Iran : An American Experience
12 days in Iran: Americans received with courtesy,
friendliness on 1,000-mile tourist loop
By Stewart Herman, Special to The Forum on Sep 13, 2014 at 3:59
p.m
We reproduce
below ed verbatim, an article illustrating the experience of an American Professor,
that was forwarded to us by our Iranian
Affiliate, who handled their arrangements and is also mentioned.
My 21-year-old daughter, Kate, and I spent 12 days
in May exploring Iran.
“Weren’t you scared?” is what everyone asked when
we got back home. Well, a little at first, but I soon learned that traveling
around Iran is safe and enjoyable.
We wanted to see classic Persia, including the
complex of Persepolis, the magnificent tiled mosques built 20 years ago. We
wanted to see lofty palaces, the lush gardens and overflowing bazaars. And we
wanted to get a sense of what the people of Iran are like.
Iran does not allow independent travel by
foreigners. Travelers must be sponsored either by an Iranian family or a travel
agency. Unfortunately, we had to use the pricier agency option - $4,000 for
both of us with separate hotel rooms. Our guide drove us in his own beat-up
Renault. He spoke enough English and was generous with his time and
information.
Iran is more than twice the size of Texas, and more
than half is covered by mountains. The country has a climate that permits
year-round snow skiing in the north and year-round ocean swimming in the south.
Overall, we put in more than 1,000 miles doing the
standard tourist loop - from Tehran down to Yazd, Shiraz and Esfahan before
returning through Kashan and Qom to Tehran.
Much of the scenery reminded me of vast stretches
of Wyoming or Nevada - wide plains of scrubby vegetation rising to dark and
spiny mountain ridges. Even though it was spring, I couldn’t help but think the
mountains had been left in the oven way too long.
Our first stop was the “Valley of the Assassins” in
the north. We drove over a high mountain ridge of velvety green to visit a
cliff-top fortress set against snowy peaks. It was built in 12th century
by an outlaw Muslim sect that developed a reputation for murdering religious
and political leaders.
That night we stayed with an elderly widow in our
only homestay. Her compact cement house had modern appliances but no furniture
– we ate, conversed and slept on a worn oriental carpet.
Then we drove south along a high plateau. At Yazd,
we encountered the desert. This city of half-a-million people is spread out in
single-story, adobe-colored houses.
We learned how residents over the centuries adapted
to the long summer heat by building fluted “wind towers” to funnel breezes into
their houses and excavated living spaces deep underneath. They escaped the heat
by living next to their house reservoirs, filled by “qanats” or subterranean
aqueducts conveying water down from the mountains.
As we drove, we began to get a sense of Persian
hospitality. Every day our guide picked up bread, cheese and juicy melons for a
picnic lunch.
Once, on a holiday connected with the prophet
Muhammad, we stopped at a pistachio orchard with picnic tables. Two busloads of
European tourists were already there. We began our lunch, but soon realized the
owners of the orchard wanted to set up for a major family meal of their own.
They politely had been waiting for the table to clear, but instead of chasing
us away, they greeted us with much good humor and brought us heaping plates of
food - more than we possibly could eat. I have to wonder whether I would be as
gracious if foreigners crashed my party.
We then crossed the mountains from Yazd to Shiraz.
Since I teach religion at Concordia College in Moorhead, I came to Iran
expecting to see historic mosques. But I learned that the Shiite Islam of Iran
has another distinctive kind of structure – mausoleums dedicated to imams, or
venerable religious / political leaders and their near relatives.
In Shiraz, one such mausoleum is considered
exceedingly holy and off-limits to non-Muslims. Our guide was able to talk us
in. We took off our shoes, entered and were stunned. The vast ceiling was
covered with tiny triangles of mirror, twinkling as if the entire night sky was
gathered into a million points of light. Unfortunately, picture-taking was out
of the question.
At the center of the mausoleum, a massive tomb of
solid silver was surrounded by an enclosure of thick glass, which was filling
up from the banknotes that believers were prayerfully pushing in through tiny
slots. When I also pushed a banknote through, the men around me smiled in
appreciation.
Persepolis was the grandest ruin we saw. Emperor
Darius built a rectangular platform more than 1,000 feet on each side, rising
30-40 feet above the ground. On that foundation was built a complex of immense
palaces with 50-foot ceilings. Persepolis, built more than 2,500 years ago, was
soon destroyed by Alexander the Great. Some grand staircases and terraces survived,
showing various processions of dignified figures, including one long line of
individuals bearing gifts from 28 tributary nations.
From Shiraz, we headed back north to Esfahan (also
known as Isfahan), easily the greenest and most glamorous city on our tour.
This city of more than 1 million residents has carefully planted boulevards, a
winding riverfront park with three elegant old stone bridges, multiple bazaars
with tiny shops, lofty palaces, and mosques with dazzling tile work.
My favorite location was the central square (Naqsh
e Shah), where fathers take their young children walking in the fountain and
families picnic in the cool of the evening. The square presents the glories of
the Safavid Dynasty of 400-500 years ago
We were smart to save Tehran for last because the
traffic alone was chaotic to the point of occasional violent fistfights among
drivers. This sprawling city of more than 10 million slants up against a high
mountain range. We were depressed by the contrast between the glittery palaces
of former shahs and a Nazi prison built in the 1930s where the most recent shah
had ordered the brutal torture of demonstrators.
Within a day, my daughter and I needed fresh air.
We followed the habit of many Tehranians and headed up a steep canyon dotted
with charming teahouses. We climbed to a high waterfall. As we came back down,
the sky suddenly turned to night, and we were engulfed by a fierce windstorm
that ended up killing several people in the city.
It was a stormy climax to a fascinating journey. I
continued to ponder the questions we had come with.
Is Iran an enemy of the United States? To be sure,
Iran’s government is dominated by hardline clerics who funnel $4 billion per
year to the enemies of Israel. America has a bitter memory of the 444 days that
U.S. Embassy personnel spent as hostages back in 1979-81. But does that make
the people themselves our enemies?
Frankly, I was braced for some hostility. Our guide
said that U.S. sanctions have badly harmed the Iranian economy, driving up
inflation and unemployment. Indeed, the cars looked old, the cities modest and
the countryside starved of investment. Many people we saw looked stressed,
haggard and unhealthy.
I didn’t meet any enemies, nor did I feel I was in
hostile territory. The people we encountered never raised the issue of
sanctions. On the contrary, we were received with courtesy, friendliness and
helpfulness everywhere we went.
So would I go back? Without hesitation! But next
time I think I’d like to be sponsored by a family and get a closer look.
If you go
Plan ahead. Unless you know a family,
you’ll have to use a travel agent. Touran Zamin has a number of packages and
planned a fine customized trip for us: www.touranzamin.com.
You’ll need a tourist visa, which apparently can be
obtained in the U.S. through the Swiss Embassy: http://iran.usembassy.gov/service.html.
We worked through our travel agent, who performed
the vital first step of obtaining permission from the Iranian foreign ministry
in Tehran. Then I took that permission to the Iranian embassy in Istanbul,
where a visa was stamped in my passport within two hours.
Be prepared to deal only in cash. Because of U.S.
sanctions, it is impossible to use credit cards or ATMs in Iran. All our
transactions, including paying $4,000 to the travel agent, had to be in person
and in cash.
Getting there: No U.S. airlines fly into
Iran, but Tehran can be reached directly from Frankfurt, Germany. For the
adventurous, I recommend arriving by train. The Trans Asia Express runs weekly
from Istanbul, Turkey, to Tehran. The couchettes (four seats/bunks per
compartment) were comfortable, and tickets for the two-day trip cost less than
$100.
We saw only two or three other Americans during our
entire trip, and there is no U.S. Embassy, so be prepared to be on your own.
We encountered no health or safety hazards.
Shopping: We saw impressive crafts -
tiles, enamelware, carpets - but note that U.S. customs prohibit bringing back
more than $100 worth of goods from Iran.
Stewart
Herman teaches religion and ethics at Concordia College in Moorhead.
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