebanon - Visas can be easily obtained at the border regardless of nationality. The 3-day visa is free. We got a free 30-day visa even though we didn't need it. The officer at the border was in a good mood and he said he hadn't seen American tourists for a while.

    Jordan - Visas can be easily obtained at the border for 10JD(~$13).

This section is dedicated to all my geek friends.

Photo Equipment: My grandfather bought me a Canon AE-1 Program camera when I was in high school and I've been shooting with Canon SLR cameras ever since. I hardly ever use point-n-shoot cameras except on climbing trips when weight and volume have to be kept at an absolute minimum. Since this was going to be a hotel to hotel trip, I decided to take a digital SLR and four lenses in order to get high quality photos.  If this were a trekking or climbing trip, I would've considered taking one lens only, but I would still have taken an SLR camera. Is it worth the effort to lug all the equipment along? It all depends on how much you care about image quality. If you only take snap-shots and never print pictures bigger than 4"x 6", or you don't care about depth of field, or low-light photography, then the answer is absolutely not. Many times on this trip, I wished someone else could carry my bag for me. But when I got home and looked at the pictures I took, I knew it was all worth the effort.

 I was lucky that all my equipment performed as expected without a glitch.

Canon D60 digital SLR camera: Absolutely loved the camera. It performed flawlessly and far exceeded my expectations. I didn't bother taking the 3-years old Nikon Coolpix 885 digital camera that I haven't touched since I bought the D60. The shutter lag on the 885 drove me nuts.

Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 lens: This is the lens I kept on my camera most of the time. I've had this lens for over seven years, never had any problems. It's light, small and focuses fast. When stopped down to f/5.6 or slower, it rivals most L lenses. I bought it new for about $400. You can pick one up nowadays for less than $300. 24-85mm is the perfect range on a film body, but is a bit too long on a D60 due to the 1.6 multiplier.

Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens: It's the sharpest and fastest lens I have and I used it mostly for museum shots and indoor portrait shots. Check out this picture. The light was so dim in the house, I couldn't have gotten the shot with any other lens.

Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens: This is my zoom lens for candid portraits. It's sharp when wide open, focuses super fast, and handles very well. It's much lighter than the f/2.8 version, thus perfect for traveling. I bought an 1.4 extender to go with it after I got back from the trip, and I'm glad to report that there is no visible image degradation and the focus is reasonably fast at the minimum aperture of f/5.6.

Sigma 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0 lens: Because of the 1.6 multiplier on the D60, I need a lens to cover the wide end. Canon makes a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens for $1400, way over my budget. The Sigma lens is a decent replacement at 1/4 of the price. The first copy I got was really soft at all apertures, so I  exchanged it for another one which fortunately was pretty good. I've read many mixed reviews on this lens and felt lucky that I got a good copy second time around. About one month later, the auto-focus all of a sudden stopped working. I sent the lens to Sigma Service Center and got it back all fixed within three weeks. I can't recommend this lens because of all the problems I encountered. Sigma has a good service center, but they really need to work on their quality control. Canon just came out with the new 17-40mm f/4 lens recently for a little bit more money. I've heard good reviews about it.

Ridata 512MB Compact Flash Cards: I have three of these and am very happy with the speed and the performance. You can order them from http://www.powerinnumbers.com.au

BP-511 Batteries: I ordered two extra ones from http://www.batterybarn.com/

Lenmar Mach 1 Charger: compact and charges fast.

Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3: Never used it on the trip, but a cool gadget none the less.

Lowepro Photo Runner Waist Pack:  Carries the D60, the 24-85mm lens, the 17-35mm lens, and the 50mm lens. The 70-200mm lens is carried in a Lowepro #2 lens case.

Fujitsu P2120 Laptop: I needed a way to store and backup my photos while on the road. One of the popular solutions is to get an Image Bank or X-Drive which is essentially a shell that houses a laptop hard drive that can transfer files from memory cards to the hard drive via the card slot, and from the hard drive to a computer via USB. The storage size is only limited by the size of the hard drive you choose to put in the shell. This solution is compact, flexible and cheap, but it doesn't backup files. If the hard drive fails, you would lose all the pictures from the trip. I scratched that idea and started to look for an ultra-compact laptop with a CDRW. After doing a bit of research on the internet, I decided on Fujitsu P2120 which I believe is the smallest laptop with an internal CD burner. Fujitsu laptops are not very popular in the US ( I don't know why), and they are hard to find in stores. I finally tracked down one company that sells them - Global Computers, based in San Jose, California. The laptop showed up promptly in my office in less than 48 hours and it even came with a free memory upgrade. Two days before my trip, I went down to its warehouse to pick up a car and airline charger. If you are looking for a Fujitsu laptop, go with Global Computers, a legitimate, honest company that provides excellent services at a very competitive price.  I looked everywhere for a protective case for the laptop, but all the cases I saw in stores were too big for the P2120. Out of desperation, I bought a freezable lunch bag from Safeway for $7. It fit the laptop perfectly and disguised it well. No one would think I had a laptop in a purple lunch bag. :) 

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Designed and Maintained by Linda Shen.  Last updated: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 01:38