Why we ran to Iran.

Travelling to a country that is arguably the nemesis of the United States with laws based on a religion that is completely opposite of 'American' does not get too many reactions such as 'awesome' 'wow' 'jealous' or 'that's my next trip.'  The one question that every one has asked is "Why Iran?"

Why not Iran? Iran has one of the longest continuous civilizations and a complex culture resulting from it's ancient history, traditions and external influences including Islam. The Iranian culture has also influenced other cultures far and wide.  Random example, paisley a common pattern pretty much seen in any country,  has Iranian origins which is said to represent the cypress tree.

A friend once said: Travel Broadens the Mind.  Some trips are meant to be relaxing, some are wild & crazy, some are meant to bring you closer to nature, others help you find your purpose in life.  This trip was to quench our curiosity. We learned about the history of Iran, the old traditions, the old and current religions, the different ruling dynasties and monarchs, the evolution of the Persian culture, how the past events lead up to the Iranian Revolution and most importantly what Iran is like in the present.  Iran has always seemed elusive, mysterious and even ominous, but having been there we learned more about the people and of their kindness, hospitality and generosity which made the experience all the more memorable.


Disclaimer: Although our experience was positive, there are concerns when travelling to Iran as a US citizen and as a woman.  There is also the obvious difference in the way men and women are treated and regarded. It did provide a unique experience and a different perspective, but in no way did I feel that I was in any danger.



Most common comments and questions:

Are you crazy, they hate Americans and women and infidels?

• Almost all the people we encountered threw their hands up in the air and said "Americans!!! Welcome!!!" when they found out we were travelling from the United States
• In all of our travels, we have never received more invites, more offers to pay for our meal/tea and more friendly conversations without hidden monetary agendas than in Iran
• The women have more fundamental rights for an Islamic nation in terms of dress, work, voting, driving, holding government positions, marrying and divorcing in the region. 
• Other religions are allowed to freely practice in Iran, including Catholicism, Christianity, Zoroastrians and Judaism... just don't try to convert anyone to your religion... the plus side? there are no Mormons on bikes going door to door. 

                           

How do you get there?

• Obtaining a visa and travelling to Iran as a US Citizen is surprisingly easy as long as you are not a declared spy or journalist. 
• When travelling, it is compulsory to be accompanied by a guide... not bad if you are lucky enough to have a travel companion as cool as ours...the foxcat lives on!
• Getting visas are pretty easy... easier to go through a travel agency for an approved itinerary that will be verified and checked by some government agency in Tehran.
• Once you get your visa numbers, you send your passport to the Iranian interest section of the Pakistan Embassy in D.C. to get the official visa in your passport.  Very boring but very straight forward.  
• There are no direct flights from the US to Iran, a commonly used route is Istanbul to Tehran.  Some travel agencies offer a train ride vacation package on the silk road from Istanbul to Tehran... not going to lie sounds really cool 
• Customs: non-eventful... unless you don't have visas then there really isn't a problem leaving and arriving in Tehran...at least for us..since we are neither spies nor journalists.

                                     

Other tidbits: 

• Money
• souvenirs and food are lower in cost
• cash only transactions - foreign debit/credit/atm cards will not work in Iran
• some carpet sellers will route their transactions through Dubai which allows you to use credit/debit to purchase carpet

• Laws
• no pork products... bacon, maple bacon donuts, thick crispy bacon for example. 
• no alcohol - there are actually delicious non-alcoholic beers served in restaurants
• no photos of government buildings or government officials... if it looks sketch, don't take a photo and there are signs on all  government buildings prohibiting photos.  

• if it looks sketch but you are Danny and want a photo in an anti-US, anti-France & anti-Israel rally then feel free to take said photos... surprisingly no one will stop you
• do not bring anything in print that is pornographic in nature

• do not bring anything in print that is contradictory of  the Islamic faith
• do not pass around fliers, books, magazines etc. trying to convert anyone to your religion
• internet is censored and monitored, websites that are blocked will pop up with a message from the government written in Farsi that I assume translates to "back the eff off, this website is not approved" 
• social media is possible... illegally unless you are the Imam who has his own Twitter.  
• Dress Code
• Women travelling in Iran must follow hijab... hijab means Islamic dress code.  No you do not have to wear a burqa, no you do not have to wear a chador... Generally speaking arms and legs must be fully covered, nothing skin tight, and a scarf that covers your hair (which is the source of much societal controversy between the fashion conscious and religious followers).  There is sooo much leeway, young Iranian women push the limits of how far back their scarf sits on their head... in a way it's a sense of defiance that one truly appreciates as an observer.  Other ways that women push back is the use of make-up, colourful wardrobes, even plastic surgery...a nose job is seriously the new black dress. In observing the way women dress, you will be able to differentiate their political/religious stance. In my backpack... Jeggings, pea coat that went past my butt and sweaters/sweater dresses...oh and the scarf, with full make up and attempting to perfect the eyebrows. 

                 

• For men... as long as you don't wear shorts and a tank top you can pretty much wear whatever you want.  A full beard is not required. Another small act of defiance is lacking a beard, it shows opposition to the current regime.

                 

From what we observed, many Iranians really want Iran to move forward without the religious regime. This does not mean that they are atheists or not religious, but some believe that religion doesn't have a place in government.  Some believe that Iran should have an Iranian identity, not one that is dictated by a theocratic government. They embrace the culture that evolved from the great ancient civilizations of the Achaemenid to now and embrace their long heritage even before the invasion of Islam.  The government is strict. But mixing government and religion will definitely infringe on your civil liberties.

Some photos:
trying to sneak up on some camel


desert oasis...one of my favorites


some goats from the oasis


sporting / practice event...prayer push ups and chanting involved


favorites from Shiraz
 

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Kutna Hora

A two hour train ride east of Prague leads to a medieval city dating back to 1142, Kutna Hora the location for the Sedlec Ossuary or the Bone Church.  We arrived at the central train station in Prague, dropped off backpacks at the luggage storage and bought the train tickets for the same day (trains leave every hour with an option for a direct route or one with a transfer).

The day trip wouldn't be complete without visiting both Kutna Hora & the suburb Sedlec, which has the Bone Chapel & Saint James Cathedral.  The buses that service Kutna Hora, Sedlec and the train station are infrequent.  To maximize a day trip, in my opinion it is best to take the regional train after arriving at the Kutna Hora station.  The regional train stops at the town center, from there we walked around the whole town visiting  the main square, the black plague column, stone fountain, the Jesuit College, the silver museum and tiny streets that wind through the little town.  We made our way from Kutna Hora center and walked all the way back to the Sedlec ossuary, it's a nice, long walk and maps are available at the tourist booth in the train station.

Sedlec Ossuary or Bone Church started some time in the 1200 when the King of Bohemia sent some religious person to Jerusalem and brought back with him some soil from Golgotha. Because of this said holy soil, lots of medieval people wanted to be buried at the cemetery in Sedlec.  A church was built on the cemetery which naturally became famous for being super holy not just in Bohemia but also throughout Central Europe,  the ossuary was built for all the bones that were from abolished graves. About 40,000 to 70,000 human bones later, and the handiwork of a woodcarver completely renovated the basement of bones into something artistically eerie.  Piles and piles of bones in every corner, skulls and femurs create a coat of arms and chandelier with angels sitting atop.  Displaying the human bones in this way supposedly suggests that in the end, when we are all the same.

All in all it was creepy and cold in that basement with ex-humans.

Prague

After a terribly boring 2014 (zero trips taken except for an impromptu visit to Puerto Nuevo), Prague didn't seem real.  The picturesque capital of the Czech Republic and the once historical capital of Bohemia looks like it should be a part of Disneyland, it would be named Medieval Land, located between Frontier Land and Fantasy Land, the section where they would sell pork knuckle instead of giant turkey legs. The Kingdom of Bohemia consisted of two thirds of what is currently the Czech Republic, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, then became a province of the Habsburg Dynasty, making Prague the second capital of the Austro- Hungarian empire.


The fall of the empire at the end of World War I created Czechoslovakia. After a whole bunch of battles, wars, Nazi occupation, Iron Curtain and the Velvet Revolution,  it was peacefully separated as Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.  The pastel buildings, fairy tale-like architecture, Gothic churches,  and bridges each with their own distinct characteristics connecting the Hradcany and Mala Strana (Prague Castle & Lesser Town) to the Stare Mesto (Old Town) over the Vltava River, yields a city with beauty truly unrivaled and inspired the setting for the works of Kafka.

Getting to Prague was simple enough; seven hour overnight bus from Budapest to Prague with a stop and a bus switch in Bratislava at three am in zero degree Celsius. (Orangeways... although cheap would not recommend, it is either late or a no show).  Czech Koruna is the currency. Finding an ATM outside of the airport that dispenses euros was really difficult; but unless your next destination has economic sanctions in place and you know for a fact that you cannot get cash from an ATM then it's good to know that the airport ATMs dispense euros.   As far as language is concerned we are both sorry and embarrassed to say that we did not learn any key phrases (salutations, please, thanks you). English was widely used, so much so that I don't remember once being greeted in Czech (in our defense we were laser focused on learning Farsi... not a good excuse but legitimate none-the-less).


Most of our days were spent walking around the city.  Literally a museum in every corner ranging from the sex machine museum, wax museum, medieval torture museum to name a few. We aren't fans of visiting museums but rather, we like to spend our days cafe hopping around the city.  We used the metro to get to the Mustek stop and walked everywhere from there. 

As far as food is concerned there are plenty of restaurants and cafes throughout the old city center and the lesser town just below Prague Castle.  We ate lunch at a few different restaurants around the Jewish Quarter and dinners in the Krizikova neighborhood. Recommendation from a friend was the Pivovarsky Klub - beers on tap and the best pork knuckle reasonably priced.  Other traditional Czech fare are sweet dumplings, goulash soup in a bread bowl, spicy beef stew, roast pork with huge dumplings, potatoes and deliciously dense breads. There are plenty of store fronts that serve hot chocolate, literally melted chocolate, delicious but almost sickeningly thick and rich.  Also, plenty of stands that sell hollowed out, slow grilled desert bread named Trdelnik...sooo delicious.

Tom Bradley...seems like a cool guy

When I arrived in  San Diego from Lima on Jan 25th 2014, I had no idea that it would be almost a year before I set foot in another airport to leave.  It´s the longest I´ve been in the US since 2009.

The hustle and bustle of the airport is so familiar, it's exciting yet brings comfort knowing that I will soon be out of my comfort zone. Although our trip this time around is only 3.5 weeks, it is exhilarating to feel the buzz in the airport terminal, knowing that you and others around you are embarking on an adventure.