IRAN REPORT TRAVEL.

 HOW TO APPLY FOR AN IRAN VISA:

Go to the consulate of Iran, in Via Monte Bianco n. 57 in Milan, from Monday to Friday from 9 to 12.30, with passport (with expiry of not less than 6 months), insurance certificate (the one stipulated on the website www.viaggiaresicuri.com is fine), 2 recent passport photos, completed form , downloadable on the consulate's website (the addresses of the hotels where you will stay must be entered on the form)

After the kind employee (Gabriele) has checked the documentation, you have to fill in another form.

Then you have to pay 50 euros of fees by credit card, debit card or cash (in the latter case you have to pay them in a bank indicated by the Consulate.

Once you have paid, if this is your first time, take 10 fingerprints.

Subsequently the employee hands you a sheet, with which there is written the date of collection of the passport with the visa which is usually ready after 3 or 4 working days. (in this period, in fact, the Consulate requests authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran).

Anyone with the aforementioned sheet can collect their passport when it is ready.

TRAVEL REPORT

Punctual as never before, my plane of the Turkish Company Pegasus leaves from Milan Orio al Serio at 14.00 towards Teheran (Iran), with a stopover of 5 hours at the Sabina Gokcen Airport in Istanbul in Turkey (price one way to Tehran and back to Tbilisi taxes included Euro 231.14).

I therefore arrive at 03:35 in the morning of the next day, Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, the capital of Iran (2 hours 30 'time zone, compared to Italy). I pass the not difficult border and I am honored by a rose that a girl with a veil kindly gives to all the passengers.

From the airport of Imam Khomeini in Tehran, I take a minibus to the National Airport of Tehran and get off just before the same, after about 45 minutes in Azadi Square in Tehran. Ticket price: IR 60,000. (you pay when you get off).

From Azadi Square, in a few minutes I reach the Meydan Metro Station, adjacent to the Tehran Bus Terminal and Gharb.

 The ticket for the clean, safe and modern Tehran Metro costs IR 5,000 for a single journey, and IR 8,000 for two tickets.

The center of Tehran can also be visited with a free tourist train that passes adjacent to the Bazaar and Golestan Palace, a World Heritage Site;

The Bus_e Jonoob Terminal in Tehran can be reached with Line 1 of the Metro.

From there I take a comfortable 2.30pm night bus to Shiraz (Iran) at a cost of IR 230,000 (there are several per day). They offer you a snack on the bus and stop twice for half-hour breaks.

Arrival after about 14 hours of travel at 4.00 in the morning at the Carandish Bus Station in Shiraz (Iran).

At about 6.00 the first Savari leaves for Basij Square in Marvdasht (1 hour) at the price of 20,000IR (to be paid when you get off). There are 2 Savari about an hour, but cmq they usually leave when they are full, across the street.

From Basij Square in Marvdasht (Iran) I take a private taxi to Persepolis (20 minutes) for the price of IR 60,000.

The actual entrance of Persepolis is about 500 meters away. on foot.

Ticket for Persepolis (Iran) costs IR 150,000. In summer it is better to visit it early in the morning because the heat is impossible. Luggage storage is: free.

From Persepolis I take a private taxi to Basij Square in Marvdasht (Iran) (20 minutes) for the price of IR 50,000.

Then I take a Savari (minibus) from Basij Square in Marvdasht to Shiraz Carandish Bus Station (1 hour) for IR 20,000 (payable when you get off). There are 2 Savari about an hour, but cmq they usually leave when they are full.

From Shiraz Carandish Bus Station I take a white collective taxi to Shohada Square, located adjacent to Karim Khan Citadel, Shiraz's main attraction. Price: 30,000 IR. Time scarce 10 minutes without traffic.

I visit the center of Shiraz on foot.

Then I take a private yellow taxi between downtown and Shiraz Carandish Bus Station for the price of IR 45,000.

A Luxury bus with less than 30 seats takes me from Shiraz Carandish Bus Station to Yazd Bus Station in about 6 hours, crossing the desert. Cost: IR 205,000 (not many every day).

Yellow private taxi, cost IR 50,000, between Bus Station and Silk Road Hotel (IR 150,000 per night in dormitory with breakfast), located in the center of Yazd, 200 meters away. from the Jameh Mosque.

The old town of Yazd, a Unesco heritage site, can be easily explored on foot.

Private yellow taxi between Silk Road Hotel and Yazd Bus Station, with a 5 minute break downtown: IR 70,000

VIP Company Bus between Yazd Bus Station and Kaveh Esfahan Bus Station (Iran) at the price of IR 205,000. (5 hours, 1 every hour)

Urban bus from Kaveh Bus Station to Imam Hossein Square to Esfahan center: IR 10,000. (you pay before getting off directly to the driver).

From Imam Hossein Square to Imam Square, the second largest square in the world, there is only a short 1 km walk.

Private yellow taxi from Imam Square a few hundred meters from the Jameh Mosque in Esfahan, a UNESCO heritage site, IR 60,000.

Taxi from a few hundred meters from the Jameh Mosque to the Kaveh Bus Station in Esfahan IR 40,000.

7.30 pm night bus of the Levan Nour Company from the Kaveh Bus Station in Esfahan to a Gas Station in Zanjan (Iran) where I arrive in the middle of the night after 8 hours. Price: 160,000 IR

From the Zanjan Service Station (Iran), you have to intuitively take a bus from Tehran, headed for Tabriz and ask the driver if there is room. It is not an easy task, also because very few speak English. The cost of this bus is IR 100,000.

Arrival at Tabriz Bus Station at 11.00 in the morning.

From Tabriz Station I take a minibus that takes me downtown for the price of IR 10,000.

The huge bazaar of Tabriz is a Unesco heritage site.

To return to the Tabriz bus station I use a white collective taxi at the price of IR 10,000.

The Bus of the Prances company takes me in scarce 5 hours from the Tabriz station to Ardabil (Iran) at a price of IR 70,000.

To reach Sar Cheshmeh Square in the center of Ardabil (Iran), I use a private taxi at the price of IR 30,000.

To reach the Bus Terminal of Ardabil (Iran), from Sar Cheshmeh Square, I use a private taxi at the price of IR 50,000.

From the Ardabil Bus Terminal (Iran), I take a bus to Tehran which stops after an hour on the state road, in the suburbs of Astara. Iran price 30,000 IR

Private yellow taxi from Statale x Theran to Hotel Baran in Astara (Iran) 20,000 IR.

Hotel Baran in Astara (Iran), without breakfast IR 500,000 in single room.

Private taxi from Hotel Baran to the Frontier in Astara (Iran), IR 50,000.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2015/08/viaggio-in-iran-e-nel-caucaso.html