Tehran(Iran)

Iran..was a nice country in the 70's..
I don't know about now..things have changed..
in Tehran..big wide paralell running boulevards..
don't recall much names..I recall..behind Tehran..
you can see the Alborz mountain range..
peaks up to over 4000m high even..nice sight..
Tehran itself lies at an altidude of over 1100m.
this means..cold winters sometimes..but in summer..
temperatures can go quite high in Tehran..
it was a crowded city I saw..hectic traffic..
the Amir Kabir hotel was a must for India overland freaks..
but..I never stayed there..I found a very little hotel..
in a side street of a main boulevard..very friendly owners..
hotel was always full of backpackers..don't know how they
spotted this place??we were 4 in a room..all travellers..
same street..I recall..a little restaurant...very simple but filling
food..beans..soup..or abghoust(stew)very simple food..
I recall I went to a bloodbank in Tehran..to donate blood..
in fact..you got an amount of money to donate blood..
my blood was clean,I guess..I was no junkie..ahah..
lots of foreigners gave blood there..in Greece as well..
Saloniki had a blood bank..I believe they called it *akepi*??
after donating blood..the medical staff gave some vitamines..
I guess B complex..to regain strenght??believe it or not..
but I saw one giant of a bloke..almost fainted..
when they tapped his blood..big mouth...small heart??
so..after this donation..I went for some food..
visited the Bazaar..aww..that's something..that bazaar..
hustle bustle of carpets..handicrafts..anything..
lots of touts..wanted to talk you into carpet stuff..
what would I do with a carpet??going to India..well..well??
I made my visa for India in Tehran..friendly staff..no hassles..
but it takes 2 or 3 days anyway..let me tell you all..
maybe you all have a wrong idea about Iran..
in the 70's..foreigners..going to India..were a curiousity..
Iranian students...wanted to know..why??wherefor..and how??
I was invited quite often to have a tea..even abghoust..
payed by Iranians..and to tell you..they were no capitalists..
it's just into the heart of these people..hospitability..
we can learn a lesson or two today here..
nowadays..people..just behave egoistic..egocentric..
did society change them??were the 60 or 70's better??
in my idea..no..even in the 60's..there was friction..frustration..
don't get to high ideas about hippies..60's..
we had our problems as well..just ask a survivor..
O.K..music..mentality..attitude..were different..
and I was glad to be part of that..deep inside me..
I don't think..I was a hippie..I was a gypsie..
with hippie ideas..the real hippies...
they lived in communes in California..or anywhere else..
they cared a shit..about publicity..they lived together..
with the ones they created a harmony..
I see this is far away nowadays...it's all greed..gossip..
distrust..life has become a game..well..well..
true love..is a matter of trust/respect..
if you play up with that..then you better get lost..
because..you're fooling yourselves..
oh..I'm ranting a bit here...so be it then..
but I can tell you all 1 thing..life..is in your own hands..
love it..or hate it..but don't mess around with it..
so..Tehran...it was hot in the summer..
I went to some bus station..for rates..
towards Qum-Kerman..was gonna make a stop in Kerman..
Tiger