11 things you should know when traveling to Iran “The unknown country which you CAN still visit: IRAN”
What kind of impression do you have on Middle East?
Dangerous? Scary? Poor? Many of you may have this kind impression on the region.
In fact, there are so many problems going on in Middle East, such as the rise and fall of Islamic State (ISIS), wars in Syria and Yemen, the escalation of tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, coup attempt in Turkey, conflict between Israeli and Palestinian, refugee crisis, and so on... This is so sad.
However, I have heard that “the unknown countries which we CANNOT visit now” used to be very beautiful and great as well.
Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan...
Although many tourists (I guess I should call them backpackers?) used to visit these places in the past, it is extremely hard to do so now. This is too bad... I just always hope peace and prosperity would come back to the region as soon as possible.
On the other hand, I know as a person who has traveled to Middle East that “Middle East is basically very safe and beautiful!” (Safety issue would be different depending on where you are from though).
Of course, normal people should not go to places with conflict or nearby places because they are obviously dangerous. But Meddle East is very safe and beautiful as long as you don’t step into those places!
I traveled to Turkey, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel from February to April 2014. And IRAN is the country I would like to recommend (even though other countries in Middle East are also very beautiful haha). There many reasons for this, like beautiful scenery and kind people, but what I want to emphasize the most is the next point!
If you ask Japanese people about their impression on Iran, most of them would answer, “Iran is a dangerous country which hates the US” (actually I had a similar idea as well before going to Iran). But you don’t have to worry too much about their safety.
You still can go to Iran.
YES, “Iran is the unknown country which we still CAN visit”!! (I really hope from the bottom of my heart that Iran stays safe and peaceful)
And I am so sure that traveling to Iran is a great and valuable experience for you not only because Iran is beautiful, but also because that would let you learn a great deal about this mysterious country, Iran, and change your impression which was formed only by information from media or whatever (I think traveling to Iran would be very interesting for anyone, but I understand of course your impression on Iran would be different depending on where you are from).
This is why I would like to write about “11 things you should know when traveling to Iran” this time for the people who may go to Iran at some point. Even if you go there to travel or to work on something, I believe these 11 points would be useful for you.
But, please also make sure to check the latest information on your own since I went to Iran in 2014 and the situation in Middle East is rapidly changing.
- ① Iran is basically very SAFE
- ② Iranian people are one of the kindest people in the world, but there are also some young people who behave like a racist against foreigners
- ③ Everything is so cheap in Iran
- ④ There is a huge gap between official exchange rate and market exchange rate
- ⑤ You need to bring enough amount of American dollars in cash to cover all the expenses in Iran
- ⑥ You need to download VPN BEFORE entering Iran because the internet is censored there
- ⑦ You can take Iranian visa only at the Iranian Consulate General in Trabzon, Eastern Turkey (?)
- ⑧ It is almost impossible for a female tourist to go to Iran alone? Or even if that were possible, there would be many troubles
- ⑨ Going to Iran means going to Israel and the US becomes much more difficult for you
- ⑩ You need to follow the teaching of Islam and the custom of Iran (especially women)
- ⑪ No understanding of Persian numbers means you even don’t understand numbers and so face more troubles in Iran
You should know:
① Iran is basically very SAFE
I know some people who have traveled to Iran as tourists and what all of them say is that “Iran is very safe.”
It is true that Iranian cities near the borders with Iraq or Afghanistan are supposedly dangerous for foreigner and so foreigners should not visit these places. But big cities which tourists usually visit are safe. This should be correct at least for the cities I visited; they are Tabriz, Teheran, Mashhad, Yazd, Isfahan, and Shiraz.
I have been to more than 20 countries by myself and many of them were relatively poor. And I still believe that Iran was one of the safest countries among them.
Places where I faced “annoying people” were only in the cities near the border between Iran and Turkey, such as Bazargan and Maku. But, that’s understandable since they are border cities haha.
You should know:
② Iranian people are one of the kindest people in the world, but there are also some young people who behave like a racist against foreigners
Another thing which you can hear from the people who have been to Iran is that “Iranian people are vey kind.” I have a friend who has traveled around the world so long and what she said after coming back home was that “Iranian people are the kindest people in the world.” This was so impressive to hear.
When I went to Iran, I also experienced so much Iranian people’s kindness and hospitality everywhere. I even feel I can’t count how many kind helps I received from them because they were just too many to count! I guess Iranian people just like to treat travelers/guests well? And I guess this kind of their behavior has something to do with the teaching of Islam?
For example, one day I just took a bus and received 20 muffins from a stranger for no reason. Another day young people just came talk to me on the street and they ended up spending entire day in taking me around the city with their car and even gave me a famous souvenir there. Or when I was having a trouble with getting a bus ticket because all the buses were full, one guy came talk to me and just gave me his ticket...
Since Iranian people were too kind, I always doubted them if they were trying to trick me or something as I did so in other countries too to protect myself. But they always just walked away with kind smile after helping me and so I was like, “WHY???” hahaha.
On the other hand, I have to mention a bad point I witnessed in Iran, which is that some Iranian young people tended to be offensive against or mock foreigners (especially East Asians?).
For example, many Iranian young people mocked me by saying, “ching chang chong” (I don’t know how to spell correctly in English...). Since they don’t hurt you physically, you may just experience offensive words or attitude. But I believe it is worth understanding for you that you may face similar things in Iran (please don’t forget Iranian people are also supposed to be one of the kindest people in the world...). Even though I have been to many foreign countries, I had never faced such racist kind of people before I went to Iran. That’s why I even thought that was a “good” experience for me.
I also have heard that young Iranian people’s such bad behaviors are aimed at Chinese people? But I’m not sure about that anyway.
You should know:
③ Everything is so cheap in Iran
Well, please remember that this is just what I felt as a Japanese. You may have different feeling when you go there depending on where you are from.
Even though I can’t remember what was how much, I just have the impression that everything from food to hotel/transportation was very cheap in Iran. As a proof, I only spent 4.5 million Iranian rial in two weeks. Everything I spent is included, like food, hotel, transportation, or whatever, and it was only 4.5 million rial.
What...? 4.5 million rial is not such a small money?
Well, 4.5 million rial was almost equal to 150USD at that time haha.
Taken into account that Middle Eastern countries are relatively expensive to travel, 150USD for two weeks is absolutely so cheap. If you can find a cheap flight between your country and Iran, your two-week trip to Iran could be less than 1000USD!
But it would be better to check the current economic situation in Iran since that seems unstable mainly because of economic sanction some countries are imposing on Iran.
You should know:
④ There is a huge gap between official exchange rate and market exchange rate
There is a huge gap between official exchange rate and market exchange rate (the one you can find at private money exchangers) maybe partly because of economic sanctions.
For example, 100USD was worth 2.5 million Iranian rial with official exchange rate while it was worth 3 million Iranian rial with market exchange rate when I went there in 2014. In other words, if you go to official banks and exchange money there with official exchange rate, you may lose so much money (it was 0.5 million for my case!). This is why it’s better to exchange your money at private money exchangers which you can find in many places.
But just be careful and make sure to not get cheated by them since money you receive would be a lot and very thick. You might get a bill which lacks one more 0 (imagine you get 1000 instead of 10000), get smaller amount of money than the amount you are supposed to get, get fake/broken money, etc.
It seems exchange rate in Iran is unstable and changing so you should check the latest information before going to Iran. Well, I also checked the exchange rate as of July 2018 and found out that 100USD is currently worth about 4.3 million Iranian rial! Then maybe you can get almost 5 million rial if you exchange with the market rate??haha
You should know:
⑤ You need to bring enough amount of American dollars in cash to cover all the expenses in Iran
You always have to pay with cash because it is impossible to use credit cards such as VISA or Master Card due to economic sanction. There are not many money exchangers where you can exchange your countries’ currency (exchanging Japanese yen is not always possible). That’s why I would recommend you to bring enough American dollars in cash to pay for everything you do in Iran.
For example, some money exchangers in Teheran accepted Japanese yen to exchange, but I remember that it was not easy or just impossible to find such places in other cities. I think Euro was fine too to use in most of the places, but I still recommend you to bring American dollars because I’m sure that is exchangeable everywhere.
You should know:
⑥ You need to download VPN BEFORE entering Iran because the internet is censored there
If you don’t have VPN which enables you to keep access to internet, you basically cannot use many online services and websites such as Google, Facebook, Line, etc. Also, it seems like you have to download VPN before going to Iran because it may be impossible to do so in Iran due to censorship. I have actually met a guy who forgot to download VPN and so had many problems online.
Well, I don’t know which VPN to recommend, but I guess you can easily find such information online. I just know there are many free VPN for phone, but almost every VPN for laptop is not for free.
Please just remember that it could be “illegal” to avoid censorship by using VPN in Iran, so you have to be very careful and take responsibility on your own.
You should know:
⑦ You can take Iranian visa only at the Iranian Consulate General in Trabzon, Eastern Turkey (?)
To be honest, the way to take Iranian visa seems a bit complicated so that I am not familiar with that. But I often heard from other backpackers that you could take Iranian visa only at the Iranian Consulate General in Trabzon, Eastern Turkey. That’s why even if you had nothing to do in Turkey, you still had to stop over Turkey to go to Iran. The process to receive Iranian visa should take at least more than one day so it is necessary to stay at Trabzon.
But I guess the procedure and the requirement to take visa might have changed following international situation surrounding Iran; you should check on the latest information regarding Iranian visa as well. Since many cheap airlines are recently flying between Iran and neighboring countries, it might have become easier to take Iranian visa...?
You should know:
⑧ It is almost impossible for a female tourist to go to Iran alone? Or even if that were possible, there would be many troubles
Women (including foreign women) would face various kind of limitation on their activities in Iran where the teaching of Islam is strictly applied to people’s lives. This is why if you are female and want to go to Iran by yourself, the biggest concern is that whether you can enter Iran by yourself or not. In fact, I have some female friends who have traveled to Iran, but none of them went there alone. They went with husband, boyfriend or friends. Of course I’m not completely sure that woman cannot go to Iran alone, the situation might vary depending on where you are from, which city to enter, when to go, and who checks you at the immigration. I just have heard from other backpackers that it is so difficult for woman to enter Iran alone.That would be the reason why female tourists go there in a group.
On the other hand, even if you managed to enter Iran alone, you would face various troubles while traveling in Iran. For example, you might be refused to enter some restaurants, stores, and hotels, have troubles with other people in train or bus, feel a bit difficult/uncomfortable/awkward to walk outside at night, and so on. Once again they might not always happen to a solo female tourist in Iran, but I am just saying that a solo female tourist would tend to face some problems just because you are female and traveling alone.
Therefore, if you as a female want to go to Iran, it would be better to find someone who can go to Iran together with you.
You should know:
⑨ Going to Iran means going to Israel and the US becomes much more difficult for you
First of all, Israel carefully checks people who have been to Iran because they see each other as hostile nations for a long time. That’s why you must understand that you would be asked many questions including the ones about Iran if you go to Israel after going to Iran. This would be tough, but I think if you are Japanese, you still can enter Israel after Iran (not sure about people from other countries...). I was also asked many questions about Iran when I went to Israel after Iran. I assume immigration in Israel is already one of the strictest checks in the world even without any bad reasons to be investigated. Then if you have visited an enemy country of Israel, Iran, of course the immigration would be even stricter for you.
More serious problem you will have after going to Iran is definitely about the US.
The US government changed its immigration policy after the terrorists attack in Paris in 2015 and made it much harder for the people who have been to “dangerous countries” including Iran to enter the US; those who have traveled to Iran now must take visa to visit the US. Japanese people usually enjoy the Visa Waiver Program of the US government which allows citizens from specific countries to easily travel to the US without obtaining visa. But if you have been to Iran, you will be out of such a useful program anymore... For next 15 years after Iran, you will be required to obtain visa to go to the US. The process to take visa is also hassle. You have to go to the American embassy/consulate general in your country to apply for visa and take an interview with them in which you are sure asked about Iran or other travel history. The price should be 160USD, expensive...
Well, even though there are many inconvenient things you have to go through, you still can obtain visa and visit the US as long as you complete them. But you cannot be released from anxiety yet because you may still face problems at airport’s immigration.
For example, I was stopped and investigated at independent immigration space in the airport of Chicago when I visited there as a tourist with my tourist visa after going to Iran almost three years ago. The investigation by an immigration officer lasted about an hour and he was very offensive against me. I still managed to enter the US in the end, but that immigration investigation was just so unfair that I feel I don’t really want to visit the US anymore. The immigration investigation was like he judged me as a criminal from the beginning and kept asking offensive questions and saying something threatening.
Maybe this doesn’t always happen to those who have been to Iran. I was investigated that intensively maybe because I have been to Middle Eastern countries as well as relatively poor countries in the world?
However, you must understand that you may also have same kind of inconvenience for a long time just by going to Iran. The thing is that such a strict immigration policy seems political so that it would change again depending on international relations between these countries. I am looking forward to see better changes in their relations and their immigration rules.
You should know:
⑩ You need to follow the teaching of Islam and the custom of Iran (especially women)
Even if you are foreigner, you still have to follow the teaching of Islam and the custom of Iran.
For example, women including foreigners must cover their hair with scarf. Outfit that shows too much of your skin is not allowed either. Drinking alcohol is prohibited for both men and women. I actually had no chance to see alcohol during my time in Iran. But some Iranian people told me that some people make alcohol by themself at home and secretly drink it, which is illegal... Also, men and women cannot sit next each other in a bus. Homosexuality is taboo and seems not acceptable yet in Iranian society so that you should hide the fact that you are LGBT (if you are).
I guess there are many more things you have to know and follow, but I can’t remember anything other than the ones above. So please just directly experience and learn over there haha.
You should know:
⑪ No understanding of Persian numbers means you even don’t understand numbers and so face more troubles in Iran
It seems common in Iran to use Persian numbers for writing bus numbers, products’ prices, and so many more. If you only understand Arabic numbers like 1, 2, 3, which most of us usually use, you even cannot understand numbers as well as language in Iran. You would be confused in various situations due to the lack of understanding in Persian numbers.
That’s why I strongly recommend you to memorize Persian numbers from 0 to 9 and then you can read everything by combining these numbers as we do with Arabic numbers. This is much better and convenient.
How was everything?
“The unknown country which you CAN still visit: IRAN”
If you are going to Iran, just be careful and have fun!!
#Iran #Middle East #Backpacker #Travel #Silk Road
