Iran

border crossing from turkey to iran was like a scenario straight out of a movie: containers surrounded by barbwire somewhere in a solitary and rugged mountainous region, where besides of the sun’s heat the full power lies in the hands of some custom officials. since we are not familiar with farsi, we have been left to our fate, whether we liked it or not, especially since we had been separated from each other from the beginning without knowing how the other is progressing. despite some hectically situations mainly been driven by the fixers attempt to speed up the process, we all, including flora, successfully immigrated to iran within only two hours.

since we had entered iran, we were overwhelmed not only by all these varieties of landscapes but also and mostly by the incredible friendliness of the iranians. we have always read about and heard from various travelers how hospitable this country is. but the incredible warmth, openness and helpfulness we had been experiencing here surpassed all our imaginations! after almost one month in iran, we could fill books with heart touching stories giving examples of this extraordinary hospitality. barely arrived in this country, the people who drove past us smiled and waved at us and really made us feel welcome. we must admit that until the end of our journey through iran, we were challenged not only by the art-like foreign script and the huge currency rates, but also by the political and economic situation sometimes. but even then, we always got offered a helping hand. as a tourist you are not permitted to buy an iranian mobile sim card. as we requested such one in a mobile phone shop in tabriz, our first stop after the border crossing, the shop’s vendor told us to follow him and before we even knew, he vouched for us for a sim card. or the truck drivers who regularly handled their diesel cards to us that we could fill up our tank, which is not possible without having such a card that is not sold to tourists. another example took place in the streets of tehran: as we promenaded along our quarter’s grocery shops and admired the «sangak» (a flat-like bread) making method in a bakery, clients and also the baker himself gave us from it as a present while each «taruf» from our side was senseless. and even when we wanted to donate half of our sangak to a beggar-women, she accepted simply only a little bit of it. this lived value of mutual understanding and respect for each other has deeply touched us. how would the world look like if more of it could be spread all over the globe? then the story of the old man, who was sitting on a bench in the romantic garden of golestan palace. attracted by our language, he asked us if we had time to speak german with him for a while. while listening to him and explaining the meaning of particular words to him, we have learned that since he got retired from his former occupation as a shoemaker, he comes every afternoon to this garden and learns german and french by himself. listening to his stories told in an almost accent-free german was another eye-opening moment. as we walked back to our hotel in the evening of the very same day, we wondered about the round bags’ content of a group of young women. their response was faster than we could ask them to and, in a wink, we saw ourselves surrounded by dancing and singing women playing on a traditional percussion instrument at a traffic light junction.

driving through this country was characterized by passing mountains of over 2000 meters, moon and volcano landscapes surrounded by colored stone hills and valleys dotted by green palm tree oases. the life along the roads was marked by migrating herds of sheep and the typical blue pick-up cars selling freshly harvested grapes, pomegranates, dates, pistachios and satsumas. and in such a surrounding it happened that we coincidentally met the nice swiss couple on their way from portugal to dubai on their bikes. the happening was complete as the german couple and their labradoodle bruno joined us with their land rover defender camper. for a while our group was the attraction on the road, which got rewarded by tons of sweet grapes donated by a passing by truck driver.

after spending time in the northern region of iran, which included tabriz with its historical bazar, kandovan with its cappadocia-like fairy chimneys and caves, the zoroastrian castle ruin takht-e soleyman and the impressing oljeitu mausoleum in soltaniyeh we arrived in the capital tehran, which, sunken in an arcane mist of smog and constant traffic overload, stretchs out at the foot of the mount tochal. happy that we made it through the busy streets of tehran, we checked into a cozy and beautiful hotel, so that we and flora had some days off from travelling. there, we not only had time to stroll through modern shopping malls in order to organize our wedding dresses for our friends’ couple wedding, but also to dive deeper into the culture and the country’s rich historical heritage. we maximally enjoyed the city’s cafe houses, which are sometimes not easily to find but reveal themselves as hidden paradises under the scorching heat of the sun. their interiors are designed with great attention to detail. these places, where urban and hipster lifestyles are reflected, serve as important spaces for all kind of people to chat with each other in a relaxed and cozy atmosphere. most often, these kinds of cafes offer delicious traditional persian food, coming along with a modern touch. the taste explosions already start with exotic drinks ranging from the ice cold served yogurt drink dugh (similar to the turkish ayran), over freshly pressed watermelon or carrot juice to sweet lemon juice containing basil and chia seeds or cold rose tea with cardamom. as we have later learned by visiting a spice bazar and attending a persian food cooking class in esfahan, the preparation of traditional persian meals takes hours and follows the principle of «hot and cold», which means that every food is characterized by it regardless of its temperature and a meal should always be balanced in regards of these properties. a meal often ends with fresh fruits or all kinds of dried fruits or with our favorite dessert, saffron ice cream. we still dream of all these delicious and wonderful scents and flavors!

on the way to shiraz, we passed beautiful kashan and esfahan and admired the symmetries of architectural masterpieces, enchanted gardens and imposing mosques beautifully decorated by hand drawn tiles. fortunately we always experienced safe driving stages and although the scarf and all the long robes disturbed Katharina a little while driving the car (in terms of a limited field of vision and heat as we have no air conditioning in our car), she quickly got used to it and enjoyed the allied smile of the women drivers at the traffic lights as they adjusted their scarves.

celebrating the iranian-swiss wedding of our friends from berne in shiraz was definitively one of highlights along our journey. having the occasion being invited to dive into another culture and family’s life so deeply was a huge privilege and we would like to express our gratitude to forugh and fabo and their families and friends for their warm welcome, their insights into daily iranian life and for their companionship and friendship.

after these marvelous days in shiraz, we got back on track and went via yazd into the sandy desert dasht-e kavir. as we are both fascinated by the desert's charm, it was our utmost wish to enjoy its vastness and its extraordinary nature by just been by ourselves in this endless dune landscape. there we could experience pure freedom and the desert's energy. it was the first time for flora riding the dunes and we must say that we are extremely happy having such a fantastic, powerful and trustful car!

by passing one oasis by another, we moved slowly towards southeast to the persian gulf coast. before we reached bandar abbas, our final destination in iran, we took the chance to spend the two remaining days on qeshm island, where we relaxed and cooled down ourselves in the crystal-clear sea water.

our days in iran passed so quickly, especially because of all these enriching experiences and impressions. we have learned a lot, be it from a cultural, ecological, political, social or from an economic point of view. and once again we have learned how important it is to explore, experience and feel a country by yourself! neither textbooks nor newspapers can roughly depict the soul of a country. once you have felt it and been touched by it, it will influence and enrich your personality for a lifetime.

no day passed in iran without any new friendship and we feel absolutely blessed and grateful for each individual person who enriched our life. all the moments spent together, the mutual exchanges, the delicious meals we had at our friends’ homes will last as unforgettable memories. we are overwhelmed and indescribably grateful for all these wonderful and enriching encounters in beautiful iran and we will definitively return!