Carpets are probably Iran's best known manufactured product (after hypothetical h b*mbs) and you do find them everywhere. You have them in every imaginable size and material, coming from every part of Iran. Qom, Tabriz and Yazd are know to be home of some of the finest carpets in the universe.
Tehran Bazaar Fruit Juice Vendor
The Tehran Bazaar is unbelievably huge. according to one carpet vendor we met there it is 25kms wide, holds 200 000 stores and sees 1 million visitors every day. Even though these figures are probably completely imaginary , I did spend almost an hour trying to escape from the kitchen appliances section, and after a morning of wandering I still hadn't bought a thing, as I could not locate any spices or any other random souvenir
Tehran City Theatre
This is a picture of the Tehran City Theatre. It is located in one of my favorites spots in Tehran, the crossroad of Vali Asr and Enquelab. Close to many universities the area is very lively, with many art students and hipsters gathering for a drink at the nearby Café Godot,
Iranian Students in downtown Tehran
As I was walking around the city center with a few friends a group of students hearing us speak English approached us and as they were English students themselves we had a quick chat - Asal, in the middle, told us that she lived in Malmoe for a few months, and she was very suprised people could live all their life in such a cold place.
Young Couple and Mural in Tehran
So I will try to put some pictures of Tehran, where I am currently living. Here is one typical one, those beautiful murals being everywhere in Tehran.
Smoking Monkey
Back to Bali and its monkeys! This one was also spotted in Ubud's monkey forest. Some woman had left her pack of cigarettes while going to the toilets, and that's what she found when she came back...
Vietnamese Couple Living on a Boat
So we just got into Bali yesterday, but it turns out I am moving to Iran for some time today, and I am not sure I will be able to update this blog from there. Hopefully I will, but in case I don't I wanted to post this portrait I particularly liked and leave you guys with it till I come back. It was taken in Can Tho, in the heart of the Mekong delta in Vietnam.
Bali
So here we are, after quite a lot of pictures we are leaving Malaysia behind, and moving on to Indonesia, and more precisely Bali. For some reason the name of Indonesian islands are surrounded with an exotic, almost magical aura "Java", "Borneo", "Bali", just by pronouncing them it feels like you're already escaping reality, and entering a time of tropical myths and legends. Well it turns out that in Bali at least reality isn't too far off from imagination. Monkeys, monks, temples, forest, dancers, fire, desert islands: welcome to Bali.
Portrait of a Pig
I met mister Pig in Vietnam, but his "portrait" reminded me of Mister Turtle's one, so I thought I could put him here alongside his Malaysian little friend.
Portrait of a Turtle
I met mister Turtle in the Cameron Highlands. As he isn't very tall, it was quite difficult to take a shot "facing" him, so I had to do a "blind" shooting, taking many shots and only looking at them afterwards.
Dizin, a Ski Resort in Iran
Dizin is the major Iranian ski resort. Located about 1h30 minutes from Tehran it is known to be a fairly "liberal" place, where youngsters go to escape the city's mayhem.