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This is a report of a solo-trip to Iran, undertaken during July 1996 [please note that this was way before the election of Khatami]. I have compiled it from my travel notes, often omitting irrelevant details such as where I ate what, where I slept, and so on, but adding some afterthoughts and hindsights. I am from Luxembourg, so expect a slightly European mind-set, but maybe tainted by the fact that I actually lived in Turkey.

Iran, part 1

Pierre.Flener
2004-04-03 19:08:54

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30 June 1996: From the Turkey/Iran border to Tehran

At dawn, my Turkish bus follows the ancient Silk Road through a corridor between the windswept craggy hills of the Eastern Anatolian plateau, along a meandering river fed by the last silvery patches of snow. Near DoGubeyazit, the last Turkish outpost, Mount Ararat takes command of the scenery with its imposing 5,185m height and its eternal snowcap. Almost everybody gets off in that village, and it is only a few Turkish women -- all married to Iranian Azaris -- and their kids who accompany me to the border. When we get there, headscarves and black chadors are taken out of bags and adjusted, and we say goodbye to our friendly bus crew of the last 17 hours.
The exit formalities on the Turkish side are very fast, but the Iranian side is a bit chaotic, with papers to fill out, closed doors to wait at, and huge queues. I team up with two young Iranian Azaris, let us call them Akbar I and Akbar II, who are returning to Tehran from a brief vacation in Ankara. They are resourceful enough to "talk me" past all queues and even to talk the customs officer into "neglecting" his duty of having me fill in a currency declaration.

So, after only 2.5 hours, we emerge in Iran. I feel elated to finally be here, after four failed attempts to even get the visa. Judging from the state of the vehicles and buildings, my very first impression is that I somehow seem to be thrown 20 years back in time, as if nothing had been done over these 20 years, but this was going to be my last "negative" observation about Iran. The Akbars continue to take charge of my progress, thus giving me a smooth introduction to their country, since I do not speak any Farsi language yet, although my Turkish gets me around with the Azari and Turkmen people, and cannot read the alphabet yet, except for the digits. We change cash dollars into Rials at the black market, at a hugely profitable margin compared to the official bank ...