Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Hossein's Guest House Iran, any experiences?

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Hossein's Guest House Iran, any experiences?

I have been put onto a young guy in Urmia, Iran who runs Hossein's Guest House.

He tells me he can get me into and out of Iran without a carnet, no problems.

I have seen another thread on HUBB from about 12 months ago that was to put it bluntly, very unflattering.

Has anyone used this service or know of someone who has? It seemed to me that some of the problems mentioned in the other thread may have been teething problems/inexperience.

I can't afford an RAC carnet which would be at least 800 pounds out of pocket. Until now I was going to get the boat from Baku, now I am considering this option.

I would hate to get to the border and not get in or be told $1000 to get in or once i'm in a $1000 to get out for that matter!

There are quite a few earlier threads with reference to your question:-
Search | Horizons Unlimited

Hi Daze,

I have been there with my mate this summer and also just had a few messages exchanged with Grant on the matter. I think it might be helpful to post my view on this here. This is part of what I sent to Grant:

Quote:

I got his contact details from one of my sponsors, ENDURISTAN.
When I
told them about Iran, they said one of their guys had been through there recently and stayed with Hossein and recommended him, so I thought we
might as well stay there for a while. I read a lot about him on the HUBB
and was not sure if he would be an honest guy, given what was said about
him. But then also there were some who really seemed to have enjoyed
their stay, and I got pretty keen on finding out who was right,
with the intention of writing a review later.

Anyway, here is what my mate and me experienced in Urmia:

We crossed Turkey to Iran on the northern Border, but still went down to Urmia, as I had contacted
Hossein a few weeks earlier, when my mobile phone broke. I use a
Motorola and my display broke, so I needed a new one. There was none to
be found all over Istanbul so I figured rather than hanging around even
longer (that was the second month in Turkey), I might as well try to
find it in Iran. Hossein came back to my mind (which was hard to change,
as he kept sending me messages on facebook...) and so I asked him if he
could get that display for me to pick up once in Iran. He said he might
manage and a few days later told me a friend could order it, would take
some weeks and cost me about 80 Dollars, to be payed on pickup. This
seemed fairly expensive to me, but later we found out that there is
absolutely no Motorola in Iran and they had to get it from the
Netherlands or Belgium I think (can't remember exactly) and so the price
seemed fair.
Also we had some trouble with our visa for Iran and various agents, and
Hossein offered to help for a price I do not remember. Opposed to the
agencies we used, he said that he wanted the money once we were in Iran, which I found a nice gesture, as he would be taking the risk of our
application failing and we would not have to send any money to anyone
else, not knowing if they would truly do their job...
In the end we got
our visa in Trabzon after the elections were over and things returned to
normal, so we did not take his offer.

So one day, we rode into Urmia. Lucky as always, my mate forgot to safe
Hossein's number on his phone and we ended up in the middle of town with
no idea where to go. So I thought I might as well give it a go and try
to tell the gathered crowd that we were looking for a man called
Hossein, who apparently runs some kind of biker hotel thing.
It took us five minutes and a guy came up, announced in pretty broken
English he had a friend who rides motorbikes and would call him. Another
two minutes and Hossein showed up on his little 125cc. I took that as a
good sign and we followed him.

We got into a small backyard behind a roll-down door and a rather chubby
man with about the widest smile I have ever seen came out of the house
and started kissing and hugging us. At that point I felt a little
bewildered, but he seemed so very genuinely happy to see us, that we
ended up smiling and being hugged and kissed for a while. Then there was
a little equally chubby kid that seemed VERY active from the first
minute and greeted us in English.
We got into the house and, after already meeting his brother and father,
were introduced to his mother.

All the time we wondered where we would find the hostel. Asked for that,
Hossein smiled and said he had several rooms. But while two would
be located in the back of the house, being the only guests, we were to
have the best room. The best room was one of the three rooms of the main
building, serving as office and bedroom. It had a single table with a
laptop on top of it, a quite comfy rolling office chair and two
mattresses stacked one on wall.
The other two rooms were the bathroom (squad toilet comes with a
"western-style adapter", that looks like a proper toilet seat on rolls
and can be shoved over the squatter) and the main room, which is a
combination of kitchen and living room. There is a huge TV in there, too.

I asked Hossein for the price per night and he wanted 25USD per person(!), which is honestly the most I payed
in a month in Iran for accommodation. He had told me before on facebook,
so I knew what to expect, but it still stung, as we just slept in a
pretty nice hotel the night before for less, which was no comparison to
the homestay room at Hossein's.

That brings us to the point where I think most of the people who wrote
about him were pissed off. To me it seemed, that many of his former
guests did not expect to pay this much (or even pay at all) and were
shocked when they got his rates. I
almost ended up right there too, had I not really needed the display for
my mobile I had ordered earlier.

The next day we woke up, had a nice if simple breakfast with the family
and Hossein asked us if we needed anything particular and if we could
write a list of that.
We thought about it and there were quite a few odd
bits and pieces, so we all started off soon. He jumped on his bike and
we followed up and spent the next two days shopping for this and that.
He found us a proper map in English, various electronic bits, brake
pads, pliers and more. He got us to an insurance company and we paid a
lot less than those people at the border wanted and got us to a money
changer with about as good rates as we ever had in Iran. In the evenings
we met with some of his friends in the park and had a water pipe
together or met up somewhere for pizza - he would drive us out in his family's car, so we would not have to ride the bikes.

His friends were a
little weird now and then but all in all we really had a good time. And
Hossein spent all day with us, showing us around, riding from here to
there and helping out.

On the second day I picked up my mobile display and although I had planned to do
the assembly myself, the mobile guy insisted on fixing it for me, free
of charge. Unfortunately the display seemed very dim, so I took it over
to Hossein's to reset my phone. No one asked for any money and it went
without saying, that I would not have to pay before the phone worked as
it should.
Bad luck, the display was the issue and whoever sent it in had sent a
broken device. I was very upset about this, as there seemed to be no way
to find this stuff anywhere else in Iran or Pakistan. First thing in the
morning Hossein inquired about the phone and after being told, jumped on
his bike and got the dim display to his friend the mobile guy, telling
me he would try to fix it. All in all, that guy took a day taking apart
my old, broken display and the new dim one and somehow soldered the whole
stuff together, making one good one of two bads. He also installed some
Iranian gps mapping software with offline maps on both of our phones,
cleaned the whole thing inside out and got my worn old battery fixed.
And he very much insisted on not getting a cent for this, as he felt it
to be his responsibility, after the ordered part was sent in broken.

At that point I felt the whole expense was absolutely worth it, as I probably
would have never found the display or the repair guy on my own without
Hossein's help and translation. Also keep in mind they ordered and payed for that weeks before I was in Iran and did not ask for any money before I had it installed. We got back to his place late at night
and were all pretty tired, but Hossein asked us about our planned route
and offered to help sorting it out, as we were planning to leave early
next morning. We started that, but he was very thorough and we all in
need of sleep, so we decided to stay another night, plan on the next day
and as well do some maintenance while we were there.

That night I went to bed and started to realize what all this was about.
And suddenly I did not dread the 25USD anymore. Next morning I asked
Hossein what exactly his job was and he told me "I am a guide and host,
I help travelers in Iran."

And I think exactly this is the reason for all the trouble about him on
the forum.
Hossein does not see himself as a provider of accommodation,
he provides services. At his place, no one is paying for a bed, you pay
for a day of Hossein's time. He works for you all day, but communicating
that in a way that is understood by people like us is not his strong
suit. Maybe this is due to a lack of English (his is pretty good, but
some undercurrents just get lost in translation now and then), but I think it is more a cultural
thing. We met a lot of people who hosted us in Iran, most for free, but
everyone made absolutely sure we had what we needed.

Hossein is taking this to the next level and he made it his job and it
feeds his family. And I am pretty sure, that if he learns to just properly
communicate that, there will not be any trouble anymore. He just takes it for
given that people coming to his place expect him to do all this stuff
for them. For him it is all part of the package, but he does not
realize, that some of his guests are just looking for a place to sleep.

So, if you would be looking for a bed and breakfast, I could not
recommend Hossein's Guesthouse at all.

But if you need someone to help you find this or that, to show you
around and to plan your trip, he is a good choice. He knows area and people people, and get get you anything you might need. I do not know about his
visa services, but I would expect them to be just as good.

I think Hossein is a nice and honest guy. His family is nice to be with,
one just has to make sure to have an eye on his hyperactive little
brother.

What I learned from my stay there and am trying to put in these
lines is this:

To me they guy seems totally misunderstood. Some people think he would
ask you to be his guest (apparently for free) and then suddenly wants
money for that, and a lot by Iranian standards. This is wrong, he is
just doing his job and feeding his family. But he is having a hard time
with communication and that IMHO is the big problem here.

I told him about my thought before I left and he asked me, if I could
write a little text for his homepage, stating that for your 25USD you
are not getting a bed, but someone who takes care of your things. I
t hink I will do that when I find the time and hope this helps preventing
more trouble with all this stuff.

So if you want my comment, I do not believe his attitude is a problem,
but rather his communication.

He is no samaritan, but
he is good at his job and is hoping to expand, building some extra
rooms. Have a look at his facebook site if you like, there is heaps of
people who stayed with him and who might have similar views.

Also, in my eyes he is doing a vital job in promoting Iran and
connecting travelers - and this country and it's people really can do
with more tourists.

In the end it might just come down to making clear what exactly is going
on there, so that people who do not want his "services" just go and find
another place to stay and he knows how to communicate.

This might be a bit more than you asked for, but I guess it might be helpful to have this available for everyone who cares to read it. ;)

If you have any more questions regarding Hossein or Iran, I am happy to help if I can. bier

EDIT: Sorry for the messy formatting, copied most of this of my emails and that somehow messed things up... ;)

My experience at Hosseins Guest House in Urmia in Aug 2013

Hi All,

great comment jnk_.

I stayed in August 2013 at Hussein’s guest house while on my trip from Germany to Kirgistan.

I hope I can write a few lines to make this myth about Hossein go away, as he is a person who has dedicated himself and I guess also his family to make the perfect stay for any motorcyclist or any other tourist who come to an touristic undeveloped country!

I got the contact from Hossein over the traveler seeking traveler forum as I wrote that I am driving through the Iran, a friend from Hossein, told me that Hossein can help me on the boarder and that he runs a guest house. I than exchanged contacts and Hossein contacted me per email.

We started our contact when I was in Greece, so plenty of time till I arrived in Iran.

Of course I was thinking about the risk and safety trusting a guy just from a contact in the forum, however during the time in Turkey we changed a few lines and Hossein informed me about the details of the border, we chatted about the exchange rate and so on… of course lot about motorbikes! Also he kept me updated if he knows if anybody is driving in my direction as I was traveling on my own. So by the time I arrived in Van we have already been communicating so I trusted him, I didn’t ready anything about him in any forum before! A German biker Steve stayed at his Guest house 2 days before me coming towards me, unluckily we didn’t meet however we communicated over FB.

In all the communication Hossein told me all about his services, his guest house price and all other things important for a traveler to know about the Iran! I can tell that it was all honest and did exactly fit what I then experienced while being there! However, of course I also thought a lot if I need all his help as I have a tight budget and I am going single all the way….. so I won’t have too much comfort anyway. However it was the right choice as I stayed 30 days in Iran and I had a perfect setup in Urmia, it was throughout the trip very helpful as I learned a lot about Iran at my 4 days of stay and I had contact throughout the trip and later with Hossein as I recommended him for travelers I met and he organized also 2 polish bikers to get into Iran without a Carnet de Passage, I met them in the Pamir Mountains and they also thanked me to pointing them into Hosseins direction, as they would have stuck in Turkmenistan!

So here a few lines how I experienced the stay:

I have let Hossein know that I am coming in a 2 days while I was in Van/Turkey, he told me to not get any Rial in Van, as I get a better rate in Urmia, also he told me not to bring alcohol and all the normal stuff about border crossings. He said I should call him 15 min before I arrive at the border so I did. I then arrived at the Turkish site, it was a crowed place , lots of people wanted to cross, however I drove all the way to the gate where all the people stand, I was ready for the crazy border battle and would have screamed all people away who wanted to help me and change money and so forth for money! Luckily an older man came to me and asked if I am Sebastian a friend from Hossein, I said yes and he explained that he does all the boarder things for Hossein on the Turkish site. So he directed me to all the different border officials, it was great, you feel that he has a status and nobody is talking to you asking for exchange and all the other border shit you get….. all the documents and stamps where done in a few minutes and I felt totally safe and it was easy, of course I could have done it all alone, however with a lot more stress and people around you offering all there help constantly! So the Turkish man said goodbye (he didn’t want to have any money!) and the border police opened the gate for me. I then came to the Iranian border and there was Hossein, he and a few soldiers welcomed me to Iran! Hossein took my documents, CDP, Passport and went to different men, they talked a lot in a friendly way and I had to say a few words in German…. They only wanted me to open the boxes quickly and then customs was done. Again we went into different offices and nobody was hassling me with exchange money and after a 30 min the border was passed. I then followed Hosseins car to Urmia, we also put in petrol, just after 5 km from the border for 2,5€ (100.000 Rial) for 17 liter! Perfect, never fill up in Turkey before you go to Iran. We then arrived in Urmia, it is a huge city, and I was happy to just follow Hossein… after arriving at his house his family was greeting me nicely and I had a shower. As jnk_ is writing you are staying in his family’s house, it is not a guest house, more a homestay. At first I was also a bit shocked as I was looking forward to my own room and space, however I was the only one at the time and Hossein gave me his own bedroom with perfect internet. Comparing it with later homestays during my trip in Iran and Central Asia, the price of 25$ is too high for the accommodation including food, however as Jnk_ is writing you are not paying for the accommodation (normally a homestay is around 10$ per night) you are paying for Hosseins 24 hours-time, as I remember a normal Hotel in Urmia costs around 17-20$! We made a small plan what to do in the next 3 days, as I needed a few things to be sorted, mobile SIM card, Internet VPN (without this you are not able to connect with Facebook and other homepages, as the Iranian internet is limited by the government), motorbike insurance and exchange money, and of course I wanted to learn and explore the culture and the city. With Hosseins help, we organized all perfectly, I got the SIM for 4 $, the VPN for 4$ and the motorbike insurance for 60$ and the Rial for 33.000 per $ at the time! I never needed to show the insurance policy (only got stopped friendly once in Iran ), so you can make up your mind if you want it or not, I took it as If something happens I am covered and don’t have problems with the Police, the last I wanted is to go into prison or big trouble as it’s also hard to get money into the country once you have an accident and you have to pay. Also the traffic is quite crazy, luckily nothing happened! As you cannot have it for 1 month only, they charge for one year, unfortunately! ;-(
So after we have done all the to do`s Hossein showed me around town and introduced me to his friends. I bet he knows all the people in the city ;-)! It was great, in all my 30 day I have not had so much contact with so many different local people, and I was couch surfing a lot in Iran, in Qazvin, Teheran and Isfahan! We went the local bazar, he introduced me to a shop owner, a young guy who spoke perfect English and wanted to know a lot about Europe, it was a great guy! Also went to a small jewelry studio, where to of his friends are making necklaces, it was crazy and so interesting to see young guys like me are working in Urmia, unbelievable, they all spoke fairly good English! We did lots, also went to a great restaurant outside of the city, the drift places outside of the city which runs on Friday and a lot more, also we went to the best Shisha place, the owner was very charismatic and loved me! All in all it was awesome. However it also was a bit of a culture shock I need to admit and I can imagine that some people find Hussein’s and all Iranians way of communicating a bit too much and a bit to close, as some people keep touching you and are talking very close in your own space! However after 30 days in Iran, it is just normal! That’s the culture, and I guess all traveler want to experience it, so do it, an just drop the European style and let yourself into it!

I could write on and on, in a lot more detail, however I guess that’s enough to give you a fair impression of what to expect while being in Urmia and using Hosseins help! As I also discussed a lot about his business with him and he explained me his ideas I am impressed of the energy Hossein has, when I imagine with what little knowledge he has made all this running for himself and he is feeding his family it would be a great businessman in Europe! He is really putting himself into it, I guess it is also quite risky for him and his family as he has to work in a very corrupt Iranian environment, think about the borders officials and so on…… he is making a very big effort to give you a very pleasant and helpful time! For this help the 25$ per day are more than a good deal for any traveler!

Furthermore, I had also contact to Hossein throughout my trip, I called him a few times for advice and he asked me a few times for advice, I also gave his details to a lot of travelers I met who had problems with officials or Visas etc. he is always there to help and all for free! He only charges 25$ per night! As I mentioned before, I met a polish couple in Tajikistan, they wanted to cross Iran without a Carnet, I gave them my Iran SIM and gave them Hosseins contact details, they just send me a mail last week thanking me as they got into Iran without the Carnet only with Hosseins help! Furthermore please see my pictures and my reports about my trip at https://www.facebook.com/sebbeyondtheunknown, please feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions! Also I can tell you that Hossein has asked me to write an answer to the forum, with my experience at his guest house, of course I did and I hope I can help with this review all travelers and also Hossein, as I hope more travelers can experience what I experienced as it is worth every dollar, and of course I hope that Hossein and all Iranian people working in tourism are having more and more travelers as I love the country and I will definitely come back!

His contact details:

Hossein's Guest House or on facebook https://www.facebook.com/hossein.sheykhlou

Wow, very detailed replies.

Thanks, very much. I guess they call it adventure travel for a reason, I think i'll just go and find out for myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daze55556 (Post 444065)

I guess they call it adventure travel for a reason, I think i'll just go and find out for myself.

I'd say this sums it up quite well. beer

Give us a review once you've been there, yes? ;)

Our thoughts about Hossein's Guesthouse

We stayed at Hossein's Guesthouse for a few days last week. A little review:

We had been in contact with him for weeks in advance via Facebook. If he hadn't warned us to bring much cash into the country we would have been screwed! Yes, we're a bit lazy with researching stuff in advance.. Anyhow, he saved us a lot of trouble before we even showed up.

Arriving in Urmia, we noticed that our phone wouldn't work in Iran. There was no sign and nothing to be found at the GPS coordinates of the guesthouse. We stood there a while, and a few minutes later a shop owner asked if we were looking for Hossein. (That's what is so fascinating about Iran - the helpful crowd!) Half an hour later we parked our bikes and were welcomed in a tiny home of a family. Not what we had expected either! But the bunk beds, the shower and the internet connection was all we really wanted, so we tried to live with it.
In the evening we had dinner and a few drinks with Hossein's friends who were really cool, funny, interested and warm-hearted. At this point we relaxed, although Hossein payed for everything and we had no idea when we would get to pay how much. The next morning we went trekking which Hossein seems to do every weekend. It was a tremendous day, maybe the best we had in Iran so far! None had told us to bring food or water for the day, so all those friendly people helped us out and shared their breakfist and lunch with us. Some even spoke English pretty well so we had some great conversations as well. (We now even think of trekking as a new hobby for ourselves someday.) The next day we changed money, shopped this and that (like a VPN to reach our usual websites) and visited the bazar and a mosque in Urmia as well as some of Hossein's friends at work. The last night within the family we learned that going to Germany (or any other rich western country) as a tourist or maybe even to live there is a dream of many Iranians which can't be fulfilled easily, if at all. We were really touched when our photo of our home city found a new place between their family photos, like a symbol of hope and longing in this little crowded room.

After those three days we already felt quite familiar with Urmia and the people of Iran in general - we got such a deep insight into many aspects of life in this country, like work, lifestyle, dating, hygiene, music, parties and dancing, hobbies, education... We agree that the prices for Hossein's services and when we would have to pay for what should have been communicated earlier (why not just put the prices on the website?) to avoid confusing moments. But we just shrugged and decided to wait and see. We had no problem at all to pay our bill by the end - on contrary, we were eager to! We are grateful that Hossein shared everything with us - his family, his friends, his hobby, his city. Thanks a lot man!

So yes, we really recommend a stay at Hossein's Guesthouse :)

he saved my ass!

Hi Guys,
I am currently on an Overland trip from Ireland to Australia (Currently in Nepal)

I stayed with Hossein during my trip through Iran. We had been in contact in the months up to my visiting his guesthouse and he had tried to help us out best he could before we ever set off.

Although i initially had my reservations about Hossein, i have to say retrospectively that he was a diamond in the rough for us. First off, we arrived in Urmia at 6am in the morning and he got out of bed to meet us at the edge of the city. We had been driving all night and we were delighted to see him and get a bed.

Where Hossein may have messed up is the price we paid for the rooms. In hindsight, and I'll explain that in a minute, it was money well spent. We had heard that everything was dirt cheap in Iran so we were surprised to be charged $25 each for a night after we arrived. I felt at that time he should have quoted a price when we were first in contact. Then again, we probably should have asked for it.

However when i look back, i would have paid much more. Unfortuantely we hit the biggest stumbling blocks of the whole trip (so far) in Iran. On a jaunt over the Turkish border from Urmia I was turned away due to some visa issues. With only a t-shirt and a small bag with a bottle of water, i was told to take a four day round trip to Erzurum in the middle of Turkey to get a new visa. With my friends and vehicle on the other side, i managed to contact Hossein and he dropped my mate to the border to collect the Landcruiser and persuaded to the boder guards (who he knew on a first names basis) to give me a bag to get me by for a few days - a goodsend

Also when my clutch went in the Iranian desert in the middle of the night, he was there on the phone looking for solutions on how to get it fixed.

It is also well docmented how nice his family are and weird some of his friends are, but that made it all the more interesting. It was also a great place to run some running repairs. We had the landcruiser serviced for about €40, which was an absolute steal

Anyway, there are some aspects that Hossein needs to tighted up on but he's a young guy who's trying to make his mark. His willingness to become your friend is not some sham to make money off guests. I think we forgot what it's like to mix business with pleasure. In the so called west there is a defined line between the two. With Hossein the lines are blurred a little but that's ok with me as I believe he's genuine.

Anyway, the biggest compliment is that i would stay with him again with no hesitation.... nuff said :)

David O Connor 'Doc'
Overland to Oz
Home | Overland to Oz

The feedback seems fairly consistent. Friendly, quirky, effective but not cheap and could be more transparent.

Thanks for the replies

To be fair the comment about being more transparent is probably too strong, personally I can't fault the guy so far. He replies to every message, if he doesn't know the answer he finds out and gets back to you.

So far I don't think he could have tried any harder and I look forward to meeting him next year.

I think some people in the past have mistaken naïveté for dishonesty. I think he has got things running a lot smoother now days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daze55556 (Post 445665)

I think some people in the past have mistaken naïveté for dishonesty. I think he has got things running a lot smoother now days.

Yes, I think you have a point there. Good to see there are more and more positive reviews coming up here - as getting positive reviews is a lot harder than negative ones, because we all are just more inclined to share if we are really pissed off with something... :thumbup1:

Free bump. How about starting a fan club? Make a website? Stickers? "We luv Hossein?":DSet a PayPal donation page? Do a charity cake sale?

A question to all huseyin fans...pls reply honestly..

I see some are still getting mails from him to recommend here and keep his add update....Wish this problem were already sorted.

Also several former threads are available on forum about this problem..I remember 3 couples who had bad and sad stories there.One was alex who hardly transferred his bike from Iran to bulgaria last winter and stayed at Doug's camp and recovered his influence by the help of great friends, Doug,Poly and Ivo there...

First of all be sure Iranians are the most friendly people you will meet around the world..When you are told Konugum ol, means come and stay at my house...

Anyway, I will not write again on any subject done by those in my ignore list.

I have 2 simple question for all of you.
************************************************** *****
Does he have any permission and certificate for tax obligation and to make business on visa,carnet and pension/club running
************************************************** *****
What will you do if someone is arrested there because of being in the illegal carnet business done by someone you recommend...???
************************************************** *****

Time to time, I ask my Iranian friends to have current information about visa and entering Iran by any vehicle to be helpfull to my foreign friends.
Legal information is also available by all consulates.

All pensions and hotels must have a governal permission certificate to have foreigners stay here..

Except these, everything is ILLEGAL....

Here is the latest mail for current inf. I had from a friend running legal and official tourism and visa business in all over Iran...
(Nov.22.2013.. a few months after elections.)
**************************************
Hello dear Mehmet,

Sorry for late reply. We just received the information about entering to Iran by car or motorbike today and the result is as following:

All tourist must apply for their visa at the right time according to the information provided in our website and they can get the Visa Label at the embassy of Iran in Istanbul.

If they entering to Iran by Car or Motorbike, they need to obtain an international transit plate plus an International Driving License before.

Driving a Caravan is NOT permitted in Iran.

Since your friends are entering from the land borders, if Tehran is a part of their itinerary, they can pay the visa fee in Tehran directly to us and if they are not coming to Tehran we will manage so that they can pay to our agents in other major cities.

All citizens of United States, need the company of a certified tour guide as soon as they enter to Iran until they leave the country.

*******************************************

Just realized most of the fans have Jan.2013 as the join date..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mehmet Zeki Avar (Post 446089)

I see some are still getting mails from him to recommend here and keep his add update....Wish this problem were already sorted.

Hi Mehmet,
I am not sure how you got where you are now and do not feel in a position to judge. But please let me set this straight - I for one do not see this thread as an add. Daze asked about it and I thought an answer might be the right thing to do. I came across this by chance and answered, as I had just had a few mails exchanged with Grant on the topic and felt it might be worth sharing. Matter of fact, right after I answered Hossein contacted me and asked me to, so I am not sure if the others writing here might have been contacted for this. Nonetheless, I can not see, why that would mean their experience would be anything but what they said. What would one gain by giving a false review here?
So what exactly do you mean by "sorting this problem?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mehmet Zeki Avar (Post 446089)

I have 2 simple question for all of you.
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Does he have any permission and certificate for tax obligation and to make business on visa,carnet and pension/club running
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What will you do if someone is arrested there because of being in the illegal carnet business done by someone you recommend...???
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I could not say anything on this, as we had our visa issued in Trabzon. When he told us he could help with obtaining the visa, he said a friend of his would be working in the business. This surely is all hearsay, but again, who would I be to judge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mehmet Zeki Avar (Post 446089)

Just realized most of the fans have Jan.2013 as the join date..

Well. I don't. :mchappy:

What I do not really understand is, Mehmet, why you are answering to the topic, with all due respect. To me it seems like you are quite unhappy with the situation for some reason, but at the same time do not feel like sharing your experience or reasons. Please help out with a little constructive criticism. Thanks!

@ chris - if you want to start a Hossein fanclub, could I have one for myself, too? :Beach:

I started this thread with a genuine enquiry.

I will take to responses at face value.

Mehmet: I'm not looking for a Visa just a CdP at the border, I have spoken to several people and tour companies who all tell me this is possible and have all quoted similar money.

Chris: nice snipe.

I have been starting threads about all sorts of stupid things mainly because this is my first trip and I have no idea what i'm doing...