Wednesday 3rd August
Waiting for us in the foyer of the hotel in Tehran was
our new best friend and tour guide Mohammed. He took us on a tour of the city stopping at the Golestan Palace and Grand Bazar. Once inside the Palace, the interior walls were plastered with intricate mirror mosaics and paintings. It was quite the sight but we weren’t allowed to take many photos so you’ll just have to believe us.
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| The Golestan Palace, Tehran |
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| Inside the Diamond Hall of the Golestan Palace, Tehran |
Already stunned by how friendly and approachable the Iranians were, it was about to step up a notch when we met Habib, a man who’s generosity knew no bounds. We started asking door to door for local mechanics who might be able to fit a sump guard, raise the suspension and re-attach the exhaust that Georgia had kindly snapped off for us. Luckily we stumbled across Habib, a local tyre salesman, who studies English at the University of Tehran. He called in the local pit stop crew who then set about fabricating a sump guard, welding it to the front and fitting new shocks to the rear wheels. He then negotiated with them to finish it by the end of the day for a price of $200, a steal given the work we needed.
Much interest swirled around our car at
the garage as many of them had never even seen a Nissan Micra. Selfies,
signatures and complementary cups of tea and slices of pizza were flying about
as more and more interested Iranians wandered over. Once the big dog mechanic
turned up we knew we were in good hands just from looking at the size of them.
He had the definition of spanner hands. Covered in engine oil and looking like
a black hole, he offered his equally oversized arm to us as we met. What
proceeded was the most surreal handshake I’ve ever performed as we sheepishly
shook his forearm whilst grinning at each other.
When we returned to the garage later in the evening, Marigold’s transformation was complete. All dolled up in her new engine underwear, stiletto suspension and a new purring voice she was ready to hit the town again. Mohammed then took us to meet up with some of his homies and we continued on out of the city centre for a meal overlooking the mountains. Keen to show off their English speaking skills, Mohammed’s friends were delighted to dine with 8 strapping young British bachelors.
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| Britain's best ambassadors in Iran |
Posted by: Rich