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 Do yourself a favorVisit Iran. You will come back recharged By Gman January 8, 2003 The Iranian An email sent to friends: Alright here are some highlights (and lowlights) of my Iran trip. Kish Island Wonderful place. I wouldn't visit it in summer as it will be too hot and humid, but this time of year it's ideal. Hotels are comparable to the best in the West, and the price for us dollar-earners reasonable ($60/night) for a room in the best hotel (Shayan Hotel) overlooking the sea. Shopping centers are also modeled after American ones, and the prices are comparable to those in the US, and in some cases higher. Lots of water-sports: water-skiing, diving, jet-boats, jet-skis. We paid $30/person for 1/2 hour diving sessions. Not bad for us, but steep for an average Iranian. The same is true about its restaurants. There is very little presence by police. Pasdars and Basijis are essentially nonexistent. When we went diving, the women took off their headscarves, and swam alongside us in wetsuits. The water is clean and clear, and there are unpolluted beaches all around the island. In short, I highly recommend a visit, but you'll need to have a fair amount of money to spend. Tehran If you haven't visited Iran in a while, you can pretty much forget what you remember of it. I have a picture of Tehran in 1973. Compare that to a picture of today and there is very little resemblance. Traffic and air-pollution are horrific. A 20 km ride from Saltanatabad to Amirabad once took me two hours, and my eyes were burning and I literally felt sick to my stomach from the pollution and smog. Most streets are jammed to a halt during rush hours, which for Tehran is almost 'round the clock.  WeatherI wished to walk up the tree-lined Pahlavi Street in snow during my visit. Three days into my trip, my wish was granted. This, according to Tehranis, is the coldest winter in the last 8-9 years, and it was freezing. It was mostly raining, snowing, and windy during my stay. This helped clean the air a lot, which made it a joy to walk on streets and drive around town. The sight of Alborz mountains and Mount Damavand, white with snow, and the snow-covered trees along Pahlavi were absolutely breathtaking. It's hard to describe it, but if your heart beats for Iran as much as mine, these sights (and the memories they bring) bring something indescribable to your senses. Politics You couldn't talk to a single person in Iran without the subject of politics creeping into the conversation somehow, and the hatred of IRI is deep and widespread. From the taxi-driver to the Bazaar merchant, from the Basiji who served 4 years during the war to an army colonel, everyone complained about the corruption and lack of economic opportunity, and to a lesser degree about lack of freedoms.  Yet, nothing in the way people live, nothing you visibly see in the
streets and businesses suggest an imminent collapse of the regime. People complain,
but seem indifferent and passive. This either means acceptance of fate by them or
it's the clam before the storm. Judging by the degree of mistrust of the IRI I witnessed,
I think it's the latter.Frankly, I saw a more vibrant society on my last visit than this time. The theme I heard repeatedly from people is that as long as there is not a united front with a trustworthy leader, no one is going to make a move, and the consensus is that such a leadership and united front is nonexistent today. Most people trust that the IRI is going to self-destruct from within. Society Forget what you remember from 25 years ago! If you go to Iran today, you'll find that your amme o amu maybe as distant as a stranger. Relationships have been redefined along economic and/or ideological lines. hoqqeh baazi and kolaah bardaari are rampant. Reshveh o rebaa are the norm. No one respects no one else's rights. It's the law of the jungle. Each person for their own. While these changes are disappointing, you will still find Iranians kinder and warmer than people in the West. You will still see the old marefat creep out on occasions.  Case
in point, the 19-year-old jonub-shahri taxi driver who drove me around town, and
finding that I was visiting from the US, refused to charge me any fare, telling me
I was a guest and the fare was on him (no, he didn't ask for anything in return :-)
I have many other examples, but this one stood out in my mind.I enjoyed this trip more than my last one three years ago. While there are a lot of things wrong in our country, for me, there is still no place like it. If you haven't visited in many years, you will really do yourself a favor to do so. You will come back recharged. I can't explain it, but trust me, you will become a better person afterwards. Even if Iran is a kharaabeh, beh qoleh shaaer, "man in viraaneh sar raa dust daaram"! Fadaa, G * Printer friendly Does this article have spelling or other mistakes? Tell me to fix it.
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