Travel (Outside of Canada)

About 30 years ago, Iran bought a ship from Japan called Mirza Kochak Khan. I heard that it was a luxury ship; furthermore, it had a high degree of hospitality. The ship went from Bandar-e Anzali, a city in Iran by the Caspian Sea to the northern city of Baku, Azerbaijan. The boat tour took about 10 hours, a distance by car of about 467 km. My wife and I decided to go on this voyage, so I booked a tour with a room on the ship for seven days. First, we went to Baku and toured the ancient city. Then we returned to the ship and slept in our rooms. My father was also interested and accompanied us on the trip. We then decided to begin the boat cruise and flew to Bandar-e Anzali.

However, after we arrived, I saw many people who were angry and anxious. I was concerned. They wanted to go to Baku as soon as possible, but the captain didn’t agree. He told them the weather was very unstable, and it was very dangerous to start our trip, but the people didn’t accept this and insisted on going. Eventually, the captain changed his mind, and we started our journey. However, a few hours later a very heavy storm began, and the ship was not able to go far. We could see the wind tear apart the ropes that secured the lifeboats on our ship and threw them out into the sea.

I developed a headache, was nauseous and couldn’t eat anything for about two days. Many people including me vomited a few times and a bad smell was everywhere. In this situation, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad if the ship would sink so that we could eliminate this problem. Thinking back, I can’t remember how many hours we were in the storm, but I think it took more than 24 hours. We were in very severe turbulence! This storm hurtled towards the northeast of Iran and also towards our ship. I remember equipment, such as a ping pong table, was thrown about and destroyed, but the ship itself was not seriously damaged. Fortunately, the wind and storm finally calmed down and we arrived in Baku where we had a rest and a very good time. At the end of our voyage, the captain told us we were very lucky to be alive. During the whole trip, my father and I were dizzy. Returning home, my father continued to have very serious problems with his dizziness. After about three months, he travelled to the USA for medical treatment. I also had dizziness for more than two months. All in all, it was an experience we would never forget!

A link to a map is at: https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Bandar+Anzali,+Gilan,+Iran/@38.6606361,45.2901416,7.21z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x401fea15a64891a7:0x6fdb63f32ff39466!8m2!3d37.4639089!4d49.4798635