I was right, the flight back from sydney to Abu dhabi where i had a stopover was terrible. Well the flight went well but the place was so small and I couldn't sleep at all. It was terrible.

I start walking and met a guy who was almost 30 years old and we talked alot, so the flight went faster. I do always meet people in the plane. Later on I met an older men who came originally of Iraq but lives in Sydney. Such a sweet person, so we had a small conversatoion.

Now, I'm waiting on a couch until I can get the next flight. I feel already happy that im in the middle east, missed this part of the world! love it.. the people are so friendly here!! Well the flight from Abu Dhabi to Brussel will take 6.5 hours and then I've to get a taxi to my hotel!

So, I'm in my hotel and do have time enouhg to write something down. The other flight went fast as well. I met a man of 48 years old. He hasnt been in belgium for almost 16 years. But he is a pilot so he explained me some things with the landing. DON"T DO THAT. I was already scared but now I became more afraid haha. When I arrived in Brussel I took the taxi which cost me about €40,00. I was not used to that anymore, soo expnsive! the hotel is great, clean and luxury in my eyes! Love it.. The only thing is, they don't speak dutch just english and french. But they are all arabic so it was fun of the beginning.

Later on I went to the city to find out where I have to go and how it works and to get some food. But that was a difficult thing to do for me. I saw the shopping street! LOVELY. I missed all th normal shops and I had to go inside, oke I couldn't buy anything but I had to, it was just great. Like heaven.. then I walked to the street with all the restaurants. The only thing you can choose is pasta fish and pizza. So i took the pizza which was oke but it was just too much for me. I'm not used to eat so much.

Now I'm going to bed, because tomorrow it's my birthday and my mum & dad will come to pick me up!! :D

So here we are two random men, cab driver and I driving to the border in 100 degree weather, by now I have seen the captivating Iranian flag several times! Curving through these deep, rugged mountains we come up to the border crossing! Cab driver parks we all get out and begin walking to customs, we are the only ones crossing, mainly because I later come to find out I did take the wrong bus and not many tourist come through this border crossing. Its now my turn I hand him my Iranian passport!

Quick history lesson on me - I am dual citizen because my father is Iranian but I was born in America and my mom is American as well, my Farsi (Iranian language) is as good as a first grader if that.

So the border agent ask me a question, I have no idea what he said and no Idea how to respond. At that point it was clear to everybody that they had a special case coming through. So all the custom agents are looking around at each other not really knowing what to do, one of them tells me to wait for a minute, next thing I know I am being escorted to the Top Generals office.

I go in his office, and it turns out he speaks really good English, was really nice, and pretty much just wanted to know what my business in Iran was, also wanted to see my USA passport, once I told him my dad lives there and showed him 20 phone numbers of family members that put him at ease that I wasn’t a spy!

He gave me tea, joked with me a bit, had me fill out some paper work, stamped my passports, and then showed me which bus I needed to take into town! Good experience all in all.

So after a wonderful time in Tehran, I take a cab back to where my father is staying. That night his friend had relatives over for dinner. After everybody left we got into bed and passed out.

When morning came we all headed to the bus terminal to find the right bus for me. Once we did that my dad took me shopping mainly for gifts for other people. I bought some wonderful pieces to take back home with me.

After we left the souvenir store, which is not like your average cheap souvenir shop! We headed down to catch my bus.

I was not happy. A, I did not want to leave Iran and my dad. B, this bus ride to Istanbul, Turkey was going to be 50 hours long!

It was pretty sad boarding the bus, my dad was crying, which I never see him do. A few minutes went by, then the bus started rolling and we started waving are final good byes to each other.

UPDATE

My dad has since returned back to California due to a bad case of missing me too much :)

Over the course of the next week I became great friends with all of these people. Every night we began going to Nader’s friend’s private garden outside of the city where we could play music, drink, and do whatever we wanted to do with out having to worry about the police.

I met Nader’s brother Vaheed who is my age, young and hungry for change; he spoke great English and was extremely nice. I met another man who was born unable to walk, he was an English teacher, he and I would play backgammon every night for money! He was the best I’ve ever played and it was always a joy to go over to his house and play a few games! By the end of the week we were in a dead tie! When I left he gave me this beautiful custom backgammon set as a gift!

Then there was Ali and his wife whose house we were at a lot of the times. Extremely generous man, always giving me his home made wine (illegal) and taking me out as well.

I met so many wonderful people while in Fasa; I only named 1/5^th of them!

The last couple nights were spent going to a wedding party; out to a private garden 45 minutes outside of Fasa, if you want to talk about being out there, I was out there. I went with some of my 2^nd cousins and family friends. I can’t forget sitting in this garden so far from everything talking to this older gentleman about his life and Iran, mostly sad stories….

My last night we went out to another private garden all of us for one last time…I can’t forget being on bike outside of the city going through a dirt trail with no lights to reach this garden. There we danced, played music, ate, drank illegally, and had a sad ride home knowing I probably wouldn’t seem them for a long time……..

One thing I want to add before I close this chapter on Fasa. Iran is a beautiful story. People in Iran love to tell stories. Just like we do here in our blogs. When I was in Fasa, everybody who came up to me, knew of my grandfather, a man I never knew too much about. The old and young would enter a room and recognize me because it got around town that an American was in their city, which gave them so much joy that I would come out and visit and have fun with them. Random people to me would come up and tell me that we were related through somebody I didn’t know, it was just amazing. Others would tell me stories of my grandfather, like how he gave him his first knife or how handsome he was. One time I was walking down a street by myself in Fasa and these kids I walked past said to me smiling “Hello Saasaan” and then ran off and I had never seen them before!

So to leave all that was hard. It’s real special place to me.

I listened to countless stories of beautiful people who were struggling when they shouldn’t be. These were the nicest people I had ever met and they wanted more and they sure deserved it. It was just sad to leave, because through their eyes and voice I could feel their happiness when they spoke to me, they were always so eager to hear how we live. It was hard to tell them how we live because I knew it just made them think what they would give to live like us.

UPDATES ON MY FRIENDS FROM FASA

In 2008 Nader and Vaheed fled to China, first time being out of the country! They had a brother who was doctor there! Nader fell in love with a American girl who lives there and they are still there together. Vaheed his brother returned to Iran but is in Tehran studing.

Ali (red tank top) left with his wife to Turkey with the hopes of eventually making it to Canada.

A lovely second day in Iran thanks to my beautiful cousin who came and picked me up around noon and drove us off, maybe 5 minutes out of town we pull up to this house with 10 foot high brick walls surrounding it and 2 large gate doors.

So as we pull up to these doors, they open synchronized by one beautiful girl on each door slowly walking it open and they were wearing normal clothes, which opened my eyes because I was not use to seeing this yet!

So they come up and greet us, they are my cousins friends. We drive in park and there were about 8 of her friends there. Music was playing, coals were burning, and everybody was having a good time. The girls took me out to the garden we picked wild blackberries and all sorts of stuff and just ate them raw, I’ll never forget how sweet and tasty they were! Then we came back to where everybody was and Barbequed some chicken, played some backgammon and just talked with all of my cousins friends because they were so excited to talk with an American!

Later that day we went out for dinner at a pretty neat outdoor restaurant and hookah lounge!

Morning came and I was given a ride to the Urmia airport. I said goodbye and thanked the gentlemen for everything he had done and boarded my plane to Shiraz.

I enter the Shiraz airport and I’ll never forget every step I took because those cheap shoes I bought in Turkey squeaked every step of the way! Turns out sandals are allowed and you dont have to wear a long sleeve shirt! So much for that!

About 10 of my family members including my dad were there to meet me, the rest were at school or work. We loaded the car up, which wasn’t difficult because all I had was one school size backpack still and headed to one of my relatives house for lunch.

I finally made it, here I am in Iran for my 2^nd time! So I kind of know what to expect, I am feeling comfortable and excited!

I board the bus and we head 2 hours to the closest major city which is Urmia, Iran!

As I am sitting I take out my Farsi book to practice some basic words. A couple passengers take notice and come closer to me and begin helping me! So there I am with a couple of Iranians practicing Farsi! Then a gentlemen from the front of the bus comes up to me and ask me to come sit with him in the front of the bus, turns out he owns the bus! So he begins to tutor me the whole way!

As we enter the city the sun has set. I ask the gentlemen “where is the nearest hotel”. He simply reply’s “No, your staying at my house”. I smile and tell him”thank you but its okay I should stay at hotel” and so he begins to “Tarof” which is an Iranian word for being generous i.e. paying for something and not letting the other person pay, or inviting you somewhere. So at this point I’m tired I don’t want to go back and forth with the man, so I say “OK”!

So we exit the bus and I pretty much follow behind him. We get in his car and head to his mechanic shop apparently he had to look over one of his other buses. Then we head to his house where I am greeted by his entire family!

Next I am sitting in their backyard eating a delicious dinner (first one in days) and he brings the phone out for me to call my dad and tell him I’m safe and I made it! After I talk with my dad he takes the phone and talks to my dad and tells him everything is fine and that I will be on my way to Shiraz tomorrow morning!

So after dinner I’ll never forget how tired I was when I was asked to go on a city tour with him and his kids! I was tired I really wanted to reject his kind offer but I couldn’t so I got up and went, while riding in the back seat my eyes kept shutting, I felt really bad! To top it off he drives up this cliff side which was a beautiful look out point of the city and orders me an Ice cream! Well it didn't taste well and it was massive, and when your in Iran its rude not to finish your food! So here I am deathly tired trying to finish this massive ice cream on a full stomach! I managed to toss it when he wasn't looking! We finally got back in the car and headed home where I was passed out cold as soon as I layed down!

After a long drive we make it to Tehran a little before midnight. My dad’s friend lives in Tehran so we head to his apartment and are quickly off to sleep.

Next day comes and turns out one of my friends from Fasa  (Vaheed) is in Tehran so I go and meet up with him. I try to contact my friend Shauhin from San Diego but our plans didn’t allow us to meet up. So Vaheed and I go explore the city. One of the places we went was the old American embassy; I took a few pictures and continued on.

After a day out we went back to where he was staying which was his sister’s apartment. We tried to find something to do but failed, which was depressing to be in a big city and not have any where to go for some fun thanks to the Islamic laws. So we just walked around aimlessly and eventually went home lonely!

When I woke up I had one full day left in Tehran and my friend from my hometown wasn’t answering so I called my dad and told him that I would come meet up with him.

Then the phone rang and it was my friend Shauhin! I was so excited to hear from him as I had been so bored and lonely and knew if we met up we would have a blast!

So he invited me over to his aunts house in northern Iran (rich, beautiful area) so I called my dad told him change of plans and ill call him later, invited Vaheed to come with but he couldn’t, so I grabbed a cab immediately and headed for the address he gave me.

As I slowly got closer the streets got cleaner, houses became nicer, and the trees grew bigger and greener. Had some difficulty finding it but at last we did! Shauhin came out to the street and I was just thrilled! We went inside I met his aunt, I sat down and we chatted over lunch about our trip. Then the door bell rang! Shauhin failed to tell me that our friend Shirin from San Diego was also in Tehran visiting family and now here she was! It was so cool!

So after some photos we took off to the local bazaar where Shirin’s sister who lives in Tehran met us. We spent the rest of the day roaming around, laughing, eating, and exploring! It was an amazing last day in Tehran!

Here I am once again about to embark on another adventure. I gotta tell you it’s quite a heart warming experience to travel across your fathers homeland with your father. I grew up always hearing about Iran from him and how proud he was of Iran. Up until this point I had been doing my own thing, but now it was my dads friend, my dad, and I packed in a small car about to embark on a 10 hour road trip across Iran to Tehran! Pretty neat!

Little did I know they had 5 joints rolled…turns out these guys are like cheech and chong! 

Before we got to Esfahan we made a few pits spots in some rural towns.

Arriving in Esfahan, I’ve heard a lot about this place but didn’t know what to expect. So here we are all high as a kite and apparently Esfahan people have a funny accent (real high and squeaky) so at every stop my dad would ask somebody for advice just to hear them talk and then him and his buddy would just start cracking up laughing and drive off haha!

So we decided to check out some main sites and take a break before heading off again.

I get home late from partying…pass out. Wake up and start getting ready to leave a place I thought I’d never want to stay more than a couple days. 

Turns out my dads old high school buddy was in town for business and got word my dad was back. They hadn’t seen each other since high school and he just came over and it was like they had never stepped away from each other. Turns out he is driving back to Tehran, same place I was headed to catch my bus eventually to Bulgaria.

So plans change my dad, his buddy and I pack in the car and head to Shiraz for one last day and night with my other family and friends.

We arrive early at my grandmother’s house. While there the phone rings, my grandmother looks at me and says “Baraye shomast” which means it’s for you!

So I pick up the phone and have no clue who it could be and say “Hello, who is this” the person responds in a strange voice saying “You want some (bad word)” and I’m like “huh” and this goes on for a minute or so, until he breaks and starts laughing! Turns out it was my friend Shauhin from my hometown of San Diego who was In Tehran visiting his family! He is like a good friend of mine, real fun guy, and have known him awhile and was just kind of taken back that he some how reached me at my grandmothers house. Apparently months ago he told me he might come to Iran so I gave him my cousin’s phone number to call if he did. Turns out he called my cousin my cousin knew where I was and gave him my grandmother’s number!

So after all that I told him that I am headed to Tehran for a few days before I leave the country and that I would call him as soon as I got there to meet up!

Later that evening all my family came together and we had one last dinner out at this nice outdoor restaurant along a main boardwalk. After I ate I walked with all my cousins down the boardwalk talking and joking and sadly hugged them all good bye and went back to my grandmother’s house for my last night in Shiraz.

Here I am day 3 in Fasa. I know nobody expect for my father and a few family members which are old enough to be my grand-parents/ Everyday seems the same, wake up, walk around, fetch some lunch, watch some TV, play backgammon with my dad, visit with distant family members.

Expect today I got lucky. Early in the morning the “cable guy” (hero of the town actually because he provides everyone with illegal satellite TV) came over to fix the connection or something. I guess he told my father that his brother speaks really good English and would be happy to see me.

Few hours later I get a phone call, I give him my address. Hour later doorbell rings, it’s him, Nader. He appears to be early 30’s, skinny, 5’9, and half way bald. He comes in and talks to my dad, turns out he is the local DJ, so I’m thinking Great that means parties! I don’t really know what’s going on but I just go with it.

We leave the house and hop on his motorcycle! That was interesting! We head to meet up with some of his friends at a shopping mall. Hang out for few and I guess after plans had been made we head to his friends house!

People slowly roll into the house and I slowly meet many people who would turn out to be great friends of mine! That night went pretty nice, drank, ate, Nader brought his keyboard out and played music. Then in the late hours of the night we hoped on the his bike and cruised home!

Fasa is the origins of my family (father’s side) most family from my fathers generation headed for the big city of Shiraz some stayed in Fasa. I never met my grandfather but my dad decided today to take me to his cemetery.

His cemetery was at a beautiful mosque. The experience was beautiful and intense. I’ll just leave it at that with some photos for you to view.

Apparently when I was younger my dad had a house built in the small city of Fasa outside of Shiraz. A family had been living in it until my dad decided to move back there.

Even though I didn’t want to go to Fasa because all my friends and family were in Shiraz I kind of knew I didn’t have a choice. So after a couple day pit stop in Shiraz I took the two hour bus ride out to Fasa.

Immediately after I got off the bus I was kind of acting like a spoiled brat by telling him I can’t wait to go back to Shiraz and how boring it’s going to be out here in Fasa.

After a ten minute walk through heat we finally reach the house! Haha It definitely wasn’t the prettiest thing but it’s not like I was expecting it to be! I walk in, it was big inside with nothing in it expect for a TV and some carpet in front of it to watch it on. He had a refrigerator and that was about it for appliances.

I started to get antsy after watching TV all day with nothing really to look forward to. Finally something to do! Fall asleep! Which was incredibly tough with no AC or fan, with all the windows open to get any air we could it still was unbearable! Not to forget all the mosquitoes constantly buzzing over you! So I laid there on the hard floor with only a small comforter underneath me and pillow that was hard enough to kill somebody and managed to pass out!

Jet lag is not an issue.  Slumbered through the night and didn’t awake feeling groggy.  Mark & I went down for a buffet breakfast that was comparable to anything I’ve enjoyed in the States.  Just gabbing away while we ate was a pleasure.  Such a treat to catch up with old friends!

And speaking of boats, I forgot to mention last night’s incident.  Mark & I were enjoying our porch and its view of the Persian Gulf framed by swaths of the Harrar Mountains plunging into the sea when suddenly we heard/saw eight power boats rocketing full tilt out of Khasab and into open sea.  Who would be heading out to open waters at dusk???  Certainly not fishermen, and the watercraft didn’t appear to be leisure vehicles (only one person per boat).  Need to remember and ask one of the locals about this today!

An amazing boat ride.  The water is exceptionally clear and we can see fish swimming well below us.  We are navigating fjords and surrounded by endless mountains of pure rock (and I mean 360 degrees).  Mark and I only signed up for a half day and the sole other party sharing our excursion is a French family of six:  husband & wife, son, daughter + grandparents.  The husband is apparently with the French military and stationed in Abu Dhabi.  They bought a full day, so a speedboat is supposed to pick us up at Telegraph Island around 1PM.

Our boat driver is Mohammed Kuzmar, the same gentleman who escorted Mark & Samia two weeks prior (they went on a preliminary excursion to check things out --- their first visit to Musandam.  And they’ve never been to the Empty Quarter yet…good thing I came over to drag their butts around!).  He speaks Arabic, French & English and I am truly impressed!  Mohammed gave me the lowdown on the speedboats from last night.  Apparently Khasab gets daily visits from Iranians who load up on American cigarettes.  They hang out all day and depart at dusk to make the two hour return across the Strait of Hormuz, benefiting from nightfall to elude the Iranian coast guard as they smuggle nicotine back to their homeland!  I found this incredible and Mohammed claimed it is a substantial part of Khasab’s economy.

Cool images ---> flying fish, which were apparently disrupted by our bow and leapt out of the water and quite literally flapped their wings to gain air for perhaps 10-to-20 feet!  Delightful.

Mohammed just waved a boat over and the fisherman presented us with a barracuda, which the French husband gladly accepted & started cutting up for bait…up until this visit he had been using an apple!

We have passed two villages that are only accessible by boat.  The first, Nadifi, has a population of about 100 and consists of four families (all this info provided graciously by Mohammed).  Children are boated to Khasab daily for school and a “grocery boat” delivers food each morning.  The village is deserted in summer (everyone relocates to Khasab) and the sole occupation is fishing.  It is amusing to witness the occasional pile of fishing gear piled on a rock outcropping with nothing else around…guess theft is not a concern here.  An amazing footnote is that you can see the power lines (using the standard wooden poles we’re familiar with in the US) traversing the rugged mountain landscape down to this remote speck of humanity.  Appears they have both electric & phone.

The grandest part of the boat ride occurred as we approached Telegraph Island and several dolphins accompanied us.  They seemed to delight in riding the boat’s wake, and would accelerate up one side, breach, dive beneath our craft and surface on the opposite side to repeat.  Mohammed really cranked the dhow up to encourage our bottle-nosed friends (dhows are constructed pretty much as centuries ago…just now they drop engines in ‘em!) and I'm sure he was amused as the entire group scurried back and forth across the deck after each dive!

The fascinating conclusion for our expedition was docking at Telegraph Island.  One could quickly see how one might “go round the bend” here.   I had learned earlier the British built a small fort here in the 1860’s to garrison a handful of troops tasked with guarding an underwater telegraph line…faced with utter calm the soldiers routinely went crazy and this wee island is the derivation of the phrase “going round the bend:”.  The foundations of several buildings remain, but nothing else.

Mark had packed along snorkel gear and we witnessed an impressive fish collection (snorkeling Musandam was unexpectedly par with similar ventures in Hawaii & the Caribbean).  Minor bummer was that I went barefoot as my feet were too big to slip into Samia’s flippers!

My compliments to Mark’s driving which deposited us safely back at their apartment in Sharjah.  I thought the steep, twisty coastal drive along the Persian Gulf in Oman was treacherous, but it paled in comparison to rush hour traffic in Ajman!  Scariest one was this woman trailing us in slow moving traffic.  She was flashing her headlights (as in “let me pass”) although we were creeping towards a dead stop…about thirty cars from the stoplight.  The light eventually turned green and we progressed to where there was a third lane presented for folks wanting to turn left at the intersection.  Our scary woman took this opportunity to cut into that opening and pass us and attempt to swerve back --- unfortunately Mark had been foolish enough to allow maybe a ten foot following distance from the car in front and of course someone from the right lane had to seize the opportunity and lurch into our lane as well.  I am astonished that they didn’t collide (both swerved back from each other…but the woman kept her pedal to the metal and actually pulled in front of the dude who cut us off from the other side!).

Now, here’s the fun cultural story.  Mark had informed before the lady pulled her stunt that her license plate was Umm-Al-Qwain #581.  Apparently in the UAE each emirate awards license plates by family power.  For example, sheikh Zayed (the sheikh of Abu Dhabi & ruler of the UAE) has about twenty vehicles…so he probably has license plates 1-to-20 in Abu Dhabi.  Mark asserted that as the tiniest emirate, #581 had to be the member of a very minor family…SO PISS ON HER!!!

On the way back home, Mark was on his cell phone to Samia (and sheesh, during my brief tenure here, the cell phone seems to be permanently attached to everyone’s ear!) and she had arranged dinner on a dhow cruising Dubai Creek to entertain a visiting professor from Berlin <the creek is a significant attraction of the city and divides the town into Bur Dubai & Deira.  Many souks & cultural attractions lie along this waterway, which is delightfully cluttered with working dhows + ‘abrahs’…or water taxis, which transport folks across the creek>.  This was an exceptional conclusion to the day --- to be snorkeling in Oman at lunchtime and plying the waters in a city of one million that evening….WOW!

We departed for Dubai Creek around 7:30PM and arrived at “Al Boom’s Tourist Village” around 8PM.  I find it very amusing to drive with Mark & Samia as they constantly trade opinions on the optimal route, while rarely agreeing.  In a traffic-jammed environment the quickest path is not necessarily a straight line and the particular time of day plays heavily into the navigation.  A key emphasis is avoiding nasty rotaries, and they have some monsters here --- we’ve endured several that have three lanes!

Anyway, we rendezvoused with Florian, a fellow architecture professor hailing from Germany and Peter, a visiting architecture prof from Berlin who was escorting 20 female students on a field trip (the entire evening had been predicated upon taking the girls out for dinner…but they were apparently too pooped from daytime activities to join us).  Chatted w/Peter some and it was enjoyed, though I struggled to find common ground despite his excellent English and time in the States.

On to the accommodations.  We were on an enormous, three-story dhow (difficult to fathom I was on a diminutive ancestor at lunchtime in rustic Oman, and now I’m back in serious civilization, gently plying the waters in a city of one million while four architecture experts critique the amazing buildings dominating the Dubai skyline!!!) all wood & crammed with dinner tables.  Our table was aft on the top deck, which was excellent, since we were open air and the weather was delightfully cool.  Small plates of numerous appetizers were already laid out when we were seated.  A new experience for me was enjoying a sprig of mint by plucking the leaves and dipping them in hummus and subsequently chomping down the stem.  What an amazing appetizer!  Samia left me swig her lime juice drink which was exceptionally tasty….but I’m certain way too caloric for this diabetic!

About 8:30PM the dhow kicked off & headed down towards the gulf.  Mark was kind enough to point out some sights for me (e.g., the Dubai Golf Course clubhouse, a phenomenal structure), though it eventually digressed into the architects debating whether or not certain buildings meshed with the art & culture of Dubai.  I have learned from Mark how intimately the functional aspects of architecture are intertwined with artistic concerns, and while he has provided me with numerous examples of how he has personally dovetailed these concerns --- it wasn’t until my peep show of a gang of architects that I could appreciate the degree to which this is stressed.

About midway into our cruise they placed a huge rack on our table, which contained calamari, lobster, chicken tikka, kebabs, etc. and we feasted mightily.  An amusing sidebar is that when they eventually returned to inquire whether we wanted a refill of anything, Samia asked for more calamari & got met with a blank stare…until she re-phrased the request for “more squid, please” --- and was then greeted with a smile and a quick re-stocking!

When the journey ended, Florian coughed up the 420 Dirhams (about $100-US) that we had rung up (they didn’t accept credit cards and we were cash poor, but Samia had accurately predicted Florian could cover us!).  $100 for an all you can eat boat excursion for six is a prime example of the inexpensive luxury of Dubai.