Yes, back to Iran

After waiting close to two months to receive our visa approval and MFA code from the Iranian government and another two weeks waiting while our passports were being processed at the Pakistan embassy in DC, we finally received our visas yesterday…with just a bit more than 2 weeks left before we planned to leave for our trip. We hurriedly booked our flights to Tehran and are ready to go.

I have acquired some technology that will allow me to post more often during this trip and I look forward to conveying our experiences using both photos and prose. The trip begins April 17…hope you care enough to follow our adventure.

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My San Francisco Treat and the Iran Wait

Golden Star Restaurant - San Fran

Golden Star Restaurant – San Fran

Five Star Chicken Pho

Five Star Chicken Pho

Nine weeks post shoulder surgery and it feels like I was operated on yesterday; my shoulder is killing me. Still, I managed a cross-country flight to San Francisco for a conference, with the very real possibility of a much longer flight in three weeks…keep reading.

I am currently lying in my hotel room with a Ziplock bag full of ice on my shoulder. I have just returned from a two hour walk to Chinatown and back where I found a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant that served fantastic pho. I ordered the 5 star chicken which was served with basil on the vine, super fresh bean sprouts and a plate full of seasoned chicken that I am sure was alive sometime today (it wasn’t from a package is what I am trying to say).  A splash of Sriracha finished it off; it was the finest bit of pho I ever had.  I left with my face on fire, dripping with sweat; that’s how I know it was beyond good.

I only had my iPhone so the photos above will have to do.

My shoulder is becoming too numb to type but I did want to mention that we have been planning a trip to Iran for mid-April and have been playing the visa game with the Iranian MFA and DC embassy.  We finally got MFA approval last weekend and sent our passports to DC last week asking for expedited service.  Still haven’t received them back and can’t make any flight reservations until we get the visas.  It’s touch and go with flight prices increasing daily.  I hope we don’t have to resort to a backup plan; too much effort went into this.

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Back to Iran?

We have submitted all of our information to apply for an Iranian visa and are now playing the waiting game with Iran’s MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to see if we get approval.   We are looking forward to a 12 day tour beginning in mid-April but may have to quickly adjust our plans if we get denied.

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An Unexpected Trip to San Francisco

Impending shoulder surgery and a personal malaise has put a bit of a damper on holiday related travel.  We considered all sort of destinations–New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Maine but eventually decided to stay put–until today.  While perusing some of the popular travel sites, we found a crazy deal on Priceline for a trip to San Fran.  For $33o each, we booked a 4 day trip, including air fare and hotel…really!   The weather forecast was the thing that sealed the deal…..sunny and low 60’s every day.  So, a planned overnight in Yosemite and day trip to Napa is in the works.

I am also working on a spring trip somewhere.  Derek and I have been trying to decide from a list of potential destinations–Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Jordan, Iran–or a combination from that list…or something completely different.  Hopefully I will be all healed by then.

Posted in California, US, West, Yosemite | 1 Comment

UZ/TM and Istanbul….on the road much more than I thought…

I knew that the last trip involved an extreme amount of travel but, thanks to Derek, I now know the mileage as well as the exact path we traveled.  We traveled 904 miles in Uzbekistan–446 on a plane from Tashkent to Urgench (Khiva) and 939 miles in Turkmenistan–all by car over, inarguably, the worst road conditions in the world. At one point in Turkmenistan, traveling away from Ashgabat, you may notice we drove about 3km from the Iranian border. The maps below show our travel path.

I still hope to get to part 2 of my trip dialogue but I fear that I have forgotten some of the more important details.  I will try to use my photos for recollection.

The red line represents the entire trip including flights and car travel.

The red line represents the entire trip including flights and car travel.

The red line represents the exact path we took in UZ and TM beginning in Tashkent, UZ traveling counterclockwise.

The red line represents the exact path we took in UZ and TM beginning in Tashkent, UZ and traveling counterclockwise.

Posted in Ashgabat, Asia, Bukhara, Darvaza, Istanbul, Khiva, Mary, Samarkand, Tashkent, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan | Leave a comment