Our intention initially was to transit through Iran in order to reach further borders; mainly as we have visited before. It’s ancient sites, vibrant bazaars, green cities, geographical variety and amazing food however has a way of drawing you in to look a little closer. But what enchants you the most is the friendly, helpful and kind manner of the locals. There is a genuine sense of hospitality there that urges one to linger. Their manner of speaking not only has a lyrical pleasant tone to it but underlies a kindness in speech that makes me wish I learnt more Farsi. A pot of tea is always brewing that becomes the invitation to stay a while or invited to join a meal. And I always marvel at the fact that one cannot understand a word spoken, yet made to feel completely at home.
While we don’t speak Farsi we did learn a few common phrases and could manage getting by with necessities. Farsi uses a letterset similar to Arabic which made for easy reading. However on the main highways, roads and for main attractions English signage was available 🙂 I can only be grateful as the Garmin GPS had no co-ordinates for Iran!
Would I visit again. Yes.
Khodafez – “May God be your guardian” or more commonly meant as Good bye.
