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"I Love You, Iran..." a Iran Travel Page by coceng

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"I Love You, Iran..." a Iran Travel Page by coceng

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coceng   
The Tip Of The Pen Is Sharper Than The Tip Of The Sword !


Real Name: Arnaud
Lives In: Kampong Masjid Tanah, MY
Member Since: Apr 12, 2001
VT Rank: 455

 

Page Views: 1,037            Last Visit to Iran: May, 2006      

I Love You, Iran...

by coceng - last update: Sep 16, 2006

What ? I love you, Iran ?!
Well, for people who don't go travel much (you know who you are !), you won't understand this feeling anyway.
I am not being patriotic here after all Iran is not my country !
Loving Iran for all the safety during my travel; Meeting nice people with whom friendships were striked; Seeing the ancient historical sites; Wandering around getting 'lost' in it all....That's what make me loving Iran !
I went to Iran. In May 2006.
I wanted to see the cultures, the people, the historical ancient sites scattered through this vast country. Iran is linking the Middle East & Asia as far as history can remember & on the modern maps, this can clearly be seen.
I also wanted to quench my curiosity of this country that we all read in the newspapers almost everyday.
Prior to reaching Iran, I made a good planning, a year planning. I wanted to see what I wanted to see. I wanted to meet Iranians (getting in touch with them either on the Net or in situ) so that maybe I would have a better understanding of their country.
2 weeks I had the time. 2 visa-free weeks (for Malaysians).
In 2 heat-scorching weeks, I had to rush. Covering as many places as possible. Snapping photos either by walking around the cities, towns, villages, ancient sites or just clicking my camera away while looking through out of the windows from busses & taxis of the journey that I made around Iran.

Historical ancient sites are plenty around Iran; It’s great not able to see any male tourists with protruding armpit hairs & female tourists with their seen-through/shaped through t*ts blaring at their front; Tourists (not very many of them…) dressed ‘conservatively’ here.
Female tourists just only need to cover the hair on top of their head; They could still show their pony-tails, their ears & whatever colour their hair would be. In the big cities, this is the case.
In the countrysides, flashing strong colours is best avoided. Grey, brown, white (the so-called earth colours…) & a scarf would be appropriate…

Black is surely not the colour for us tourists, that’s for the locals women.
Local women cover their whole body accept their faces & their hands & oh, they make sure you can see the fringes of their hair as well.

It’s rare to find local men sporting Osama bin Laden’s long beard. Only the clergymen would look like that & rarely we see them on the streets. A goatee would just do for men above 40’s (most are clean-shaven anyway) & the young people still being trendy like anywhere else in the world !

Plastic surgery is an ‘in’ thing here. It’s funny seeing Iranians walking on the streets, even just talking with their mates in the park…still having bandages around their noses & on their faces ! They want to look good; From the front & from the side…

Almost all cheap hostels have squat toilets; Foreigners (solo or otherwise) are put in one single room which contains 2 to 3 beds; Transports are dirt cheap if only you know how to use them. Taxis are cheap by western standard but for backpackers, it’s best to negotiate.

In ALL cases traveling around Iran, it’s best to learn Farsi beforehand (I didn’t !) & bring a Farsi-English dictionary is a good idea (I didn’t !); Still I ‘talk’ with them, the Iranians…Whether by English or hand gestures. I survived.

I brought back the memories of the hospitality of its people. Like WOW !
The dust of the ancient sites still stucked to my sandals & shoes. The sweat of being there still lingering in my un-washed laundry.
The blazing heat baked my whole body with rashes & burns.
There are of course all the pros & cons about Iran from my views. You will read about them in my everyday diary in each places that I was in. Come on, I was just being honest in my observations…

All of these are in the name of the experiences of me, myself & I being in Iran !
Another Successful Trip !

THE IRANIANS...
Below are the pages containing photos (most with texts) of Iranians that I met during my trip to Iran, in May 2006. These people in a way create a whole scenario of Iranians, on their humbleness towards a tourist who visited their country. At the same time, offering their well-known Iranian hospitality towards me.
That I must remember for the rest of my life !
To each & everyone of you plus the others whose photos I didn't manage to take, I wish you a good life & may God give you the utmost blessings in your everyday life.
Amen.
Click on the pages below to know each & everyone of them.
(External links)


PAGES : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Photos of my Iran trip can be found HERE...

> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]

Pros:"Rich In Ancient History !"
Cons:"People Are Scared Of Visiting Iran; The Visa Thing Is One Of The Drawbacks..."
In A Nutshell:"It's A Great Pleasure Knowing Iran By Being There...."
coceng's Iran Travel Tips

OverviewThings to Do
Tips: 7
 
RestaurantsHotels & Accommodations
Tips: 2
 
NightlifeOff The Beaten Path
 
Tourist TrapsWarnings Or Dangers
 
Transportation
Tips: 4
Local Customs
 
Packing ListsShopping
 
Sports TravelGeneral Tips

coceng's Iran Travelogues
Title [Click to view]Travel YearPictures
Pre-Flight...May, 2006 
Trip Diary...May, 2006 

Comments for coceng about Iran
Bahador_Alast Sat Aug 5, 2006 23:31 UTC
 saw your other page with all the pictures about Iran, it's really amazing, I hope to be back there again in the near future. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures and stories
dragontml Tue Jun 20, 2006 05:59 UTC
 what type of flower is that u r holding ?

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