by Cynthia Koo | Dec 18, 2012 | Cambodia, India, Introductions, Introspection, Iran, Post-travel Reflections
I’ve been to more places in the last year than I have been in my entire life. And in another seven days, I will board a plane for my fourth Monsoon in the last year, this time to Eastern Europe, as a third-time veteran of The Monsoon Diaries’...
by Calvin Sun | May 19, 2012 | Iran
In the same vein as my previous post to Why You Should Come With Us to Iran, here’s your second chance to “go epic.” Although I won’t be coming along for a second trip — maybe that’ll be a perk? (jerks!) — this is your chance...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 25, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Fit for Foodies, Iran, You're Going to Miss It...
Go Yang has inspired a trend I wish I was talented enough to emulate. But then again, I figure imitation is the best form of flattery. So you’re going to crave…Iran. Let the drooling begin. You’ll crave the hard to pronounce, harder to prepare...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 23, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran, Mythbusters, Post-travel Reflections, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
I had said in a previous entry how “normal” everything seemed when I was in Iran last week, but about a week since I’ve returned I’ve noted some exceptions. Of course, some of these are via word of mouth through our interpreter, but this...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 14, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, How Did You Do That?, Iran, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Serendipitous!, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
As Americans, you’re not allowed to wander around Iran alone. You’re supposed to be guarded by an MFA-approved tour agency at all times following a strict itinerary. But that was not the case today. In true Monsooning fashion, we decided to skirt...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 14, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran, Mythbusters, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
We approach the mauseoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini with caution. If there’s anything I learned when I visited the mauseoleum of Kim Il-Sung in North Korea, it’s that you do not screw around when it comes to visiting the grave of the...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 12, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Epiphanies on the Road, Iran, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
He was a youth in 1979, toppling the statue of Reza Khan in defiance of the Shah. And as one of the many emerging activists of 1979 , he supported the historic regime change that led to the era of Ayatollah Khomeini. But before he was to bear witness to the...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 11, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran
The next morning we made a bee line to Naqsh E Jahan Square, which the Persians are proud to call it the second largest square in the world, second only to Beijing’s Tianenmen Square (The truth, according to Wikipedia, is that this is the world’s...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 11, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran
They call my hometown New York City “the city that never sleeps.” They call Petra “the Rose city, half as old as time.” They call Luang Prabang “the Pearl of the Orient”, Uganda “The Pearl of Africa” (thanks...
by Calvin Sun | Apr 10, 2012 | April 2012: Iran, Iran
It took us about 5 hours to get from Yazd to Isfahan by bus, and the some cinematic roadside scenery kept me awake (nearly) the whole time. I wish I could describe some of it to you in words, but I’m afraid I’d either overhype it or not do it enough...
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