Iran
Country: Iran
Highlights: Gastronomy ★★★, Art / Museums ★★, Historical sites ★★★★★, Natural Beauty ★★★, Shopping ★★★; Sports/Adventure 0, Geographic extremes 0, Glamour 0
When to go: Spring
Where to go: Shiraz and Persepolis
Downside: Not a secular state. Religion and politics are interdependent. Women need a scarf to cover the hair. Bad hotels infrastructure.
Our Experiences: Despite what you may think, Iran is a very peaceful land with nice and helpful people. What we see on TV news doesn’t reflect it at all . The main reason for us to visit Iran, was to visit Persepolis. The capital of the great Persian Empire that was completely destroyed by Alexander the Great. Even though we still can see its splendor and its opulence walking through its ruins . It is a beautiful place. Nearby we have visited the king´s tombs of Cyrus, Darius I, Xerxes and Ataxerxes. All well preserved . We also bought a nice micro-knotted silk Persian rug, for 1/3 the market price in Europe. This is an interesting story that we will never forget: We didn´t have all the money in cash ( International credit cards are not accepted in Iran ), so we said we needed to go to our hotel to get the money. The salesman said I could take the rug to my hotel in the meanwhile, without paying for it . He said he could have someone sent there later to receive the money and he just took note of my Hotel address. This was so unexpected! He had never seen us before, and he was trusting me for a very expensive product. How could it ? This shows the naive and affectionate nature of Iranian people. Amazing experience!
Hotels we love and recommend: No good hotels
