Shiraz, but no wine

We didn't realise it, but flying into Shiraz provided our first insight into the Iranian people. The plane was filled with cheerful, friendly people who chatted in a very relaxed way, and an older man used what few words of English he knew to make it clear that he was happy to have us visiting his country, and to welcome us on behalf of all of Iran. As the plane started it’s descent, two girls in their twenties wearing singlets and plenty of jewellery disappeared into the toilets, and reappeared moments later in long sleeves and headscarves, still managing to show plenty of personality, individuality, sophistication…and fringe.

All of this didn’t really register with us at the time, as we were slightly apprehensive due to media coverage of Iran, warnings from friends, family and government, and the fact that we seemed to be the only non-Farsi speakers on the plane (and without question, the only “Whiteys”). We were busy asking the flight attendant for tips on what to do that we would have missed the bus from the plane to the terminal had it not waited for us with everyone smiling (why was an entire plane load of people happy to see us onto the bus when we had just inconvenienced them for over 5 minutes?? This was definitely not Auckland).

Once we found ourselves lost and alone in the arrivals hall, a local PE teacher with a decent grasp of English approached us and kindly helped us exchange cash, get tourist information from the ultra-camp Tourism Officer (doesn’t the govt. say that “his kind” doesn’t exist here?), and get a taxi to a hotel. No-one tried to scam us, no-one was impatient with us, and yet more people came to introduce themselves, welcome us to their country, and offer their help.

After a day of finding our bearings and being welcomed to Iran at least once every 100m of footpath, we hit Perspepolis to see the centre of Darius’ Ancient Persian Empire, and the place that Alexander the Great eventually burned down after he finally defeated the Persians in 330BC. To think that we were strolling the same pathways that the royals of various ancient empires strolled thousands of years ago was pretty special, even if we weren’t allowed to drink royal wine and party like they did.

The day at Persepolis was also interesting in another way. We met a guy (we do know his name, but don’t want to publish it) from Rasht (Northern Iran, who talked to us about his passion for Heavy Metal (citing bands such as Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd and Radiohead), and how he has played the drums for 15 years but cannot do anything outside of his basement as this music is illegal. His passion was overflowing, to the point that after speaking for just a couple of minutes he seemed on the verge of tears. Realising this, he then changed the subject to us, and after 10 minutes he had invited us to stay at his place later in our trip - I hope that we make it there, if just to share music collections!

On the way out we were approached by another local, who ended up giving us a ride to the bus station in his car, and he proved to be the most interesting and Iranian person I have met so far. Dressed far better than most corporate types in Auckland City (everyone here wears collar and dress pants, but he was a step above this), and incredibly softly spoken, his words were laden with kindness, wisdom, and sincerity. After the usual “welcome to my country”, he went on to ask us about our backgrounds, then managed to:

told us not to be so stingy (we were using the $2 minibus rather than an $8 taxi back to town), and

shared his opinion that his President was “foolish” for his stance on foreign relations, and

his opinion that the “Arabs [UAE] are very foolish” for forcing their women to wear full face coverings

All his messages were delivered with a conviction, sincerity, humour, and wisdom that was completely inoffensive while being penetrating and very memorable. And he was a cattle farmer. The best proof yet of the Persian’s very friendly, gracious, sophisticated, kind, humble, and overall very human nature.

Other highlights of Shiraz included:

• being asked over to sit with four girls from Tehran (capital) at dinner one night - we were under the impression that unmarried guy/girl interactions were a pretty sensitive subject, and that muslim/ non-muslim guy/girl interactions were to be avoided (if these relationships are sexual, they are punishable by death). So we were pretty chuffed to be asked to share dinner with four single local girls! A great example of how the West (or at least Brad and I) mistakes this society’s laws/conventions with how the much more entrenched Persian culture is played out around these laws (and has for many centuries). We have since been in touch with our new friends over email and are looking forward to having them show us around once we get to Tehran.
• Daily conversations with highly educated and sophisticated locals, who breach topics such as religion and politics with refreshing frankness, while we awkwardly try to edge away from these sensitive subjects.
• Lots of great food!
• Discovering Iranian "beer". Alcohol is illegal, so there is "non-alcoholic malt beverage" in various flavours, such as lemon, apple, pineapple, and pomegranate. My favourite is Peach.

After just 4 days, Shiraz has leapt from the wilderness to easily placing in my top 5 travel experiences. It displayed its thousands of years of history and culture, the fact that Iran has the highest literacy and education rates in the Middle East, and the sophistication of poets such as Hafez (the Shakespeare of Persia) - and the people clearly love to share all of this.

Photo - Brad and I at Persepolis, Indiana Jones Style