Life after graduation...Trip to Iran

Join me for some experiences on a trip from from the UAE to Syria. There were highlights in each place that will stay with my forever. I am writing now many years later but I would like to share some of the memories that have stayed with me. Travel is so much fun, if you get the chance, get out and explore this great world.

Iran

This unique country has inspired artists and poets for thousands of years. It has also inspired fear and respect since the times of Cyrus II (the Great) or Darius I, where their Empires stretched across the known world from the Indus River to Eastern Europe.

Piper of Esfahan

Iran's history stretches back to ancient empires and beyond into mythology. This land has been a frontier and cross roads of civilisations for thousands of years. Linking East and West, North and South, and for periods has been the center of it all.

Unfortunately too often in the West today people have forgotten about the wonderful spirit of this great people, the famous Iranian welcome, and the great empires of the past and replaced those images with dark images from Irans recent history. Some real and some imagined.
Iran has not had good press of late in the West and for that reason it has been a country that has frightened me. But like a moth to headlights there was so much I had heard about this place that fascinated me, nothing could discourage me, I had to visit!

No time like the present

It takes a big effort when your working abroad to do the tourist things and make the most out of your time. You have to grab every opportunity. In Sharjah, I was so close to Iran, just separated by the short strait of Hormuz. I tried in vain for months to get some of my friends from the School to come but they all preferred destinations like; Safari in Kenya or Hot air ballooning in Turkey during the Christmas holidays.

Dragon Esfahan

Knocking down walls

Part of the reason I am writing this series of posts is to share with the world and Steemit the experiences I have had in my travels and hopefully break down some of the walls of ignorance that exist in our world today. We all share this pale blue dot and we have so much in common. Much more than what divides us.
Iran is a country that is misunderstood by many. Images of Nuclear Weapons, Muslim Extremists, Kidnappings, Terrorism flash across our screens in the West and are embedded in our consciousness. I don't want to comment on politics in this post. In this travel blog I want to show the side of the country that I saw when I visited. The Art, the People, the Soul of the Country. What we have in common and what unites us all.

The Excitement Builds

Travelling to the Iranian Embassy in Dubai for my visa gave me my first glimpse of the rich tapestry of what was in store for me to explore in this mystical land. The Embassy stood out in Jumeirah decorated in fine Persian calligraphy and geometric designs, artwork like nothing I had ever seen before.

I planned my trip for months but I felt a bit guilty when booking my trip. I went to a local travel agent in Sharjah and got an itinerary which I took and called the hotels directly to get a better deal :)

Excitement turns into Nerves

There was so much about this trip I was frightened about. Earthquakes, flying, not speaking the language not to mention all the dark stories I had in my head.

At the time there was a website www.amigoingdown.com where you could calculate your odds of surviving a plane flight. It also let you look at plane incidents. I scanned the airline I was flying with and there were quite a few hijacking attempts but the report almost always finished, not in air disaster, but that the attackers were taken down. "Mental note, don't mess with the Iranian Airline Security (Sepah)!"
I don't know if its intentional but translations into English from Arabic and Persian often don't translate well, and sound a lot more menacing. Sepah translates to The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.

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Butterflies in my stomach.
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New Discoveries

Iran has had a very turbulent modern history. In 1979 the Islamic revolution led to separation from the West and isolation of its people on the global stage.
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What was I going to find?

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I checked the weather forecast and it was cold so I made a trip to Carrefour in Dubai to get some winter clothes, and a shortwave radio so I could stay in touch with the BBC world news. A bright Orange Fleece seemed like a good idea under the desert sun and bright lights of Dubai, it's lucky I wasn't trying to keep a low profile on my trip :)

I still have the radio :)

Packing for the trip

We had a great Christmas in Sharjah cooked up by some friends. Turkey with all the Irish trimmings. There was a few gas cannister incidents but other than that it all went to plan drinking sherry and finishing off dinner with cans of refreshing beer under the desert sun.
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Was it even Christmas in Iran? I began to realise I knew very little about where I was going on my own for the next week. I still hadn't packed for the trip the next morning.

Flight to Shiraz

The flight was early so I got up at 6 to pack then headed to the airport in a taxi. Before I left I checked the news and it turned out there had been a devastating earthquake overnight in a city called Bam, that killed thousands. I thought about cancelling my trip but I went ahead, it was too late to pull out. It happened far from where I was going but having read, that the government had made contingency plans on moving its capital should a devastating earthquake hit the capital, it was all a bit too real all of a sudden.

It was a short flight from Dubai to Shiraz, to an airport that looked more like a military base than a peace time passenger terminal. There were even fighter jets on the runway when we exited our aircraft. I remember thinking to myself, "What am I doing here, are they going to lock me up". Crazy thoughts, I know, you get the same often when you fly to small airports in England or Spain from Ireland. Maybe we are just a bit sheltered from the military in Ireland and maybe I was a bit paranoid after all the western media reports about Iran.

Ahlan wa Sahlan

I hadn't heard this phrase much in Dubai, but in the arrivals hall in Shiraz while queuing to get my passport stamped I got my first experience of how welcoming and friendly Iranians were. A man came over curious to talk to me, he had a few words of English and I tried to speak to him in Arabic. He told me he was from near the border with Iraq, which is why he spoke Arabic but his English was not that good. We struggled but we got across the point that I visiting Persepolis and he welcomed me to his country "Ahlan wa Sahlan" and wished me the best for my trip.

The city of poets, literature, wine and flowers

I was so looking forward to waking up in my hotel in Shiraz the following day and having figs and coffee for breakfast in this mystical mythical land. Such and exciting trip ahead.

I was only there for a week but there was too much to cover in just one post on Iran. I have split the trip to Iran over several posts. Yet to come are highlights from Shiraz, Yazd and Esfahan.

Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.
All Images are from my personal library.