From The Heart

Oh Iran, what a wonderful place you are!
Finally, after about 10 years of wishing and 3 years of trying I made it in.

Small victory dance done on border much to bemusement of border guards.

OK so its been some time since I last blogged but oh well.

Got into Iran 2 days ago from the Dogubayazit border in east Turkey. I'd not seen a fellow backpackers since I left Palmyra about 2 weeks before and there on a remote border town getting into the same minibus for the 30k hop to the border was another backpacker. The convo went something like this:
"Hi"
"G'day"
"So another Australian"
"Yup, where you from?"
"Melbourne"
"Same, whereabouts?"
"East Brunswick"
Me: "North Brunswick"

So what are the odds of that happening, another person who lives 5 minutes from where I live.

So my fellow Brunswickian (Adam) and I got into Iran easily and got some serious help, with getting a share taxi and some fantastic lunch, from 2 Iranian guys who sorted out all the details and got us the same price they paid - one was a student and one was a lawyer. Wonderful guys. We had this lunch at what looked to be a dive in the backsteets of Mako. You'd never eat there in a million years. But it's where the cabbies go and my god it was good. A kind of osso bucco with chickpeas, piping hot with bread, a pickled salad thingy and a cuppa for about $3.

So, first impressions of Iran.

• A suprising amount of tinsel for sale for a country with not many christians and not much need of christmas decorations.
• Insane traffic. The rules are: Ignore all traffic lights, reverse up one way streets (at speed), drive onto the footpath with no regard for pedestrians and use your horn as much as possible. The only way to cross the street is to be careful and make sure you cross near an Iranian with them closest to the trafiic.
• Very friendly people. I got conscripted into helping with an english language converstaion class yesterday. Was just ambling about a museum when Neema pounced and asked if I would come along to the class she teaches. It was great. Just went out to the El-Goli park on the bus and a lady (hamadhi) who wasn't actually going to the park insisted on coming with me and then showing me the right bus. Then a young girl, about 16, insisted on paying my bus fare back to town.
• Buses are odd. Men go in the front door, women in the back - you have to pay the driver at the front door - get out of the bus then go into your entrance.
• I'm sick of my headscarfe already.
• Can't do anything without being offerred a cuppa.

Had some interesting conversations with people in their 20's about religion and politics - taboo subjects here - but they wanted to discuss those topics. Fascinating stuff.

Ok well enough for now