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Rejsetips på engelsk

Things are changing fast in Iran. I have been travelling around alone as a woman. The dresscode is changing. Outside Tehran you can easily get away without socks in your sandals. Your trousers don't need to cover your ankles and your shirt should only go down below your elbows. Of course you should still be wearing a scarf, a bandana is not enough yet. Be aware that at very religious places you should be wearing more.

VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT GIVE THUMBS UP SIGN. This is the Iranian f**k you sign by ten. It is considered extremely rude and bad behavior even though most Iranians can see if it is given with a smile that it is purely ignorance. This piece of information is really missing in the guidebook.
Tove Gronbaek Jensen, Denmark (Oct 03)

I am a vegetarian. Vegetarian food is very difficult to find in restaurants and I got sick of eating rice, tomatoes and bread all the time. I started to buy vegetables at the market and then cook it up at the kitchens of the hotels.
Anthony Paine, Switzerland (Aug 03)

In Esfahan bazaar some carpet sellers can take visa. The transaction is done via a phone call to Dubai - which adds 8% on to the value of your purchase. I found that hotels gave pretty bad rates. If you must change money on the street make sure a local goes with you. I got ripped off badly, and was threatened verbally when I complained. His excuse was "I need commission, its dangerous here, lots of police around!"

I was informed that since 11 September 2001 all banking connections between Iran and UK have been suspended. Since I ran out of money during my trip I can confirm the necessity of bringing enough dollars in cash, since the alternatives are very complicated. I eventually had money transferred from home to the Foreign Office in London then to the British Embassy in Tehran. But that process takes up to a week.

The dangers posed by the traffic in Tehran cannot be overstated! Crossing the road is a daily battle of wits, and can get very annoying for the person used to being able to cross the road safely at traffic lights and zebra crossings. Vehicles ignore all road regulations, driving as if pedestrians are an obstruction to them. Motorbikes are the worst culprits, riding on the pavements and the wrong way down the street. I nearly got mown down by a bus whilst trying to cross the road. The bus was hurtling its way towards me against the flow of traffic and straddling two lanes.
Alex Melbourne (Apr 03)

While driving past the US embassy, the tour guide I was with insisted that if the military guards see you taking photos they will make arrests. I returned to the embassy a week later with some students I had befriended and they kept saying that it was absolutely no problem to take photos. In the end, I made them ask the guard in the guard tower - and he agreed! So, it's worth it to ask.
Sarah Ohring, USA (Mar 03)

A very interesting object on display at the museum in the Vank Cathedral in Esfahan was a bible verse (Proverbs 1:2) sculpted on a strand of hair, which can be viewed under a microscope. But the entrance fee is an exorbitant 25000 Rials.
Betty Sam, India (Feb 03)

Dress does vary somewhat. In Tehran we saw young women in sandals with painted toe-nails! Jeans are de rigeur among the young. The flowing, all enveloping shawl is undergoing change. Some women wear ones that are made of lace, others are dotted or have flower sprigs in varying dark shades. The headscarf is going ever further back on the head. Many women complained to my wife about the necessity to wear hejab. There is an increase in the number wearing simply a coat over the trousers in the Syrian/Jordanian fashion. One woman we spoke to said that in her home town she would have to wear the black cloak but elsewhere she could be more relaxed and just wear the coat. In Tehran some of the outfits look just like trouser suits. A number of older women are also knotting the long shawl under their bust to give more use of their arms for lifting and carrying. It all appears to be in a state of flux.
Margaret & Michael Clark, Australia (Feb 03)

If you want a funny souvenir from Iran, have your picture taken at the little photo shop in Tehran's Sizdah-è Aban museum at the intersection of Emam Khomeini Avenue and Emam Khomeini Square. People can have their photo taken and pasted in a quite psychedelic photomontage with a whole range of backgrounds and designs: Quranic verses, images of Mecca, paradise like landscapes and posh palace interiors, flashy cars, Indian, Iranian and western movie stars and even Afghan Northern Alliance warlords!
Bruno De Cordier, Belgium (Dec 02)

I used my student card at Persepolis not just to get a discount but to get in for free. The trick is to point out the UNESCO logo on every ISIC card. As Persepolis is a UNESCO site, you get in for free. You will need to ask the person selling tickets to write you a note to give to the ticket collector at the gate, but I had no problems at all. The person checking tickets in the museum was rather unsure, but I was persistent and he let me in after a few minutes scratching his head in bewilderment. Beats paying IR60,000 any day!
Stephen Jennings (Nov 02)

In many transport terminals and near border crossings In Iran you will invariably be harassed by money changers, taxi drivers or guides who will try to rip you off. This could occur in the form of dodgy money deals, inflated taxi costs or stories about how the last bus has already left. If you move away from such groups you will meet relatively honest money dealers, taxi drivers and guides.
Ronan Moore, Ireland (Nov 02)

I think it can be really useful to learn some Farsi. It is not too difficult – I was happy to find out that the pronunciation and grammar was much easier than Arabic. I learned to say what I wanted simply, for example, 1 bottle of water, bus ticket, tomorrow night – room, 2 people, cheap etc. The fun came when the locals, after hearing my awful Farsi, assumed that I did speak it and started to chat, ignoring my "I dont speak Farsi, I dont understand" and asssuring me that I speak it very well and that I do understand them.
Ivana Bezecna, Slovakia (Nov 02)

In Kashan there is an archaeological site outside the town, where an ancient temple is emerging dramatically from the dust. It is not open to visitors yet, though a knowing tour guide might find a way through.
John Sharp (Nov 02)

IR10,000 note is the highest denomination available. You will get piles of notes in your pocket. However, the banks have solved this problem. They have cheques of IR500,000 and 1, 2, 5 and 10 million rials at no surcharge. These cheques can be used in any shop as if they are real money.
Thibaud Taudin-Chabot, Netherlands (Oct 02)

Do not bring any fashion magazines with you when you come to Iran. You will not be allowed to enter the country.

Dress code - Women can wear a kerchief and their fringe can be visible. At home I don´t wear anything like it so I used my Chanel and other coloured scarves on my head. This was no problem. I do recommend you wear something black for photographs.
A jacket is essential. It must cover you from the neck to the knees and long sleeves are important. Colours can be anything from black to white but nothing bright. Outside of Tehran dark is the best choice. Women can wear trousers or jeans but they must be long. High heels are not allowed. Young girls use plenty of make-up and plenty of perfume. Women do not shake hands with men and men do not usually help them with bags. Foreign women in meetings are an exception.
The sea is beautiful but a woman cannot swim in it without being covered. There are several expensive hotels where you can wear a swimming suit but you still must be covered from head to toe. If a woman breaches the dress code she gets 60 swipes with a whip, so I do not recommend to do it.
Marketa Peckova, Czech Republic (Oct 02)

International phone calls are insanely expensive but it should be noted that most internet cafes have PC phone services. I used them all around the country and found the quality to be quite reasonable, not to mention the fact it was about 80% cheaper than regular phones.
Jeremy Hillman, Australia (Oct 02)

It is possible to get around in Tehran without being an expert. It is true that you have to give the name of a square in the direction you are heading, but two other things might be useful. One is to know the different names of different parts of the city. You will find them on most city maps. The other thing is the word for straight ahead (mostaqim). You should be able to save a lot of money by going by shared cab instead of using a private one.

Parks are where you meet the Iranians, this is where the families go. Even late at night (in summer), around midnight or 1 o´clock you will find hundreds of Iranians enjoying the cool air and quietness of the parks. It´s a paradise for tourists who want to meet Iranians and see what they do in their spare time, especially on Thursday and Friday evenings.

Park-e Mellat is probably the most popular place for the families and young people of Tehran. Inside it you will find a small lake, a small area with birds in cages and a place to buy snacks. The most fascinating thing is the hundreds of families who go there, bringing everything from the kitchen to picnic the Iranian way. Across from the park you will find places selling fast food and ice cream and there are small coffee shops.
Leif Madsen, Denmark (Oct 02)

Spoke to an ex Bank Melli manager who says that the way around problems with money in Iran is to open an account at Bank Melli in your country put money in it then you will have an ATM card in Iran to use their banking system. This can be topped up from outside without the need for urgent tranfer into Iran which as you report is bogged down with bureaucracy.
Geoff and Carol Hodgson, UK (Oct 02)

My mother and several other women complained of a tight feeling around the neck when wearing the hejab, which is of course understandable in this sort of climate. Because Iranians, both the authorities and the civilians, seem to take a mild attitude towards the headscarf worn by tourists, my mother rearranged her headscarf in order to be a little bit more comfortable. She took a square piece of cloth and folded it over to make a triangle. She then placed the long side of the triangle over her forehead and pulled the two outer corners back along the ears. Whilst doing this, she placed the third remaining corner underneath the other two. After having done this, she fastened the headscarf by tying a knot in the two outer corners and pulling the cloth tight around her head and over her hair. By doing this a kind of ‘pirate’ style headscarf is created. A headscarf worn in this fashion covers all the hair, whilst leaving the neck area exposed, although women with long hair will have more difficulty covering it in this manner than women with shorter hair. My mother never got any comments from the locals for covering her hair in this fashion, she did get some funny looks though, but no more than other tourists, who wore the traditional hejab. Wearing her headscarf like this, she could even enter the holiest of shrines without any difficulty.
Joost de Graaf, Netherlands (Sep 02)

We're just back from Iran. It's completely impossible to use any kind of international credit card (visa, mastercard...) in Iran. Bank (Meli), hotel, travel agency... they can't do anything even though Iranian people are very helpful (it's because of the US embargo).
Frederic Rolet, France (Sep 02)

No credit cards are accepted in Esfahan as of March, 2002 - cash only.
If taking the plane from Tehran to Esfahan - they don't always announce it in English. Watch for someone with the same colour boarding pass as you, and stick with them.
Scott Wallace, Canada (Jul 02)