SURE MIRAGE TRAVE AND ABIEDAWJEE BRINGS YOU THE MAGICAL IRAN TOUR MAY 2015 EMIRATES AIRLINES FLIGHT DETAILS DEPART ARRIVE 1 EK 764 30APR JOBURG-DUBAI 1915 0515 2 EK 971 1MAY DUBAI-TEHRAN 0745 1025 3 EK 980 11MAY TEHRAN-DUBAI 4 EK 767 11MAY DUBAI-JOBURG 2320 2015 2200 0530 Day 1. Apr 30 Thursday Depart on Emirates Airlines from Joburg at 19.15 pm for Dubai Day 2: May 1st Friday Tehran Arrive Tehran. Midday check in to Laleh Hotel. Go to Darband for dinner and meet local people in this beautiful valley north of Tehran. Laleh Hotel. Day 3 May 2nd Saturday Tehran City tour of Tehran: Millad Tower, Jewelry Museum, Golestan Palace, Grand Bazaar. Laleh Hotel Day 4 May 3rd Sunday Tehran Visit the Shah Palace Sa’ad Abad and Nyavaran, Iran National Museum, Carpet Museum. Laleh Hotel Day 5 May 4th Monday Shiraz Morning fly Shiraz. Visit Vakil Bazaar and Vakil Mosque, Zand Citadel, Shrine of Ali ibn Hamzah. Chamran/Homa Hotel Day 6 May 5th Tuesday Shiraz Visit Eram Garden, Nasir al Molk Mosque, Zint Al Molk House, Orang House. Chamran/Homa Hotel Day 7 May 6th Wednesday Shiraz Visit Afif Abad Garden, Shah Chragh , Jame’e Atigh Mosque , Hafez Sadi Mausoleum, Chamran/Homa Hotel Day 8 May 7th Thursday Shiraz Visit Persepolis and Nagshe Rostam, Pasargadae. Chamran/Homa Hotel. Day 9 May 8th Friday Isfahan Drive to Isfahan. City tour of Isfahan. Visit ancient bridges. Abbasi Hotel Day 10 May 9th Saturday Isfahan Visit Isfahan Juma’ ah Mosque. Ancient Vank Church. Afternoon: free time for shopping in the famous, huge bazaar, Qeysaryeh. Abbasi Hotel Day 11 May 10th Sunday Isfahan Visit Nagshe Square, Imam and Shaikh Lotfollah Mosques. Aliqapu Palace . Chehel Sotun, the 40 pillars palace. Abbasi Hotel Day 12 May 11th Monday Tehran Drive towards Tehran. Visit Kashan: Borujedeih House and Finn Garden. Depart Kashan for airport and flight home Day 13 May 12th Tuesday Joburg Arrive Joburg O530 Itinerary subject to change if necessary due to unforeseen circumstances or to make the tour more interesting and comfortable. PRICE: R24,900 (excludes R600 visa cost) (subject to increase according to currency fluctuation) To secure your seat please pay a deposit immediately of only R11,500. DO NOT pay the full package price for now! You will be informed later how to pay the balance of R14,000 (R24,900+ R600R11,500) 1. The package price includes: Airfare from Joburg. Domestic flight Tehran to Shiraz, Accommodation, 2 persons per room. Daily breakfast and dinner. All transfer & sightseeing tours as mentioned above with local guides & entrance fees where applicable in Iran 2. The package price does not include: Visa cost (R600) Telephone calls, laundry, all drinks during meals Lunch (stops will be made to allow for the purchase of snacks). Any other personal expenses 3. Accommodation If you wish to have a room for yourself only, you will have to pay a single supplement charge of R5,000. Sharing: If you are travelling alone & do not want to pay the single supplement, we will try to match you up to share a room with someone of your age group. Note that generally we are successful in finding suitable partners. However, if we cannot do this you will be matched with any other single person of any age group. If no other person is found to share a room with you, you will have to pay the single supplement. Children: Every possible attempt will be made to accommodate children in rooms next to their parents but this cannot be guaranteed as some hotels do not have the appropriate accommodation or do not comply with our requests. There is no price reduction for 3 persons sharing a room. Rooms are allocated randomly and some may get better positioned rooms (i.e. the view) and no changes can be made. 4. Payment Do NOT pay the full package price into our account. Pay ONLY R11,500 now. You will be told later how to pay the balance. After the deposit has been made, please write clearly the name of each passenger travelling and your phone number onto the deposit slip and fax copy to 0866893206. Very important! If the passenger’ s name is not shown clearly on the deposit slip the payment will be impossible to trace and will not be recorded. Cash deposits - if you deposit cash into our account please add R200 per person. This is the bank’ s cash deposit fee. Unfortunately payments CANNOT be made with credit cards because all tickets are sent to us by the airline as a group in one email just prior to departure. Also, we do not have credit card facilities at our office. Please do not query this as payment by credit card can definitely NOT be made. 5. Inoculation/Medical You will need a medical laboratory report (detailed) indicating that you do not have HIV, TB and HEPATITIS B. Please send one letter for each person travelling. 6. Passports Send a clear scanned copy of your passport immediately so that we can book your flight and apply for your visa. Then later send your passport to us with four 3x4 cm recent colour photographs (all same). Send as follows: Outside Durban : If you are some distance away, send it via POSTNET or a courier of your choice. The Post Office is frequently on strike Address the envelope to: 42 OVERPORT DRIVE , BEREA , DURBAN Get a tracking number or receipt. In Durban If you are in Durban, drop off your passport at: AT OUR OFFICE AT THE ABOVE ADRESS Please send the following info with your passport: Father's name and Paternal grandfather's name Occupation + work address and work contact details Photos Residential address, Office and home phone numbers Lab report. Please ensure that your passport does not expire within 6 months from the date on which you are travelling. You must have at least 2 blank pages in your passport next to each other. Temporary passports are not allowed. 7. Luggage . Please call us to confirm weight of baggage allowed. Warhart International, Abie Dawjee or Gasht Tours will not be responsible for any baggage lost or delayed by the airlines. Delayed baggage will be conveyed to you at your cost. Remember that domestic flights in South Africa only allow 20 kgs. We urge you not to take hand-luggage as there is not enough space on the bus. 8. Currency Do NOT take travelers cheques. Carry only cash dollars 9. Travel Insurance We strongly advise that all travelers obtain travel insurance. In the event of any health problems we cannot be responsible to provide payment for medical treatment or hospitalization. We may be able to get a special group rate for insurance so check with us first. If you a Discovery member you can get travel insurance through them. 10. Cancellations Any cancellation made less than 14 days before departure will be subject to a 50% penalty. Any cancellation made less than 7 days before departure will be subject to a 75% penalty. Cancellation penalty on any airline ticket issued will be subject to that airlines policy. 11. Departure Time Check with us for departure time 12. Disclaimer Warhart International, Abie Dawjee or Gasht Tours or any of their agents will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage suffered by the traveler on this tour through any cause whatsoever. This itinerary is subject to change should Gasht Tours find it necessary to do so. BON VOYAGE !! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The road less travelled to Iran AM Mahomed THE STAR JANUARY 10TH 2014 I recently visited Iran for twelve days and it was a perception shattering experience for me. With sanctions in place for over twenty years, and the noose being tightened more and more after Iran has been made the bogey man of the region at the behest of Israel and its key ally, the USA, I thought I will find a country in dire straits, with failing infrastructure, poverty, religious intolerance and the like. Instead I found a country well on its feet, the people resilient enough to be self sufficient in terms of their food and other locally produced goods, manufacturing whatever they need, even a local car, their Pekay (our Hillman Vogue of the seventies!) I thought I will find a domestic airline that had rickety, ancient planes, only to find modern well serviced fleets in all its three local airlines apart from Iran Air, its international airline. I expected roads in disrepair but looked hard to find potholed roads or even traffic lights that did not work. The lights are on, the water runs, and trade is on the go, even though their oil exports have trickled to a mere ten percent of their capacity. While sanctions are hurting, I found only four beggars in the four cities over the course of my stay. In every city there are special letter boxes for charity collection, and through the Khomeini Foundation the poor are catered for adequately. The cities are clean and services are functional. While shias are in the majority (90%) there are substantial communities of Sunnis, Armenian Christians and Jews, each being catered for in terms of their religious practices and places of worship. They are even represented in parliament on a proportional basis. The Jewish community prefer living here, rather than emigrating to Israel! There is also no Shia –Sunni conflict or suicide bombers, and the country is peaceful and a haven of religious tolerance. I travelled extensively both by air and road. All truck and bus drivers make mandatory stops at all toll plazas in which they physically stop their vehicles at a police check point, their drivers licenses are checked, and time between stops measured to calculate their average speed covered (and if found speeding, are dealt with), and also to assess how many hours they have been at the wheel – if more than eight, they are not allowed to carry on travelling on the same day. Great rules we could do with even in South Africa to stop some of the carnage. The taxi driving is of a world class, not cutting barrier lines or any hooting. Public bus services are in good condition, and Tehran has five operational Metro lines with two more planned to open shortly. Shiraz and Isfahan have beautiful palaces, mosque complexes and ancient historical landmarks. Persepolis and Necropolis can be compared to Petra to a lesser degree, and is a beautiful reminder of the fall of once strong and ancient civilisations – a possible reminder to the strong and powerful of today. These two cities are also renowned for their top surgeons that do cosmetic surgery to people wanting their nose size or shape changed, and for hair implants for baldness. It is a common sight to see people from all over the world coming here specifically for this surgery. Tehran has Dizin and Shemshak ski resorts, some 2 hours drive to the north. Not being a skier myself, the few Europeans that came were enjoying the quality of the snow, the various gradients of slopes, and the four cable way routes the resort has going up the mountains in various directions. They admitted these slopes compare to the best you can find in Switzerland and Austria, and at a fraction of the price. Iran is a leader in nano technology and in other specialist research fields. They host many world famous conferences and congresses. The literacy levels are high, and even women have made a positive mark in many fields of endeavor. Locallers have lots of respect for South Africans, and Mandela is even a household name in rural Iran! They welcome trade and investment, and because the country is now opening up, it has great potential. Overall I found it a pleasant destination even in winter, with both snow mountains and warm beaches available on either extreme of the country. With very few tourists having discovered this gem, it is still a good time to go. http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/go-off-the-beaten-track-to-iran-1.1630319