They're crazy, they oppress their women and they're blowing each up each other on the streets.
Before I discuss the city of Tehran lets first just get it over with. Iran is a great country, filled with amazing people and NOTHING like what is portrayed in the Australian media and CNN.
The first great thing that happened was actually getting onto the plane to Tehran due to the airlines all having problems with travelers on one-way tickets. Cause you now, i really what to live for ever in Iran...
Despite what the travel agents told me, it was fine and all I was asked at the airport do you have a visa? Ahhh yeah and that was that.
I flew into the new Iman Khomeini Airport without any problems, immigration took 2 mins and I was even told "welcome to Iran" and customs, well i was just told to keep on walking.
What is this craziness, where are the machine guns, when are the friskings and interrogations going to start, I'm an infidel!
The new airport is truly in the middle of now where (it looks like a military base) and as such the taxi gang seems to have a great money making service going. However unlike India it all went off without any problems and they were all very interesting in talking to and driving the foreigner to his hotel - excellent. As i was flying towards Tehran I got to see the product of almost free fuel in a city of 14 million, as a huge brown cloud of pollution hang over the city indeed i couldn't even see the mountains that I was told were behind the city.
I decided to experience Iran a bit differently so i decided to couch surf so in Tehran I stayed with a great guy called Mehradad. And in 5 mins I was in his flat, drinking tea and watching TV on his plasma - what was on you may ask some rap video on MTV with naked women running around - That tha?
I decided to walk around a bit and saw the carpet museum which was amazing and also the fact that i was let in for free "ohh you tourist please come in", no no you do not pay" OK Walking around also allowed me to experience the craziness of the traffic - yes it is as crazy as the LP makes it out to be. And more importantly the oppressed women - which all seemed to be walking around in skin-tight jeans, cowboy boots, an inch of makeup and had colourful scarfs that were on the verge of falling of . I told Mehradad about this later and what the media portrays Iran as and he just laughed and we continued to watch western TV.
Then his GF turns up quickly rips of her barely there scarf and jacket revealing this sleeveless Tshirt. When asked wh ythe govt introduced the law in regards to women clothing he said with a laugh "so men don't get excited". That is Laos why women cant dance - the horror.
I also learnt that if I wanted a beer (one with alcohol) all i had to do was ask and a car with a boot case full of the stuff would be here in 20 mins - but isn't that illegal I asked......
Day2
Day two was centered around the exciting prospect of getting a Turkmenistan visa. getting to the embassy was ok - it was in the middle of no where but once there the reality of dealing with a country as crazy as Turkmenistan became clear.
The embassy was in northern Iran and as such it was VERY close to the mountain and as such was VERY cold - like -10 degrees. But rather than let everyone into the embassy they made ever one stand out side in the cold waiting. As i still had my $2 Burmese army shoes on this got very old very quick. Lucky the process was quick and i just had to come back in 10 days and pick it up, what was very nice was that an Iranian travel agent offered me a lift back to a metro station. This i found out required a huge detour and in Tehran traffic, where peak hour is any hour, took about an hour.
I found out that he was armienian, liked to drink and didn't like the govt and the monkey president. What was most surprising was when i offered to give him some money for the huge trip he said no you are our guests - the famous Iran hospitality was true.
After the excitement of the embassy I went to the former American embassy and martyrs museum. Two things that are often seen in the western media as examples of why Iranians are terrorists. The embassy was interesting with crazy murals everywhere of the great satan (the USA) and quotes by the Supreme leader of the eventual USA and Israel defeat. The museum, well there was no English but it was clear that Israel wasn't going to be invited to any parties soon. Though that was obvious when I read my first editorial of the Tehran time.
Last for the day was jewelery collection with the worlds largest pink diamond very nice
On my last day I got a lift to the war cemetery which had very interesting as it had all this pictures of martyrs who died in the Iraq-Iran war and near by was the shrine of imman khomeini - he is the guy who started the Islamic revolution and has pictures on the money and on all the buildings in Tehran. And is he doesn't like smiling - a fact that isn't lost on the locals i spoke too. In the shrine which looked like an ice rick from inside I had the first experience of the weeping that I would experience later on in the very holy shrines in Iran.
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