Kish (Day 3)

We got up early today, around 6:00, and headed for the beach. After changing at the locker room there, we headed for the water. I wished I had had some snorkeling equipment. The water was clear and pristine with no algae or muck to speak of. It was also extremely calm. The waves were mere ripples due to the light breeze that passed over. The white sandy beach was spotted with shells, and a short swim from shore provided a view of some breathtaking corals at our feet. Just on shore was the largest and most extravagant hotel on the island, Hotel Dariush. Named after a prominent Persian king from about 300 B.C., the hotel was designed to look like the buildings at Persepolis, the seat of the ancient Persian Empire located just outside the modern city of Shiraz.

Just behind this hotel, we could see the beginnings of a development that we later found out at a booth in Paradise Mall were a series of high-rise apartment complexes with units for sale called Sun City (www.shahraftab.com). When developed, this will be 14 buildings, each either 7 or 14 stories with an arrangement that provides a view of the beach for about 70% of the units. The units range from 500 to 3500 square feet with a price of about $180 a square foot. This complex comes complete with all the amenities of a hotel – waiters for your parties, dry cleaning, furniture cleaning, wireless internet, sports complex, water sports complex, and a commons area with live music. We were very tempted to buy a unit right there on the spot.

After swimming, we went back to the hotel and cleaned up and headed to breakfast. Over breakfast, we had another heated debate, this time about religion versus science. It started with a discussion about stem cell research and then went from there. We went to Paradise 2 Mall one last time to walk around, and went to a booth where we got all the information about Sun City. When the call to prayer at lunch was announced throughout the mall, it indicated the closing of the mall for the afternoon. This call to prayer, or azan-e-namaz, is announced three times a day in Shiite Muslim countries in public places – at dawn, around noon, and at dusk.

We rested back at the hotel, where I updated my journal and packed. Around 4:30 we checked out and headed to the lobby where we waited for about 1 ½ hours. The hotel shuttle took us to the airport where we checked in and waited for a while. I once again marveled at the 3D models of the Flower of the East development project (www.floweroftheeast.com). When we went to get our boarding passes, the guy there said that my Dad’s luggage was too big, and he had to check it in. This was a bag that was considered carry-on on the way here, so I decided to get into it with the guy just for kicks. I accused him of never having left the island, and he gave me some silly excuse that extra baggage in the cabin would create turbulence problems and mess with the flight of the plane. Deciding he was no longer arguing at my level, I let it go and we boarded the plane for Tehran.

The flight home on the Russian Topolev jet was short and smooth. Rather than the Southwest Airlines peanuts, we got a dinner of kebab and rice. I sarcastically remarked to my Dad that the bread was the only thing missing, when I turned around and the stewardess was standing above me with a tray full of bread. Dad and I started another political discussion that just heated up as the plane landed. After picking up my Dad’s bag from baggage claim, we went outside where my cousin Saeid and his wife Sholeh were waiting for us. They took us to Aunt Minoo’s house where everyone was waiting. We all looked at the pictures I had taken on my computer and had some more family time before falling asleep.