Iran - Andrew Burke [72]
However, there is some light filtering through from the end of this foggy tunnel. By 2008 Tehran was halfway through a 10-year plan to try and curb pollution. Paykan numbers were falling, and petrol rationing has reduced (slightly) vehicle emissions. Clean air, however, remains a long way off. If the pollution really starts to hurt your throat, or you have asthma, head for the hills and relative purity of Darband or Park-e Jamshidiyeh.
Scams
There are many more dangerous places in the world than Tehran, where crime against foreigners (especially violent crime) is rare. There is, however, the odd bag snatch, pick-pocketing and scam, most notably the bogus police scam – Click here for details.
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SIGHTS
It’s not that long ago that southern Tehran was the centre of the city. Today, the area south of Jomhuri-ye Eslami Ave is the oldest and poorest part of town and is home to many of Tehran’s best museums, including the National Museum of Iran and the glittering National Jewels Museum, as well as the Golestan Palace complex and the Tehran Bazar. A little north of here is the area loosely referred to as central Tehran, on the edge of which is Park-e Laleh – home to the Carpet Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Most locals refer to anywhere north of Valiasr Sq as northern Tehran. Much of this area was semirural until about 35 years ago, but frenetic expansion has spread apartment buildings all the way to the foothills of the Alborz Mountains, engulfing the last shah’s opulent Sa’d-Abad and Niyavaran Palaces in the process.
In this guide we have included central and southern Tehran on one map (Click here); the area either side of Valiasr Ave heading north of Valiasr Sq on the Valiasr Ave & North Tehran Map; while places that don’t fall in these two areas can be found on the Tehran Map. Places are listed starting at the Tehran Bazar in the south and heading north from there.
Central & Southern Tehran
TEHRAN BAZAR
The maze of bustling alleys and the bazaris that fill them make Tehran Bazar (Map; main entrance, 15 Khordad Ave; 7am-5pm Sat-Wed, 7am-noon Thu) a fascinating, if somewhat daunting, place to explore. Traders have been hawking their wares on this site for nearly a thousand years, but most of what you see today is less than 200 years old; it’s no architectural jewel. The bazaris are a conservative bunch (see the boxed text, opposite) and there will be far more chadors than bleached hair.
The bazaar encompasses more than 10km of covered stores and has several entrances, but it’s worth using the main entrance, in a square opposite Bank Melli. The warren of people and goods is a city within a city and includes several mosques, guesthouses, banks, a church and even a fire station. Most lanes specialise in a particular commodity: copper, paper, gold, spices and carpets, among others.
You’ll also find tobacconists, shoemakers, tailors, broadcloth sellers, bookbinders, flag sellers, haberdashers, saddlers, tinsmiths, knife-makers and carpenters. The carpet, nut and spice bazaars might be the most photogenic, but the lane of stores selling fake designer labels also catches the eye.
In our experience there are two ways to visit the bazaar, a place that cartographers seem never to have fully conquered. One is to simply wander the labyrinth of streets and alleys, taking whichever direction you fancy and just going with the flow. You’ll almost certainly get lost but will soon enough be found and directed by any number of helpful Iranians.
The other is to allow yourself to be befriended