Iran - ایران

10 étapes
Because so many people think that Iran is dangerous/weird/Arabic/etc. I need to show you! :D
Août 2016
10 jours
Partager ce carnet de voyage
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Yesterday, I went to the Mowlana, a Persian (Iranian) restaurant in Cardiff. I used to go there all the time. The boss and waitress even recognized me - and treated me and my friends for starter. Somehow, this dinner brought me back to my Persian knowledge and trip... This is why I decided to write it down here.

A little bit of context before starting. Last year, I was dating a Persian guy, Ali. He taught me a lot about the Persian culture and how Iran fits (or does not fit) in the Middle-East. I did not know anything about the country before, and I became very interested. I asked him to take me there and show me around. So I spent 10 days in Iran last summer, in August 2016.

I will try to remember the details of my journey and relate them here for you! Feel free to ask if you have any questions, because I know that not many people know about the Magical Land of Persia. If you want to hear about a funny fact: a Colombian friend of mine visited Iran this summer, because he loved my pictures and my stories... I think he really enjoyed his trip as well! 😀

As you may know (or not), most of us need a visa to travel to Iran. The good thing when you are French, and I believe German and maybe a few other nationalities, is that you can get a Visa On Arrival (i.e., when you get to Tehran airport). I applied for my visa in London though, as it was my very first visa application and I was a bit worried. But, next time (if there is a next time 😉), I will do the VOA.


As you may, or may not know, Iran is actually called: the Islamic Republic of Iran. Women have to wear the hijab (i.e., scarf), long sleeves and long legs. Have a look at my visa picture!

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On the 17th of August 2016, I flew from Paris to Istanbul and then to Tehran. I landed there at 3am, and waited until 6am as Ali was flying from London. I did not have any problem at all at the border. My first "surprise" was to discover the toilets... They only had "Turkish toilets" as we call them in French - not sure what the English name is. Yup, it was my first time in Asia... Also, they do not quite use toilet paper but bidet!!! I learnt to always bring Kleenex in my pocket haha.

At the beginning, I was always scared that my hijab would fall. I noticed after that it was not such a big deal - I just had to put it back. But I did not want to end up in jail at that time! 😉

Ali's sister and nephew welcomed me warmly in the capital. We managed to understand each other with my few Persian words and their few English words lol. I indeed learnt some basics before coming, for instance... Hello (salam), my name is Lucie (esme man Lucie), I am French (man faransaviam), how are you (khobi), etc. I also learnt how to write numbers, as I thought it would be useful for notes! I did not quite learn the alphabet though. PS: Arabic and Farsi are totally different! The alphabet is different as well. Don't call a Persian an Arab or they will be mad at you! 😉

Ali's sister, Mary, has a beautiful flat in Tehran. We had a a big Persian breakfast to start the day, with some fresh naan (Persian bread), cheese, walnuts (always)... Yummy! And always a lot of tasty fruits. I helped to make my first koko sabzi - one of my favorite Persian dish, sadly it is very hard to find in Europe. We did not do much during the first day, as we were both tired with our journey, but we enjoyed the swimming pool and the jacuzzi in the building... PS: no need to wear hijab in the flat, as nobody in the family is Muslim, but need to wear it in the stairs in case you meet neighbors.

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For my second day in Tehran, Daniel (Ali's nephew) took us to the Niavaran Palace, which used to be one of the palaces of the Sha (i.e., the king). I discovered a very fancy place there, with a lot of French stuff (e.g., plates, tapestry, carpets...). Indeed, the Sha was very interested in French culture and luxury. You can see me wearing my hijab from now on! Gardens were very relaxing, always with some shade and water, and with a nice view on the mountains (North of Tehran).

We then went to the Tajrish bazaar, a perfect place for the senses! Lots of flavors, colors... Fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices... Pictures do not even reflect the place!

In the evening, the four of us went to Darband, an area in the North of the capital. Darband is located on some kind of mountain. There, you can find many restaurants, some market stalls, some flowers... We enjoyed a delicious meal, with a... non-alcoholic beer! Yes, alcohol is forbidden in Iran.

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We then took a flight from Tehran to Shiraz, which is in the South of the country (check the map at the top of my article). The flight was very cheap, and pretty comfy. The stewart gave me a pillow and chatted with me, as I was obviously the only non-Iranian in the plane. You will probably laugh but... we did some CouchSurfing in Shiraz! Yes, CouchSurfers are world-wide! 😀 Our host, Masoud, wanted to improve his English and learn more about the Western culture, as he did not have - yet - the chance to travel.

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Many things to do in Shiraz. We started with the Vakil bazaar, a very famous bazaar with looots of Persian carpets (sorry, I did not find any flying carpet ). Spices etc were also present of course.

We then went to the Shah Cheragh, a very (very) religious mosque. I had to wear the tchador! But quite an impressive place, even more with the sunset.

We ended our day at the Vakil hammam. Yes, everything is called Vakil in this city. I learnt who he was, but I forgot... Shame on me! 😉 I will check and come back to you - sooner or later.


And just a fun picture to end this post! 😀 Taken at Masoud's. He had two cool parrots.

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Masoud's cousin is some kind of a private driver, so he took us to Persepolis for a cheaper price than taxis.

A bit of history about Persepolis... It has been declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1979. The earliest remains date back to 515 BC (thanks Wiki lol). The word Persepolis itself comes from Greek, Perse = Persian and polis = city.

So now, what remains are only ruins of course, but impressive ones. Some are kept in the Louvre, in Paris, and some in the British museum, in London. You can guess from my pictures that it was very hot and dry there!

We also went to Necropolis, the city of the dead.

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Back to Shiraz, we visited the Vakil mosque (yes, Vakil is back!), with its impressive ceilings and columns. Do I use the word "impressive" a lot? Hmmm... Maybe because it is! 😉

Shiraz is famous for culture as well. Indeed, two very famous Persian poets come from this city: Saadi and Hafez. I went to visit their tombs (that may sound weird), which are actually very beautiful and relaxing gardens, where people read their poems and enjoy the shade under the trees...

We ended this beautiful day in Eram garden, the botanical garden.

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For our last day in Shiraz, we went to the Nasir ol molk, also known as... the Pink Mosque. Very... impressive! lights there, particularly early morning (we were a bit late though). This mosque is for tourists "only", not used for prayer anymore, contrary to all the other mosques. A paradise for photographers! 😀

I forgot to mention about all the restaurants we went to. An example of decoration on the next picture, which was taken at the Kateh Mas restaurant. We had some live traditional music during our lunch - which was delicious, by the way. Oh, maybe I could write a post about the Persian food later on!

Shall I start quickly here, before I forget? So, the main two meats used in Persian cuisine are chicken and lamb. You can have them as skewers (called kebabs) or as stews. Long story short, chicken skewer is called joojeh, and lamb skewer is called koobideh. Usually served with rice, maybe some salad and a tomato, and some lime. Persians ALWAYS eat lime, they claim it's good for EVERYTHING! You have a cold? Take some lime. You are tired? Take some lime. You are full? Take some lime! I am not even kidding! 😀 So, joojeh and koobideh are probably two of the "main" dishes. Regarding stews, my favorite one is fesenjan: some chicken cooked with pomegranate and cashew nuts or walnuts. I love it! Had it yesterday in Cardiff actually! 😀 A very famous/typical dish is ghorme sabzi: lamb cooked with a lot of herbs and greens. These two stews are served with rice. Regarding drinks, as I said, alcohol is not allowed in Iran. Iranians believe that it is not healthy to drink water when eating, so they usually drink Persian tea (chai) or doogh, which is a drink based on yogurt and mint - had it yesterday as well. There is a lot more to say about food, but I will keep on with my trip for now and come back to it at some point.

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We took a coach from Shiraz to Isfahan, a city located in the center of Iran. Isfahan is also known as... "the half of the world"! I hesitate between Isfahan and Shiraz for my favorite city. Shiraz was more beautiful, but I preferred the atmosphere in Isfahan. Two amazing cities to visit! Oh, a funny story which happened to us. We booked a room in a hotel, but we had to pay for two rooms... Indeed, we were not married so we were not allowed to sleep in the same room!

We visited the Vank cathedral. Yes, cathedral, not mosque!

And then we went to the Jonban minaret, also called "shaking towers". There is an... impressive? story about this minaret. When somebody shakes one of the towers, the other one starts shaking! They were built around the 15th century, which shows how advanced Persia was.

Going back to food! 😀 We had lunch in a very beautiful bastani restaurant in the square (I will talk about the square later, and show you how it looks like).

So, the square. Called the Naqsh-e Jahan Square. A giant square located in the centre of the city. Surrounded by lots of buildings: restaurants, palace, mosque, shops. IMPRESSIVE place! Haha, okay, I need to find a synonym. Amazing? 😉 We went to the Shah mosque in there. I think it is the mosque with the biggest roof in the world, or something like that...

In the square itself, which is quite empty during the day but very busy at night, you also find lots of shops.

We finished the evening at the Abassi hotel. We did not sleep there - it's quite expensive - but we had some food in their garden and a visit on the roof! Funny story, my nose bled there (probably because of the heat and dryness), and a lady told Ali to tell me to put... some lime in my nostril! Haha! Told you! 😀

Actually, I lied! The evening was nt quite finished yet. We also went to see the two famous bridges of the city, the sio se pol (which means, the 33 bridge, as there are 33 arches) and the pol e khaju. These bridges are known as "places for lovers", as young couples go there to flirt and or play the guitar and or kiss.

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For our last day in Isfahan, I have quite a funny story to tell: the world is such a tiny place! Well, listen to that. When I was in Ontario in October 2015, I met a very nice Persian lady. She offered to host me via CouchSurfing, but I did not have the chance to stay with her. However, we had lunch together. In July 2016, I sent her a message to let her know that I would go to Iran. She asked me where, and she told me she would be in Isfahan in August... I told her: me too! We have to meet! So we arranged a meeting. And she told us so many things about her city! 😀 It was great to see you again, Zohreh! We started by the Ali Qapu palace, A PLACE TO SEE and to experience for its music characteristics. Beautiful ceiling. Very nice view on the square from up there (empty during day time, as I said previously).

Zohreh then showed us Chehel sotun, before we took our bus to head back to Tehran. I forgot to mention that VIP buses are very cheap, very comfy (you can extend your legs, and they give you a pillow and a blanket), and they also give you some food!

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Back to Tehran, Mary, Daniel, Ali and I had a picnic in a park. A kitten was following us and trying to steal our food lol. Then we went to the top of the Milad tower, the most touristic attraction of the city.

For my last day in Iran, we went to a small city in the North of Tehran, to visit Vaziri's caved museum: a very bizarre museum, but I loved it! Basically, it is about a man who finds stuff that people do not want anymore, and makes art out of it... By the way, I understood where all the "normal" (Western) toilet seats were!!! 😀 I forgot to tell you, but it was hell for me to find toilet seats. I had to ask restaurants or hotels to use their toilets... Fortunately, people are very nice and understood my situation. 😉

I hope you changed your mind about Iran now! I felt very safe there - probably more than in some places in Paris or London. Of course, one should avoid some areas such as the border with Irak or with Afghanistan. And should comply to the rules of the country, such as wearing the hijab and avoiding kissing etc in public. But I think it is not such a big deal when you are there only for a few weeks...

Thank you for reading me! Kheily mamnoon!