Five Things You Notice About Iran

1: The Friendliness

From before we got into the country, on a train surrounded by Iranians returning home from Turkey, through every city and every bus since we've been here, the thing that shines through about Iranians is how much they like to welcome people to their country. They take their hospitality very seriously; we've been invited to stay with or eat with or have tea with more people than I can remember. We took three different people or families up on their offers to have dinner and stay with them, and we were really pleased that we did. They came up with delicious veggie pie and were incredibly gracious and thoughtful hosts, and we had some really interesting conversations about politics, life in England and in Iran, life in general, religion, food, football...

Then there's the random experiences: being dragged into a school to be a living show-and-tell; being guided around a stepped hillside villages by a group of schoolgirls with no English, fiercely protective of 'their tourists' when some guides tried to 'poach' us, being asked every philosophical question short of the meaning of life over tea whilst looking out over Imam Square, singing a duet of Bryan Adams' 'Everything I Do...' from a balconey with a guy we met five minutes earlier, incredibly civilised conversations in immaculate gardens surrounding a poet's imposing tomb, translating magazine articles for an elderly gentleman scholar of English to his eternal gratitude

2: The Roads

I've not driven in this country (thank God!), but I've been driven by taxi drivers and some of our hosts, and it's worrying like watching someone next to you play Gran Turismo, but with the knowledge that there will be no 'Start New Game' option. Especially as you often have no seatbelt, and the car you're in is often seemingly held together with duck tape. Lanes? Braking distance? Right of way? These are alien concepts; drivers weave their way at high speed from left to right , the seeming golden rule to never slow down unless they absolutely have to. I thought Indian roads were crazy. The only thing scarier than the first time you are driven in Iran is the first time you have to cross a road in Iran. You first of all stand there for ten minutes waiting for a gap, before you realise that the only way across is to do what the locals are doing and just step out. Amazingly, the car that was flying at full speed towards the space you just stepped into (usually) slows down, and you can cross that lane, with only about five more to go...

3: The Art and the Architecture

These two blend into one, as the venerable mosques and palaces are themselves works of art. The Imam Mosque in Esfahan, for example, redefines awesome, and is the most impressive building I've seen bar perhaps only the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Giant archways vault above you at each side of the massive main courtyard, and behind each is a beautiful dome, seemingly floating above the huge spaces they cover. Actually, they're held in place by simple yet amazing feats of mathematics and engineering (look up 'squinch' if you're interested), which were pioneered in Persia. And every surface is covered in the most exquisite blue tilework. Everywhere from mosques to palaces to pavements, beauty is played out in geometry, intersecting lines and flowing script. What is often dismissed in the West as the best that a culture barred from iconography could manage is, when I look at it, a careful mirror of nature; engaging, thought provoking, and awe-inspiring.

4: The Food

Meat Meat Meat. Nine out of ten dishes on menus are kebabs, and most of the others are chicken or fish. Trying to get across the concept of vegetarian here is almost like someone coming to the UK and saying 'I don't breathe oxygen'. In most places the responses follow a certain pattern: a) laughter; b) disbelief -- they couldn't have possibly understood right; c) 'So, chicken, then? Or fish? Or how about this dish -- it only has small pieces of meat in it...'; then usually one of three final responses: d) head shaking -- we can't help you; e) a quite random selection of vegetables piled together, or f) a meat dish is brought anyway.

Some places, actually, are Ok, but they often take some questing to find. When we have found local vegetarian dishes, they've been gorgeous; lovely mixes of aubergine, spices, spinach, beans and other stuff. And in people's homes, they've put together some fantastic stuff. But sometimes we've been grateful for the import of pizza, as many as we've ended up having.

5: The Ripples from the Revolution

The complexity of how this country has been affected by what happened in 1979 can't be understated. It's status as an Islamic Republic and effective theocracy (despite a lower tier of 'elected' government) is unique in the world, and you see it everywhere from the obvious chadors, hejabs, manteaus and occasional burkhas to the masses who turn out for the annual day of (energetic) mourning for the death of Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, who died over a thousand years ago. Most of the people I've spoken to have been fairly quick to express their disagreement with most of what their government does, and the youth are positively chafing at the bit. With an internet filter, music bans, harsh consequences for inappropriate non-marital behaviour, and of course the clothing issue, they idolize the West (unhealthily so) and reject pretty much everything about the regime. Most are Muslim only nominally, due to pressure from authorities or family, and would jump at the chance to be free. Those that can, get to Italy, Canada, or other places to study, and then don't come back. Some older heads say that the Islamic republic also brings benefits, and that the Shah was not all he was cracked up to be, but 70% of the population are under 30, and it feels as if something will have to give.

My understanding of all this is only very basic, from the conversations I've had, so I'm finding it difficult to generalise, but one thing that may illustrate much of the above and how Iran's relationship with the West works for people here is the conversation I've had again and again, which goes something like this: 'What did I think about Iran before I came, and what do I think now? Do I see that the people are not like the government? Do I see that Iranians are not terrorists and not like the news in the West suggests?' There is a deep concern here that an ancient culture is getting sidelined globally, thought of as second class citizens, because of fights that their government picks. At the same time, there is a fierce pride, and a recognition that Iran should be stronger than it is, and that much of the blame for that lies at the feet of the US and UK. The former US Embassy in Tehran is now a museum known as 'The US Den of Espionage'. It's not helpful, but if you look at the history of the place, you'll see the moniker has a ring of truth. It's all complex, which is why I've probably only captured a fraction of it here. But it definitely makes for a fascinating experience of certainly the most different culture and country I've ever visited.

Photos to follow...