Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Black-market moneychangers will probably ask you to 'change' on the street before
you reach an official shop. See
Click here
for a warning on the black market.
Bank Melli Central Branch
(Bank Melli Markazi;
Click here
;
Ferdosi St)
The big one.
Post
Main post office
(
Click here
)
; Sa'di St;
8am-7pm) About 100m south of Amir Kabir
St. Post packages here before 1.30pm.
Telephone
SIM cards are widely available and recharging is even easier. Unreliable public telephones
are conveniently dotted along streets where traffic noise is loudest; cards can be bought at
newsstands. Telephone offices are surprisingly hard to find in Tehran, but
coffeenets
with
VoIP make up for that;
Pars Internet
(369 Ferdosi St; international calls per min
US$0.15; 9am-8pm Sat-Thu)
is one option. See
Click here
for more on telephones.
Travel Agencies
Travel agencies abound, with several on Nejatollahi St in central Tehran. For domestic
and international ticketing, reliable agencies with English-speaking staff include the fol-
lowing:
Asia 2000 Travel Agency
( 8889 6949; asia2000_travel@yahoo.com; Nejatollahi St)
Simorgh Parvaz Travel Agency
( 3397 1525; Baharestan Sq)
On the north side of
Baharestan Sq, handy to budget accommodation.
Universities
At the centre of political change in Iran,
Tehran University
(Enqelab Ave)
is a fascinat-
ing place to wander around. There is, however, a ban on foreign nonstudents entering
alone. To find a companion, hang around the front gate (the entrance is on Enqelab Ave)
until you're 'adopted' by someone keen to practise their English. All visitors must be off
campus by 3pm.
Visa Extensions
Try not to extend your visa in Tehran unless you cannot avoid it. While some travellers
have recently reported a smooth, two-hour process, things in Tehran tend to get more dif-
ficult whenever there is an international relations issue. If you must, head for the
Foreign
Intelligence Office
(cnr Soroush St & Hamid Alley, near Shariati Ave;
7.45am-1.30pm Sat-Wed, 7.45am-noon Thu)
, go through the gate and get your forms from
the building on the left, and make photocopies if necessary (
Click here
for details). Pay
