Tehran - Iran - page 114

dish of dizi (stew), a kabab or two, a cold drink or a huff and a puff on a qalyan by the
stream will soon help you forget the Tehran traffic. Among other tasty treats to sample on
the way up are dates, apricots, pickled walnuts, lavashak (sheets of pressed dried fruit),
fresh mulberries and steamed lima beans.
Darband also has a ski lift ( 7am-4.30pm Sat-Thu, to 7pm summer) , with tickets
costing US$1.50/3 one way/return.
The starting point for getting to either trail is the northern side of Tajrish Sq. For Darb-
and, either walk 2.5km uphill along Fana Khosrow St (or take a shuttle taxi), or leave the
grounds of Sa'd Abad Palace from the rear, cross Meydan-e Darband and continue uphill
to where you see the ski lift on the left. The walking trail starts where the road ends. A
visit to Darband can easily be combined with a visit to Sa'd Abad, or you can walk all the
way to Jamshidiyeh Park from a trail starting further east.
To get to Darakeh take a shuttle taxi from Tajrish Sq. At the end of Darakeh St you'll
be dropped in a square; the trail leads off from the northeastern corner.

Park-e Jamshidiyehهيدیشمج کراپ
( 7am-midnight) Also known as Stone Garden, Park-e Jamshidiyeh climbs steeply up
the lower reaches of the Alborz Mountains and offers a clean and relatively quiet atmo-
sphere in which to enjoy the views and escape the smog. It's the sort of place you could
happily while away an entire afternoon sipping tea, chatting with random Tehranis and
watching the lights of this huge city slowly come to life - though the food prices ( Click
here ) might give you indigestion.
If you're feeling energetic, a steep trail leads from the northwest corner of the park
(beyond the Turkomen restaurant) along the side of the mountain for about 5km to Darb-
and, making a thigh-burning but enjoyable and relatively pollution-free hike.

PARK

Tochal Telecabinلاچوت نیباک هلت
(Velenjak Telecabin; Click here ; 2240 4001-5; www.tochal.org ; Velenjak Ave, Velen-
jak; going up 8.30am-12.30pm, coming down till 3.30pm Tue-Sat) Popular Tochal
Telecabin runs 7.5km up Mt Tochal (3957m) to the fourth-highest ski field on earth where
you'll find snow for between six and eight months a year. The telecabin is busy on Fridays
when the slopes are packed with well-off young Tehranis here as much for the socialising
as the skiing (or hiking during the summer months). But it's virtually empty other days.
Note that the operating hours and days listed here tend to vary for reasons we cannot
fathom, and the telecabin doesn't run in windy weather; it's worth calling ahead.

CABLE CAR