Overall impressions and summary

Twins and grandmother

We encountered a happy, informed and polite people who welcomed us with a smile or a slight bow, recognising and acknowledging our presence as guests. They are incredibly proud of being Persian and an ancient civilisation that has contributed much to Islam and to the West and retained their own distinct identity. Young families with sleepy toddlers draped over one or other parent, young children wanting to go their own way with parents patiently guiding them – I never heard a raised voice to children, or anyone else for that matter, nor any physical punishment to children. The traffic is chaotic, with motorbikes ridden on pavements or going the wrong way up streets, so crossing a busy road requires confidence and a healthy belief that there will be a future. But only rare horns and never any road rage that we saw.  Very few beggars but quite high levels of youth unemployment. People would guide us, as foreigners, across a street and go back to what they were doing. Young men and women were happy to be photographed and to photograph us and to engage in conversation.

While older women in chadors were sometimes more reserved, old men positively preened for the camera. But all had a quiet dignity and mutual respect. It has been a delight to be a guest in their country.

Mullah

The government is rapidly improving infrastructure with major road, rail and water systems, often under project labour contracts with Chinese or Korean companies under the direction of what are, on evidence, excellent Irani engineers. The big cities, Tehran in particular, are suffering from population pressure from urbanisation and a rapidly increasing disposable income. Cars, buses and motorcycles of many familiar brands cough out pollution that clouds a hot sunny sky with little breeze to shift it. The metros are holes in the ground with no great urgency apparent.

Nomad camp near Yasuj. Enlarge to find the camp!

And as described in Esfahan, the cities are vulnerable to climate change because of their dependence on snow-melt for water, but the tradition is to squander water as an affordable luxury. While the cities and towns are remarkably clean, plastic detritus is a blight on rural roads and vacant blocks of land.

The issues for travelers are the same as any developing country. Toilets are provided in public parks and encourage families to use the grassy areas for picnics. But the flushing systems don’t often work although there is almost always soap and water to wash ones hands. The locals on journey often seem to spurn hotels and camp in collapsible pup tents on sidewalks near a park and toilets. Three or four members of a family will emerge from their portable bedroom and stretch before heading off for a face wash. Presumably there is a thin mattress and blanket on the floor and that’s all that is needed at this time of year. Many of the travellers seemed to be internal tourists reveling in their history or looking for a break on the Caspian like the Shah in his day. Limited and sometimes excellent English is not uncommon, particularly in tourist areas. We were fortunate that there were very few other tour groups around, although we bumped into Australians, Germans, French and Dutch as well as a few from the Balkans. Everyone is very hopeful that the new Prime Minister, Rouhani, can broker a deal with the US over nuclear power and lift sanctions so they can welcome more visitors to their country.

Many apologise for the aggressive rhetoric of Ahmedinijad; however, our sample was limited to those who wanted to engage with us. On the other hand there was very very little evidence of hostility to Americans and much more a wish to be understood.

Go to Iran, particularly before it becomes the next big tourist destination for a jaded West denied access to Iraq, Egypt and Syria by continuing violence. In the hotels we stayed, food was predictable, good and, like all restaurant food, heavy on meat (usually kebabs) and light on fibre and vegetables. Salads at every meal must have been well washed in clean water because tummy troubles were uncommon. The major issue for us was the very dry air and the air-conditioning drying out noses.