Archive for category: Iran Guidebook

I always wanted to travel to Iran, otherwise known as Persia, this amazing land of many ancient civilizations, some of them going back to 6 000 BC, while the universally accepted birth of the Persian Empire happened “only” just over 2500 years ago.

So, once I had the possibility to go on a long journey, I decided to choose Iran.

Stereotypes About Iran

I must say, I was afraid for safety – and I was going here alone! On our TVs, we have only bad news about this country. In Western media, Iran is presented as an evil, aggressive and hostile nation, a threat to the region and the world, the same as North Korea… Not to speak about Hollywood productions showing Iranians in the worst possible way. The terrible news and images we see on our TVs from wars in Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan, most Western people associate also with Iran.

I knew that there was no ongoing war here, but it was hard to forget the image of Iran we get from the European media – a dangerous place, full of fanatics that hate Westerners and the secret police just waiting to put you in prison under any pretext. Also, with economic problems and many Iranians going through hard times – perhaps there will be lots of common crimes targeting supposedly rich foreign tourists.

That’s why, when I told my family and friends about my plans to travel to Iran – all misconceptions surfaced! So, there would be a war here, and the country would be full of Afghan Taliban, or Arab terrorists, (or both of them) just waiting to cut off our heads. Explosions on a daily basis, evil, and hating the European local populace – to say it short I was a kind of crazy kamikaze looking deliberately for big problems or just bored with being still alive.

Procedural Steps Upon Arrival

When my plane landed in Tehran, I was indeed afraid – how would it be at the border?
Will I get a visa? Will the police check all my things, and my emails, confiscate my laptop or phones?
Perhaps they are just waiting for a reason to put me in jail or in the best case, deport me?

Well, I was among some 20 foreigners that needed Visa on Arrival – and it happened that …nothing happened. I mean nothing extraordinary, everyone paid for insurance and visa fees, then within half an hour, we all got our 30 days tourist visas. No police interrogation, luggage, or phone checks, it was an easy simple process – as in any average airport.

What You Experience in Iran?

I started my journey in Tehran, then I went to several other places. Yazd, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Shiraz, Isfahan, Caspian Sea towns…After a few weeks, I discovered (at least in a small part) the land of great diversity, for nature and climate, peoples and languages, local traditions, and gastronomic delights. While one can expect professional smiles in hotels or hostels, I was surprised by the sympathy and friendly attitude of so many common people towards me, an obvious foreign traveler. Iranians, even those whose English skills are limited, were happy to say “Welcome in Iran” and curious about my opinion of their country, sometimes about life abroad, and, most important, always offering help when seeing me somehow lost or troubled. I walked across main capital avenues and small streets of villages, always welcomed by smiles and nice words, on some occasions even invited to their homes for tea, lunch, or dinner. In no other country, have I ever enjoyed such attention – and I visited more than 20 countries in Europe and Asia until now.

Low Crime Rate

I can say now, after being around for several weeks in various cities – and it is what I heard from all those who visited Iran – it is one of the safest places on Earth. The huge majority of locals are very friendly, honest, and respectful, especially toward women, which comes from old Persian tradition and culture as to the laws of the Islamic Republic.
I think that it is much more probable to be mugged, or robbed in any Western city than in Iran; here I could walk everywhere, evening or night, and never saw anyone threatening.
Of course, there exist some pickpockets or motorbike thieves, but in my opinion (I saw what goes on in Rome or Naples), where this phenomenon is very limited. And of course, some taxi drivers will try to cheat you! So – use Snapp (the local Uber).

I never had any problem nor heard of typical tourists being bothered by uniformed or other police – one would need to work really hard to merit their attention – rather the opposite, I saw patrol police helping and giving a ride to foreigners. I mean “typical” – unless someone comes to Iran to make political activism, take photos where prohibited, or… “incidentally” fly drones over military installations.

Highly Recommended Destination

Over 3 times bigger than France, with more than 80 mln inhabitants, and an incredible variety of big and small places to visit and admire, starting with Tehran megapolis, going across high mountains and seas, deserts and lush forests of the North, ski resorts and diving-friendly islands of the Persian Gulf, Iran is an excellent destination for “slow tourism”. Because, aside from hundreds of old palaces, mosques, churches, traditional villages and towns, caravanserais, and bazaars, its greatest treasure, often missed by rushy travelers, are Iranians themselves – an incredibly friendly and hospitable people, with elaborated culture and percentage of high education better than in many Western countries.

Now, after a month of intensive traveling, I can say that Iran is definitely a very safe, tourist-friendly country. I met lots of international tourists who share a positive opinion of Iran, some really astonished by their experience – they expected all kinds of possible troubles – and only good things happened! Definitely, I want to travel to Iran again; next time I will explore Western Iran. I think honestly it is the greatest long trip I ever made until now!

Are you planning to travel to Iran? Check out our Iran tours.

Everything – or quite everything – is relative, many may say – and this applies also to our road traffic opinions. Depending on the country you come from, the country you live and whether you traveled to certain places, as for example India, sadly famous for near-total chaos on the city roads. Those who lived there say that Tehran is very quiet, comparing to Mumbai! So, how is Tehran traffic?
I was never in India and coming from a country where road traffic is disciplined and rules mostly respected, mainly because enforced $$$ painfully by police and thousands of street cameras and photo-radars – I had really hard shock during my first days in Tehran (same goes on in other Iranian cities, btw). But as you can imagine, in the megapolis with over 2 mln cars and an unspecified number of motorbikes, the traffic is monstrous, and I needed only…to cross the streets from time to time!

In Tehran mains streets, included on crossings where in theory traffic lights should regulate it, even the frequent presence of police does not change much; I started to consider this incessant traffic a kind of bloodstream, pulsing in an unstoppable manner – with all possible infractions, cars and motos passing on red, doing crazy u-turns, in apparent absolute ignoring of pedestrian’s need to cross “their territory”. For me, especially awful were motorbikes are coming fast from an unexpected side, where they should simply not be! Aside from driving on walkways, of course! Even worst in evening or night, when some do not bother to put their lights on.
While I had some experience of mildly similar things from Rome, here it was massive! So, what to do? When in the need to cross an important street, waiting for a small break in the flush of vehicles can take eternity…The only solution – while in Tehran, do as Tehranis do, it seems obvious and easy, doesn’t it?
Well, it is very mental. Slowly, most people get used and, strange as it can be, they survive!
They simply enter and walk, meter after meter negotiating, via visual contact with oncoming drivers (and calculating their speed and possible moves) the next steps, with dozens the cars and motos passing around, some accelerating, some slowing down, and sometimes you must run a bit…its always stressing, of course, and a rush of adrenaline happens. In some very large avenues crossing just one lane is a psychological challenge, for unfamiliar ones. To add insult to injury, besides looking really 360 around, pedestrian must-watch down, too – along most of Iran streets there are small rain canals, ready to trap your foot – and in worst of cases, break it!
It took me a couple of weeks of hard stress to adapt more or less to this, and slowly understand and accept some logical findings: this the way it works here; from many, many years. And no hope to change it in any near future. Yes, it is very chaotic and our European minds would love to regulate it severely – but otherwise, Iranians became masters in functioning in exactly this way. In fact, walking for hours on a daily basis I did not see incidents. (Btw most victims of careless driving in Iran find their fate on highways or roads out of the cities). Also, while drivers seem aggressive at first look – once you are crossing an avenue, they indeed do their best to absolutely avoid hurting you – for human compassion, of course, but also for lots of problems that putting someone under-car would cause in Iran, including so-called “blood money”. Hundreds of times I saw Iranians, sometimes lone ladies in chadors, just walking fearlessly inside these rivers of fast coming cars and simply passing unhurt across, as it would be the most natural thing they ever do.
Well, as it takes a while to adapt, what can do a tourist that stays only a few days in Iran? Easiest tip: stick to someone crossing a street, so you will also pass safely. And try to cross streets at official crossings with lights, at least some cars stop there at red – but always watch out for motorbikes! And please, do not be so afraid – even if it looks so crazy, the Iranian city traffic is indeed quite safe.

Are you planning to travel to Iran? Check out our Iran tours.