tehran

Phet had a busy but good time in Tehran. He says that it's a big, big city with insane traffic. Our touchstone for crazy traffic is Dhaka, where the traffic is apocalyptic. In Dhaka, the traffic has the consistency of molasses: thick, slow, and containing very little air. Phet says that the traffic in Tehran is worse because it's as busy but it flows faster. One local colleague told him that there are over 600 road deaths in the city per month. Mind you, Phet didn't get any photos of the supposedly awful traffic. The one cityscape he snapped - from his hotel window - was this one:

Not a car in sight. Some chilly looking mountains, nice green trees, and some power lines. Doesn't look half bad, does it? Phet also said the weather was great. Around 26 during the day and down to 16 or so at night.

The meetings went well. Very Officially McOfficial, with the group of delegates commandeering a super-fancy, domed conference centre, and with the past UN rep for Iran chairing the meeting. In his extremely limited free time (so constrained was it that Phet had to commission a new friend from Iran to go buy Ji's present) (but don't get me wrong, the present -- a 3 foot wide drum with ring-a-ling-a-jingles attached -- is awesome) Phet was able to go to see:

At the museum there was no gift shop, but there were many rugs. There was also a guy demonstrating how to tie the rug-knots. Did you know that on a high quality rug there can be as many as 150 knots per square inch? Check out this three dimensional carpet, which took the carpet-knotter seven years to complete:

Now that's what I call a carpet, man!

After visiting the carpet museum, Phet went with some friends to go check out a film set 30 km outside of town. The set seems to be used often for films, ie it's a permanent set, not a one-time deal. It had different segments, each depicting different eras in Tehran, from ye olden dayes to modern times. Here's one of the Potemki-streets Phet saw:

Very realistic, no?

After a long day of working and touring, the Iranian folks asked if there was anything special that the group would like to eat. One man, speaking for all his compatriots from abroad, said, "Well, at each meal we have had meat kebabs. Would it be possible to get fish?" The answer? "Um, no, sorry, there isn't any seafood, but there are some delicious lamb and beef kebabs on the menu!"

[On The Road-5-June-2005] back to top

tehran: more meat and three bands

Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 18:42:25 +0700 All is well in Tehran.  I've eaten more meat here than I have all year. Best, Phet.

Date: June 1, 2005 7:59 PM I keep wondering WHY you're in Teheran, how did it become part of s.e.asia???? Am I missing something?? Glad re: the meat, is it stew-like meat ? or roasts? not cut up I hope! Take care, be safe, Love mil [Margie]

Date: June 2, 2005 6:42:04 AM Iran is the west most nation under our mandate (Asia-Pacific).  I'm in the plenary conference hall right now - it's like a parliament hall.  It's very formal, very UN, but the chair is hilarious (very eloquent, sharp, and has a very dry sense of humour).  Shahid is in the working group room going through the regional action plan, and I'm sitting here listening through country statements. Re: meat, I'm getting pretty sick of it, we've only had one basic meal, kebabs and grilled meats.  The rice is delicious though. Last night we were taken downtown for more meat and three bands (see the photo).  We also visited the carpet museum, really amazing stuff (high grade carpets are like 100-120 knots per cm). Anyway, I better get back to work and look like I'm doing official stuff. Cheers, Phet. [On The Road-2-June-2005]

driving in tehran: the facts

Hey, so turns out that Phet was right (as usual):

"Tehran, April 6, IRNA -- Iran ranks first worldwide in terms of
having highest number of road accidents leading to 38,000 deaths and
injuries per year." [On The Road-8-June-2005]