Iran - Andrew Burke [341]
Taking the bus from Zahedan to Bam we witnessed both the reasons for and effect of such searches. Each of our bags had our ticket number written onto it, just in case we tried to deny it later on. Then we had to wait an hour before we departed while a couple of men, clearly with the understanding of the bus staff, used a knife to pry open the underneath of several seats and stuff contraband within. At the checkpoint, after waiting an hour while other buses were searched, we got off the bus and, like everyone else, took all our luggage to a nearby table. The officers didn’t pay too close attention to our bags once they realised we were travellers, but they did spend 45 minutes opening and searching everything else on the bus, as well as sniffing around inside. Apparently they didn’t find whatever had been secreted inside the seats, as the grinning smugglers retrieved it soon after we moved on.
* * *
Bus Companies
Most bus companies are cooperatives and until recently they were referred to simply as Cooperative Bus Company No X (Sherkat-e Ta’avoni Shomare X), or whatever number it is. In recent years most have taken on more varied names, but in the terminal they’ll still direct you to, for example, ‘ta’avoni hasht’ (cooperative number 8). The best ta’avonis, with the most extensive network of services, are TBT (Taavoni 15) and Iran Peyma (often with the word ‘Ta’avoni’ or ‘Bus No One’ written on it).
For a bit more comfort Seiro Safar and Hamsafar offer newer, better buses for a little more, though most travellers don’t bother seeking out a specific company and just take whichever is the next bus going their way. The exception is with bus types – see the boxed text.
Bus Terminals
Most bus terminals are located at the edge of town and are easy to reach by shuttle or private taxi, less so by local bus. In some cities there’s more than one bus terminal; if in doubt, ask at your hotel or charter a taxi to the relevant terminal. Tell the driver ‘terminal-e (your destination)’ and he’ll know where to drop you – pronounce ‘terminal’ with a prolonged ‘aal’ at the end.
Bus terminals are filled with the offices of individual bus companies, though timetables are rarely in English. Just ask ‘Shiraz?’, ‘Esfahan?’ or wherever and you’ll be directed to the right desk, or listen for your destination being screamed out when a bus is about to leave. When you hear that a bus is ‘leaving now’, ‘now’ can be defined as sometime within the next 45 minutes or so.
Terminals always have somewhere to buy food, and some larger terminals have a post office, police station, left-luggage facilities and maybe even a hotel. The information desks are basically useless; as the woman working behind the desk at one Tehran terminal told us with a frustrated shake of her head: ‘We’d like to be able to help, but the companies never give us their timetables, so we can’t’.
If you’re leaving a junction town, such as Zanjan or Kashan, you may need to flag down a passing bus on the road instead of going to the terminal. Position yourself near enough to the passing traffic that you can shout out your destination without being run over – a combination that is not as simple as it sounds. Roadblocks, roundabouts, service stations and junctions are the best places to hail passing buses – locals will point you to the right place.
Costs
Mahmooly buses usually cost a bit more than half what a Volvo costs. For example, the 1024km trip from Tehran to Kerman costs IR52,000/90,000 by mahmooly/Volvo, while the 440km journey between Tehran and Esfahan costs about IR23,000/50,000. Either way, it’s cheap, though expect prices in this book to rise steadily.
Reservations
It’s possible to buy tickets up to a week in advance, except at No Ruz when most people don’t bother. Between major cities, such as Esfahan