Day 3: Grab your brother & get out of here :-)

Morning: I do my little travel organizing bit. Cancel things, book new places. For hotels in Kashan, there is only 1 hotel recommended in my books. Hotel that I cannot get a hold of on the phone. I ask Mr Mousavi for help, and he recommends his friends' place, the "Ehsan Historical House", near Agha Bozorg (Bozorgh Mosque). The room I book will be a traditional room, with en-suite bathroom (I thought Alain might need that after all the travelling, and I'm not against a little comfort myself).

This morning I eat my breakfast more heartily, knowing Alain's on it's way and that we can resume travelling... not that I don't like Tehran, but I know there's so much more to see, and so little tiiiiiiiiime.

Around noon, Anna and I leave for the Golestan Palace. It's walking distance, near the bazaar. The bazaar looks huge & complex, something else than the one in Istanbul (there I go again, doing some bazaar name-dropping now!).

Golestan Palace is absolutely beautiful. A real jewel. No tourists. Very quiet. Just the sound of the call to prayer in the background. We walk around...

We return to the hotel. I decide to wait for Alain, he should be here by 16:30 or so.

...but I learn that Alain received the wrong information, and he texts me telling me he'll land at 17:00. Aaaaaargh. More waiting! So frustrating! Oh well, we'll just take a late bus for Kashan, as soon as he arrives. Apparently, they run until 22:00... In the meantime, I'm in the lobby, reading. Anna joins me for a chat, waiting for internet. Time flies rather rapidly. We talk with Mr Mousavi about the trains in Iran. Anna wants to take the train to Isfahan. He tells us there's a very good train line from Tehran to Mashhad. The 1st class coaches are all comfort, flatscreen TV, food, european toilets, clean. I think that train is called the Simorgh. It's definitely on my list for my next trip to Iran. Definitely.

While waiting for Alain, I realize that when he shows up, I won't be able to kiss or hug him (public display of affection is a no-no). Will be very odd.

Finally the long-awaited brother arrives around 19:30. It is indeed awkward not being able to hug. Anna offers him date milk to celebrate :-)

We leave rather rapidly, to catch the bus for Kashan, with a taxi which takes us to the South Station. Once arrived, and as I am about to pay, I almost fall into the trap of the "taarof". Taarof in Iran is the "politeness rule". One example of taarof you can encounter while making a purchase (or paying for a taxi) is that the seller will refuse your money. You then have to insist to pay. He will refuse maybe 2 more times, then finally accept your money. So when the taxi driver first refused the money, I thought maybe it had already been payed for by the hotel, but by the time I got to the end of that thought, I remember reading about the t'aarof... and insisted to pay, to the great relief of the taxi driver (who had seen me hesistate).

The bus station is huge. It's 20:00 and so busy. We look for company n°17, the one providing trips to Kashan, but this one's part of the few stations where the number is written only in Farsi. But thanks to our little dictionnary, we find it. The bus is at 20:30 and it's 20:27. Perfect timing :-) The tickets are all written in farsi, so we have to ask someone where are our seat (seats are numbered). Because they are separated seats, someone has to move so I don't have to sit next to a foreign man (Allah forbid!). Finally my brother and I have time to catch up on our recent adventures, mine in Tehran, his in Roissy then Bahrain.

In the bus, a movie is shown. Iranian movie, in Farsi. The buses stops a few times to drop off some passengers, and finally we'll spend 3,5 hours in the bus. We get a snack (cookies) with Apple juice bought on the side of the road in a little store. (see picture).

Once in Kashan, the taxi has no idea where our "house" is. We ask around and finally find it. The taxi driver really put a lot of effort to find the place.

The Traditional House is beautiful. A renovated house... we arrive in the patio, nice lighting, a huge bassin and fountain... we have a choice between the traditional and regular room but opt for the traditional, after all, it's not everyday you get to pay to sleep on the floor, hee hee. Nah, it's just the same system as futon actually.

Even bothered by one mosquito, we both quickly fall asleep. Let the Kashan adventure begin...