Take A Ride On A New Luxury Train From Hungary To Iran

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Getting a visa to Iran is time consuming, specially getting the authorization number which takes 30 to 40 business days. Once you have the authorization number getting the actual visa from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC takes only 2 or 3 days, and I'd have to get a second Passport, since my current Passport which has a stamp of entry into Israel would be summarily rejected by countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. At present there is no travel restriction to Iran imposed on US citizens by the US (unlike say, travel to Cuba). It could be a fun trip though rather expensive. I'd have no problem going to Iran per se. After all several of my friends, mostly Iranian or married to an Iranian, and a couple of Indians and two born in the USA whites have done so and lived to tell about it. But this would not be very high on my bucket list at the present time.
 
The headline says it and, one of the photo captions...

"The basic ticket costs $14,333, but if you want extras like a private bathrooms and concierge service, the price can shoot up to $40,000, according to Reuters."
 
Definitely a one-of-a-kind experience and obviously there's a market for it since tickets sold out in 10 days. Looks like they'll be running another one next spring. A venture like this relies on the fact that the rest of the world doesn't have the same squeamishness about "that part of the world" as Americans do. That said, the route does stay well north of the current Syria/Iraq hotspots.

If I had the time/money, I'd sign up for this in a heartbeat. But in addition to the rail fare, you'd have to factor in flights to Budapest and from Tehran, which would set you back another couple of grand for Americans. (This trip probably was mostly made up of Europeans, I'd guess.)
 
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Gawd how I wish Via Rail would honor Amtrack points.

In your mind, what's the BEST ALTERNATIVE to burn Amtrack points, other than using for Amtack travel? And Dave, don't post, "Transferring the points to me.........."

Gift cards? Hotel?
 
Iran via Turkey seems like it would be an interesting trip. It's my understanding that Iran is having something of a rail renaissance of its own, and to Tehran will be through mountains.
 
How'd you like to take the wife to Iran? Grounds for divorce it says here!

Going to Iran or anywhere in the Middle East no matter how luxurious the Train, isn't in my top 10,000 Bucket List items!
 
Gawd how I wish Via Rail would honor Amtrack points.

In your mind, what's the BEST ALTERNATIVE to burn Amtrack points, other than using for Amtack travel? And Dave, don't post, "Transferring the points to me.........."

Gift cards? Hotel?
Why did you bold the "c" in "Amtrack" which is the wrong name anyway?
 
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