Esfahan to Tabriz, Iran

29 - 30 May 2008

Haggling with handling agents

After dinner, we went to an internet café to check the wind and weather for our flight tomorrow to Trabzon, Turkey. To our dismay, we found that it was a no go. The minimum IFR altitudes due to high mountains are way above our limits, so we will have to fly VFR. Lots of clouds and thunderstorms were observed and forecast in the passing cold front. Freezing levels were down to 8000 feet with a temperature in Trabzon (at sea level) of 14 degrees! Looks like Angela will have to celebrate her birthday wearing a scarf and drinking alcohol-free beer.

30 May. We considered going to a new international airport in Sanliurfa near the Syrian border or to Nevsehir (Cappadocia), but the weather was still not good enough to cross the high mountains between Iran and Turkey. So we had a quiet day and visited the El Goli Park with another palace built by Shah Abbas in the 17th century. There we met a couple of young fellows one of whom spoke good English and was keen to chat. Later we checked the weather again for tomorrow, and it looks good except for a 20 - 35 knot headwind, so we are heading for Sanliurfa.
Angela`s birthday dinner was celebrated at Tabriz Modern Restaurant with the usual barley soup, salad served in a plastic take-away dish and trout washed down with the best non-alcoholic beer we could find in Iran.