Caravanistan

An Iranian visa requires an authorization code which can only be issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran. See this post: <viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2261&start=10#p21232>.

Vegetarianism is becoming increasingly popular in Iran. Tell people you are "giyah-khor" or simply "vezheterian". This article lists 10 vegetarian restaurants in Tehran: https://mag.fidilio.com/ده-رستوران-گیاهی-در-تهران/ It is in Persian, but you can print it out and take it with you to Iran and ask...

At present the only way for Canadians, Americans and British to get a visa without booking a tour is to find an Iranian contact willing to spend a day waiting around the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran to fill out the paperwork to issue you an invitation. It is a big pain for them but Iranians...

After reading many such reports I thought it would be difficult to get a Chinese visa especially since I have a passport full of Iranian visas (and many others as well). But I applied at the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in Montréal, requesting a two-week single entry visa, and after four ...

Very slow, especially as unusually heavy rains this summer have washed out many areas in the centre of the country. Don't count on averaging more than 40-50km/hr even on the main East-West highway.

Persian (Farsi), Tojiki and Dari are different dialects of the same language. Like American and British English, Parisian and Québec French, etc. Local patois can be quite difficult to understand but everyone in Tajikistan is educated in the standard language and can speak it.

I have been travelling in southwestern Xinjiang for four days now and I have to say the checkpoints are really over the top. Even the Soviet Union (which I visited twice before its demise) was not like this. Anyone with the patience to deal with this situation and travel here anyway should budget tw...

I crossed today, from Murghab to Tashkurgan, no problems. From Murghab to the border took less than two hours because the driver basically drove off-road the whole way, careening this way and that over the desert sands trying to avoid the bumps. The border guards didn’t check my bags on either side,...

Enrolling as a student would probably be your best (maybe only) option for staying long-term in Iran. Two good possibilities are Persian language classes at the Dekhoda Institute (on Vali Asr near Pesyan below Tajrish Square) or the MA in Iranian Studies at Tehran University's Faculty of World Studi...

As of mid-February 2018 the Roki tunnel border post was no longer manned, allowing free transit between North and South Ossetia. I saw the abandoned guard posts between Nar village and the tunnel but didn't cross myself since I needed to go to Georgia afterwards and didn't want to take any risks, bu...