When I told my friends and family the I was going to Iran for vacation, I got one of two different responses. Some of them were fascinated that I had chosen such an “exotic” destination, while others, like my family, were very skeptical and worried about my safety and the Shiaa islamists with their strict police state. Which made me even more curious about what I would find when I got there.

So to summarize the two weeks I spent there, I would say that Iran was very impressive. Even after so many years of sanctions and strict dictator-like islamist rule, the result is a relatively very modern, clean and educated country. Almost everyone has studied at university level, bank card payments can be made (if you have a local bank card) everywhere and in the simplest of places (ex. Bazar, juice shops, etc..), they have their own Uber-like service called Snapp, their youth take A LOT of selfies and most cities are beautifully decorated with many trees, flowers and green parks. Most people were very kind, friendly, curious, seemingly quite decent (no sexual harassment despite the clear abundance of men over women in public life for example), educated and liberal, which also shows in the latest election results. Which brings us to the political scene, which was also surprisingly democratic. Even through their “Supreme Leader” is not elected, the country’s president actually is. And the elections seem to be quite legit as well, since the current president, who was recently re-elected, is the Supreme Leader’s least favorite candidate due to his moderately liberal views towards the West. It was also quite interesting to see the Shiaa’s take on some religious practices and how they’ve chosen a modern take on some practices such as marriage and prayers and have stuck to some very literal and out-dated takes on others such as forbidding playing cards altogether as it could lead to gambling for example.

Now as a tourist, you will notice that most of the tourists you will meet are french. I wasn’t aware of this special connection until I found out that France offered Khomeini refuge before the revolution and ever since they have strong ties. You will also notice that there isn’t much police presence and I didn’t see any of the so called “Shariaa Police” there.

Another thing which definitely confused tourists and myself at the beginning was their currency. Since they have quite a high rate of inflation, they’re already in the magnitude of 1000 with their official currency the Rial. So quite often, and I’m still not really sure if it to save paper space or breath, prices will divided by 10 and written or quoted in this virtual currency called “Toman”. So as a confused tourist, especially at the beginning of the trip, you find yourself having to pay 10 times as much as you originally thought you had to and are left wondering if you just got tricked. After a while you start to learn the numbers in Persian and start to ask beforehand of course.

These donation boxes can be found all around the city to encourage people to donate money for the less fortunate. Surprisingly enough, the money really seems to go the needy, because you will hardly find anyone beginning in this city of 18 Million! I definitely didn’t see any.

The Iranian new year marks the start of spring and the country celebrates it for two whole weeks. So special decorations can be found throughout the city.

These quite expensive “treats” are baby almonds before their shell gets hard. They’re sold in these small bags, get a sprinkle of salt on top and taste like raw green beans.

Found this gem on the way to the Darband mountain.

Up in the mountain there are small rivers and stream, which run down it. And on these streams you’ll find many restaurants and cafes like this one, where you’ll find youth smoking shishas, families having lunch and kids feeding geese.

Pollution and climate change is also an issue here.

Probably the most popular tourist attraction was Golestan Palace. Full of many beautiful halls such as this one…

… only to be outmatched by it’s walls (in my opinion). The inner walls of the palace grounds are almost fully covered with mosaic murals with different themes.

Almost every city in Iran has a Bazar and Tehran was no exception. The bazar experience in Iran is a very pleasant one in general. No one annoys you or “hunts” you down as a tourist.

Finally we get to this great invention. Contrary to what I thought, Tehran actually gets quite a lot of rain, so much so, that they’ve come up with these motorcycle umbrellas.