As you probably know (if you’re reading Follow the Way regularly :)), I’ve been 2 weeks in Iran on holidays, with a swiss friend (whose female point of view is also interesting).
2 weeks in a totally crazy country, far far away from all the stereotypes we could have from our western civilizations.
Let’s go
Let’s go for a 24 hours ride to Tehran with Parskahay peopple, form the Armenian community from Iran, coming back to see the family (in hell, was saying to us an old lady “Watch out, don’t go to cheap hostels : you could get harassed or raped, watch out for taxi drivers blablabla, we had the impression of going to one of these destroyed third word countries :()
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On the road
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So 24 hours, at first from Vayots Dzor & Syunik valleys in Armenia, to the desertic landscapes on north western Iran.
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Green/Brown
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The geological border between the two countries is pretty much impressive, on one site, the green “Armenian” side, on the other, the brown & desertic Iranian.
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And it was interesting to have the first contact with Iran through the Parskahay armenian community, who’s been the largest christian community in the country, and allowed to have their own churches and schools in exchange of respecting the islamic laws.
And when I mean respecting, it’s pretty much funny. When you expect heavy hijabs (scarves) and massive manteaux, you just see light scarves and slightly transparent jackets over sexy pink tops. This wasn’t what I was expecting :)
24h hours later, arrived in Tehran, just time to change to the southern bus terminal, and we were heading to Kashan (next episode).