Kish Island Report - Part I

1/23/06 By Syma Sayyah, Tehran

Recently, we set off on a trip to Kish Island which is in the Persian Gulf about an hour and half by plane from Tehran. It is a very enjoyable and relaxing place and we all had a great time, as we all needed a break away from it all. This trip really brought us the peace and tranquility that we wanted and needed.

We stayed in a private flat that is owned by a company that I am associated with and the company's operations manager in Kish, and my friend, Shiva took care of us big time. She met us at the airport with her husband, and took us to the flat and showed us around. She had made sure that we had enough of everything for the few days that we were staying; so all we had to do was relax and enjoy ourselves.

We did our share of shopping as the malls were very clean and there were not that many customers and shopkeepers were friendly and polite. Between us we bought three pairs of shoes, two cameras, and loads of chocolates to take as gifts. However we failed to find any postcards of the island to send off to friends!

Many of the island's better restaurants have live bands, some of which are o.k. and one or two are actually good, but the quality of their equipment may hurt one's ears after a while, and they are mostly too loud for my liking. Do not expect great food in the restaurants and hotels, even after all these years, and they don't come cheap!

Here is the best story of our trip. On the second day while we ladies were sunbathing at the ladies' beach, the guys went for a cycling tour, from near the recreational pier where you can hire a bicycle and enjoy the long famous cycle path that goes all round the island.

Just before we were setting off to come home, I got a desperate call from our English friend to say that he had lost his wallet! It had slipped out of his rucksack while he was cycling. They had gone back over their route and did not find it. I suggested that they go to the police and get a report, so he could claim on the insurance, as he was carrying a lot of cash and credit cards. So they did, but while we were in a taxi I got a call from my godson Madjid from Tehran asking me if anyone in our group had lost his wallet. I thought the guys must have called him before calling us. He said no, there was a man on the other phone from Kish who had found a wallet in the road and that Madjid's number was on a piece of paper that was in there. He had tried my home number in Tehran, but they got the answering machine.

To cut a story short, twenty minutes later we met up with the lovely Hashem and his good wife who had found Paul's wallet and thanked them. A few days later in Tehran we invited them over to dinner on New Years Eve. Amazingly, although we met them by chance in Kish, they lived less than a kilometer away from my house. This was almost unbelievable and little short of a miracle. Here I have a picture of this lovely good couple to thank them again plus a few others. Jaye shoma khali (we missed you).