It took us a little longer to get back to Tehran but it was much easier drive.
The next day a bunch of relatives and friends came to visit us.
We decided to travel to Abadan and Kermanshah the next day. I was very excited to return to Abadan and I had not been to Kermanshah for 30 years now and wanted very much to go. It turned out that we were not able to go to Kermanshah which was ok because at the end we spent several days in Abadan which was priceless.
I got up pretty early the next day to pack for the trip. I did my Abadan checklist.
Dampayee Abri .... Check
Ray.Ban.... Check
Jeans..... Check
Cologne....... Check
We drove a few hours and slept in Khoramabad that night. The next day we left for Abadan. As soon as we arrived in Khuzestan it seemed like the world was much brighter. It was getting warmer and more pleasant. I felt like I was home again. Very excited. I was where I belonged, where I grew up, where I was born. So many memories, sweet memories. I was born in Abadan. Sweet land of Abadan. Sweet land of Khuzestan.

We were approaching Abadan. We arrived in Andimeshk around 1:00. We went to Pas restaurant. I had baghali polo with Mahi Halva. It was deliscious. I was so excited I ate some Sabzi khordan. I had made a point not to eat anything in restaurants that had a chance of not being washed properly. Well, cheshmetoon rooze bad nabine I had the worst diarrhea for a few days after that :). We arrived in Khoramshahr around 3. There is a song that Sandy sings it says in Farsi that you will go from Andimeshk to Ahwaz, you pass the bridge and get to Khoramshahr, turn left then... Welcome to Abadan. There used to be a rest stop at kilometer 60, which was halfway between Ahvaz and Abadan. We always stopped there when we were coming back to Abadan. I looked for it. My brother said that was on the old road that was destroyed in the Iran-Iraq war. Damn Saddam. It used to be that there was hardly anything but the airport and Dairy farm on the road from Khoramshar to Abadan. There was a lot more this time. We finally arrived in Abadan. We got to the turnabout that Karvansara hotel used to be. Across the road was our high school ( 25 shahrivar ). I think only my brother Shahram and I went to this high school as it was built a couple of years before I left. My brother Shervin and Shahin went to the old 25 shahrivar. Abadan had developed much faster since I was last here in 2003. Lots of construction. There was a fence around Braim so people that did not live there cannot go there. Hotel Parsian, a 4 star hotel was now open across from our old house 750. It used to be the world renoun " Night Club " back in the old days. The old Hotel Abadan was now closed and being remodeled under new management. Karvansara which used to be a very nice HOTEL is still there. We decided to stay in Hotel Parsian.
The receptionist was a dark faced guy that was probably born in Abadan. Very sweet Abadani accent and Abadani sense of humor.
We put our stuff in the room and headed to the shahr ( city center). I don't remember Abadan with heavy car traffic. The city center was packed with cars and people. A lot of people. It was very exciting to see so many people had come back to Abadan. When we went back to the Hotel I really felt like smoking Ghalioon. We went to Karvansara where I had gone back in 2003 with my wife. On that trip when we were hading back to Tehran we had gone there with Mahboob and my cousin Tooraj and his wife and son ( Jalil) and his daughterMojgan and my aunt and my other cousin Soraya. Mahboob had bought some Samoosa that we ate.
At Karvansara, they told us the old outdoor pace was closed now. The nearest place was between the first turnabout and the second on the rood from Abadan to Khoramshahr. We went there. It was a very nice outdoor place with old stule seating area outside. It was very nice. By this time the weather was getting a bit chilly so we went back and to our room and played Shelem and I drand Vodka and pomergranate juice with Shervin.

More to come....