Some 15m people live in Tehran so the city is bigger than London or New York. Your first impression will be that you inhale fuel. Tehran is one of the most polluted cities on earth. And according to the government, 80% of the smog comes straight out of the exhaust pipes of the city's four million cars, trucks and motorbikes.
Traffic is manic, too. See the Youtube clip below. Traffic is regulated in as far as that there is only one speed limit: the fastest you can go.
Traffic is manic, too. See the Youtube clip below. Traffic is regulated in as far as that there is only one speed limit: the fastest you can go.
And it's good fun to cross a street in this crush.
Golestan Palace
Golestan Palace was built by Nasser al-Din Shah from 1850 or so after he had visited European palaces. This site is now in the buzzing south, nearby the Bazaar and what was then the heart of Tehran.
Tehran Bazaar
The bazaar's covered stores line more than 10km of lanes and there are several entrances. Traders have been hawking their wares on this site for nearly 1000 years. We actually found it a bit overcrowded to explore and only saw the outside fringes of it.
National Jewels Museum
This museum is owned by the Central Bank and Tehran's #1 thing to do according to Tripadvisor. We were not allowed to take photographs in there so I took the below from elsewhere. Even though we were not that fussed over jewels, it was quite amazing to see some of the largest uncut diamonds in the world and all the things that were made out of it.
Azadi Tower (Freedom Tower)
The inverted-Y-shaped Azadi Tower was built in 1971 and is now the city's main landmark. It was built by the last Shah to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the first Persian empire. From the 50m-high top you have a pretty good view on the nearly 3,000m high mountains Tehran is surrounded by as well as the massive construction boom taking place in the city.
Other Miscellaneous Pictures
With its relatively short history, ugly mask of concrete and manic streets, Tehran is not a particularly attractive city on first glance. But in the short time we were there we saw a quite dynamic heart beat behind the ugly surface. Highlights include North Tehran, Vali Asr (the longest street that connects the urban cosmopolitan North with the poorer and more religious South), the Cinema Museum, Parks and further local bazaars.