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 Middle East |
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Recent History: Though Iran's global image has been taking a beating for nearly three decades, informed and intrepid travelers still find the country and its people a gem to a visit. The mention of the Iranian capital, Tehran, as travel destination is sure to raise a few eyebrows among one's family and peers, and for most of the citizens of the "global village" who know it only through mass media coverage it is quite a logical reaction. The C.I.A.-backed coup in the heart of the city (August 1953), which helped Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to oust a headstrong and jingoistic Prime Minister (Mohammad Mossadegh), the bloody year-long popular protests that swept through the capital and other parts of nation in early 1978 and led to the last Shah's departure in January 1979 and the beginning of an Islamic regime led by the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, the takeover of the American embassy here in November of that year (which led to 52 American diplomats being held against their will for 444 days), the countless air raids and SCUD missile attacks that the city suffered during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), the constant images of hordes of Tehran's denizens taking part in Anti-Western demonstrations during which effigies of Uncle Sam or certain foreign leaders were burnt, or the fact that the city is currently under great international scrutiny due to holding some of Iran's most important nuclear facilities, are all reasons for which outsiders are familiar with this city, but its current reality is quite diverse and complex (like Iran in general). It serves as a fairly young capital (officially declared in 1795) of one of the oldest nations on the face of the earth (tracing its history back to 6000 B.C.E), and during its time as the seat of government it has repeatedly been the scene of political intrigue and violence. Considering Iran's eternally strategic location (straddling East and West) its capitals have always been targets for those seeking global hegemony (e.g. Alexander, Genghis or Tamerlane) and during the last few decades the added factor of the country's vast energy resources has only added to the intrigues. The Persian Empire (along with the Ottoman) always managed to keep from being colonized (despite having to make some painful territorial concessions to colonial powers, and the countries that remain from those empires (Iran and Turkey) are still immensely proud of this fact (since no other country in the Mid-East can share the same boast). |
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| Sensitive Topics: Denizens of Tehran love to talk about politics (soccer and Western pop culture are also popular topics of informal discussions), but as foreign visitor it's best just to seek out the natives views opinions and ideas, because such topics as the legacy of the last ruling monarch of the "Peacock Throne" (the Shah), the clerics role in politics since the revolution or the country's nuclear program are all topics which are rather sensitive and could lead you into some trouble either with the interlocutors or even worse security and government officials. |
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| Travel Documents: Those hoping to visit Iran for the first time should keep in mind that although the government is publicly lauding efforts to boost tourism revenues it can be fickle in terms of issuing tourist visas (especially for Western tourists not planning to use an organized tour). Cases of individuals who've met all the listed requirements for a visa, yet have been ultimately turned down by an Iranian consulate for no apparent reason are less common than 10 or 15 years ago, but still occur. |
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| A foreign visitor (even an American one) in Tehran is extremely unlikely to be the target of xenophobia and will find that except for dozens of murals depicting Ayatollah Khomeini, soldiers fallen in the war with Iraq or certain billboards with various revolutionary and anti-Western slogans, the city bears very few reminders of its past traumas. |
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| Though a "morals police" still operates in Tehran, except for some egregious violations of Islamic law (for example a woman leaving her hair entirely uncovered in public or a male wearing shorts on the city's streets) these days they rarely enforce their authority. |
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| Arrival: Those landing in Tehran by airplane will get a taste of the contrast between the old and the new as soon as making their way into the city, as the old Mehrabad airport (which soon will only be handling domestic flights) is located quite near to Azadi (freedom) Square where there is a tower built in 1971 by the Shah to mark 2500 years of the rule of the peacock throne in Iran. |
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| But those landing at the new Imam Khomeini airport (located on a tranquil piece of desert between the capital and the holy city of Ghom) will pass the massive minarets of the still-unfinished structure housing the remains of the founder of the 1979 revolution on the highway linking the airport to Tehran. |
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| Tehran Today: The Milad tower complex in the NW of the city which upon completion in 2007 will rank as the Mid-East's highest (and the world's fourth highest) tower, and include a five-star hotel and revolving restaurant, is soon to usurp the aforementioned monuments as Tehran's most impressive. |
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| Tehran's sheer size, population and traffic are all aspects sure to catch a visitor's eye upon arrival (those who've spent time in Mexico City or Sao Paulo are likely to feel a sense of déjà vu). The population has nearly tripled since the revolution (from an estimated 5 million in 1978 to just below 14 million today) and state subsidized cars and gas has made it rather easy for nearly anyone to be behind the wheel-- thus the only way to avoid traffic jams is utilizing Tehran subway system which itself is still far from being able to serve most of the city but is a good way to get to and around the Central areas which are already under a traffic control plan during the working week (Saturday till Thursday), that prohibits non-public transport vehicles from entering during daylight hours. Wearing a protective surgical mask while in Tehran is a good idea as it provides a partial shield against the rabid air pollution-- another practical act is the thorough washing of the one's face, hand and clothing after each time out, as all three are quite likely to be gather a noticeable amount of the dark sooty particles floating through the city's air (though it's still not as bad as the many points around the Indian sub-continent where after a few hours outdoors a white shirt is sure to turn brown, beige or grey). |
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| About Money: Another important fact for potential first-time visitors to consider before arrival is the utter uselessness of foreign ATM's (though there are quite a few cash machines that honor cards from domestic banks) and Traveler's Checks once in Iran. The main reason for this conundrum is political (i.e. economic sanctions imposed by the American government), so please make sure to bring your allotted budget in cash (nearly all foreign currencies can be changed in Central Tehran). The term "toman" is imperative to remember when discussing money and prices in Tehran and elsewhere, since it's much more commonly used than Rials (Iran's official currency). A toman slices off a zero from the number of rials (i.e. 10,000 rials is 1000 toman), but due to runaway inflation it's becoming more common for Iranians to refer to 1000 toman as one toman! Keep in mind that at the time of the revolution one American dollar was worth 70 rials, but now a single George Washington fetches roughly 9,250 rials! Since even the most basic things cost at least a few thousand toman you can surely understand why some natives don't even bother to mention the thousand these days. Despite its vast natural wealth Iran suffers from a high rate of unemployment and thus petty crime is a nuisance--a favored method of pickpockets is using a small knife to slit a hole in a victim's pocket (usually the back ones) and use the opening to snatch whatever is inside. The crooks that carry out such robberies are quite adroit and the prey never feels either a blade or hand on or in his or pocket. This sort of crime often occurs outside banks or exchange houses where the likelihood of the victim carrying a lot of cash is very high. "Snatch and run" robberies in which a lady's purse is taken forcefully by someone on a motorcycle is also one of the more common crimes in Iran. |
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| Getaways: A trip to the Alborz Mountains (at the slope of which Tehran is located) is not only an absolute necessity for temporarily escaping the city's pollution and chaos, but also a great way of visually grasping Tehran's massive size and taking panoramic pictures of it. Some popular mountain getaways in Northern Tehran are Tochal, Darband and Darakeh. The first two have cable car service which takes visitors high up into the Alborz (since the service tends to be somewhat irregular please check beforehand regarding operating hours) and all four offer wonderful opportunities for hiking and gormandizing (lots of restaurants offering traditional dishes not to mention the water pipe, or "Ghalyoon" as the natives refer to it). Less than an hour's drive from the city is a lovely mountainside village named Abali which manufactures the best "doogh" (traditional carbonated yogurt drink) in all of Iran and also is home to various bakeries that serve up various types of Persian bread such as lavash, tuftoon, barbari (Berber) and the most popular one; sangak ("sang" is the Farsi word for stone, and this bread is baked with small stone pebbles mixed in with the flour) |
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| Eating In Tehran: Tehran offers nearly every type of culinary delight imaginable. Iranian staple dishes such as kebab (with lamb or boneless chicken being the most popular), dizi (a form of stew) and various rice (polow) dishes such as sabzi polow (with a heavy emphasis on parsley), baghali polow (lima beans and chicken breast mixed in), zereshk polow (with lots of dried barberries added) or fesenjoon (featuring ground walnuts) are found in most Iranian restaurants. The newly-renovated Simorgh hotel (located on Tehran's main thoroughfare, Valiasr Av) offers a fabulous lunch buffet (located on its top floor) which features all of the aforementioned dishes and runs about $10 per person. For those looking for cheaper and more exotic treats for your taste buds, Tehran offers many confectionery shops which offer different types of sweets coming from various regions of the country. If your stay in Iran is limited to the capital make sure to gobble up some sohan (a saffron-flavored treat from nearby Ghom) or gaz (an exquisite sweet made mostly in Isfahan which contains pistachios). A store named Tavazo (Valiasr Av, near to Esteghlal hotel) is a favorite in Tehran among expatriates and tourists alike due to its unbeatable selection of Iranian sweets and nuts. Foreigners hankering for more familiar items will find many fast food restaurants modeled after the likes of KFC or McDonald’s dotting the city's landscape and catering to a mostly youthful clientele craving Western-style pizzas, fried chicken, burgers or even onion rings and calzones. The most successful fast food chain in Tehran is called Boof, and its newest branch in the Jam-e-Jam shopping complex (also located on Valiasr Ave) is worth a visit even if only to check out the affluent and hip crowd there which utilizes it as a de facto nightspot (which has lead to its temporary closing on a few occasions under pressure by the morals police). |
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| There is plenty of nightlife in Tehran, but it's not the same type of nocturnal scene that most foreign visitors are used to--the banning of alcohol and Western music in public places means that there are no bars and discos around, but public parks (especially Mellat, Laleh or Shahr), billiard halls and coffee shops are jam-packed on a nightly basis. Due to Iranians legendary sense of hospitality, the chances of you as a foreign visitor being offered a complimentary bed, meal or even booze (be it homemade or imported contraband) in a family's house is quite high, but as in any other city common sense and sound judgment must be used before taking anyone up on such offers (of which 99 percent are likely to spur from pure goodwill). Keep in mind that many Iranian households don't keep Western style furniture in their home and you might often have to sit "Indian style" and share a communal meal laid out on the floor of a living room. |
| Lodgings: Though cheap lodging (under $20) exists in Tehran, it is limited to old and quite basic guesthouses (mosaferkhanes), which are nearly all concentrated on Amir Kabir St. between the bazaar and Khomeini Sq. Hotels which are rated with a certain number of stars have their prices dictated to them by the government (and foreign passport holders are required to pay nearly twice what a local would pay)--considering that nearly all major hotels were built before the revolution, they are usually not a good deal for an independent traveler, but the lobbies of Tehran's major hotels (such as the former Hilton, Intercontinental or Hyatt) act as a favorite hangout for foreign businessmen and other expatriates living and working in the Iranian capital. Esteghlal hotel (Hilton) even offers a Habanos store selling genuine and expensive Cuban stogies to wealthy Iranian connoisseurs. |
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| Shopping: Like most Mid-Eastern cities Tehran's bazaar (supposedly the world's biggest) is a good place to begin one's sightseeing schedule with--it looks somewhat unassuming from the outside, but once inside it's pretty much a labyrinth city onto itself, with countless sections specializing in a single item (gold, garments, household appliances, carpets, etc). Though "touts" are not all that common in Tehran, once inside the bazaar a foreign visitor is sure to be approached by someone wanting to take them to their carpet shop which supposedly offers classic Persian rugs and carpets--since carpets are something of an art form it's generally not a good idea to shell out a considerable amount of cash for one based solely on a whim (also taking into consideration that some shops pass off machine or Chinese-made products as silk or wool). The best idea is to either look around for a known local carpet expert (of which there are quite a few) who is willing to follow you to different shops and give advice on a potential purchase, or simply buying one of the smaller, cheaper rugs or carpets as some very nice works can be had for less than $100. For procuring small souvenirs (such as postcards or water pipes) Villa Av. in Central Tehran is the best area to scour, and the main bazaar is also not the best place to purchase clothing, as the best bargains are found in various shopping "passages" scattered around the city. Visitors should know that for any item without a fixed price Northern Tehran (generally upper class), will have the highest rates and the Southern (working class) the lowest--the Eastern and Western sections are considered middle class and thus have prices that range somewhere in between the two other zones. Located about a kilometer from the bazaar is Tehran's first major square (originally named Toopkhane, but now Imam Khomeini), and the walk between the two on Naser Khosro Ave is a chance to observe a few buildings considered historic by Tehran standards (small mosques and schools built in the 19th century). |
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| Tehran's First Bank and Many Museums: On one side of Khomeini Sq. stands an interesting building that was once Tehran's first bank and still remains functional to this day. Serving as the capital offers Tehran a huge advantage in terms of having the biggest and best museums and palaces in all of Iran located there. A few minutes walk from Golestan palace is Iran's national museum which includes artifacts dating back 9000 years--some other notable museums in the capital include the Iran Rug gallery, National Car, Glassware and Jewels Museums. |
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Palaces: |
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| Non-Palaces: Another quasi-museum in Northern Tehran is the Ayatollah Khomeini's private residence upon return from exile in 1979 and till his passing a decade later (1989). Located in the Jamaran district its simplicity provides a stark and telling contrast to the deposed Shah's two residences located just a few kilometers away. |
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| Parliament And The Last Shah: Those interested in Iran's recent history will surely not pass up a visit to the former site of the Iranian parliament (majlis) located in Baharestan Sq, This square is where the dramatic events of August 1953 (the popular protests that nearly led to the fall of the Shah, only to be crushed by what have been reported to have been C.I.A-funded mobs). The majlis building itself is also a proposed museum site, though at this time it remains abandoned. |
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| Former U.S. Embassy: The site of the American embassy which bears a historical significance not only in relation to its takeover in 1979, but also as the location from which a handful of operatives are said to have directed the coup of 1953, is technically a museum, but in recent years has been closed nearly year-round (its grounds are now mostly used as military training school). Once in Tehran it's worth going by the site not only to see if your lucky enough to be in town when it's open to the public, but also to take some pictures of the anti-American murals and propaganda that cover its walls. |
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Nearbye is the Martyr's Museum which is dedicated to the victims and heroes of the Iran-Iraq war, but it also seems to be open to the public on an irregular basis, so best to drop by in person to check its status. |
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Photo Credits: Arya Kazemi
To Visit Mr. Kazemi's Site: www.hetrippin.com |
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