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Almost everybody ask us which country we liked the most to visit. It is hard to choose only one, though if we ponder over all the most relevant aspects to us, the answer is Iran. People are normally surprised with our choice and for this reason, we listed some of our remarkable moments, making a list of 12 fun facts of Iran which help to explain why this is one of our favourite countries!
1 – Unexpected gift
You are relaxing in a park and a man approaches you, unexpectedly, with a plate full with chopped watermelon. He does not say a thing, just hands it over the plate to you and walks away. Then, he, who is sitting near you having a picnic with his family, comes back every 10 minutes with more watermelon. One of a delicious fun facts of Iran!
2 – Befriend of the fighter
You go to see a traditional Iranian fight and one of the fighters invite you for a barbecue at his house. On the next day, he takes you on a tour and a picnic around the next city.
3 – Get your free bread of the day
You go to the shop to buy bread and the man in charge, who barely speaks English, does not let you pay for it. The only thing he says is: “Welcome to Iran“.
– Is Iran safe for tourists?
– Iran Travel Guide: a complete itinerary;
– How is Tehran, our first impressions of the Iranian capital.
4 – Get your free metro pass of the day
You are at the bus stop and when a passenger sees that you are about to pay for your ticket, he hurries up and pay the ticket for you. All he says is: “Welcome to Iran“.
5 – Get your free taxi ride of the day
You take a shared taxi with a woman. You both have a conversation during the ride and at the end she says that the taxi is already paid for: “You are my guests. Welcome to Iran“.
6 – Get invited to a family picnic
It is late and you ask the park’s night guard which bus you should take to go back to your hotel. The guard does not speak English and everybody around stop by trying to help. One of the man who is also trying to help invites you to have dinner with his family who is very near having a night picnic. After eating, he drops you off at your hotel and invites you to stay with him too: “Hotels interests only in people’s money. Come to my house because I will treat you better”.
7 – No hitchhike, but I take you for free
You cannot hitchhike because everyone who stop to help, offer to take you to the bus station. They don’t understand the concept of hitchhiking and, in the end, you give up explaining and take a free lift with the taxi driver to the bus station which is at the other side of the city. At first, this wasn’t much of a fun facts of Iran, but we had a laugh later.
8 – Get a dinner invitation from the shop owner you have just shopped
You enter a shop to buy phone credit and the owner invites you to have dinner at his family house. You accept and end up staying over too. On the next day, they take you around the city for a tour and when is time to say good-bye, less than 24h later, everybody gets emotional.
9 – Get recognised because of your accent and make friends
Someone recognises your language when you are talking with your partner because he is a Sepultura fan (a Brazilian metal band). You are in the metro and the conversation lasts for the next two stations only. That is enough time to be invited to go out the next day: “we can go out tomorrow in a coffee bar and then you two can sleep in my friend’s house”. You don’t take him too seriously but the next day, after having a great night with them at the coffee shop, you end up staying over his friend’s house. The newest friends are so cool that you end up staying over there for the following week.
10 – Friends don’t rip-off
You go to the market to buy a scarf to cover your hair. The bazar owner invites you for a tea. You all talk, exchange your Instagram and at the end you ask the price of the scarf: “10 dollars”, says the seller. As a good bargainer, you try to lower the price: “I pay 5”! The seller shrink his shoulders and with a shy smile says: “That’s ok, whatever you want to pay… I have just made new friends”.
11 – Hotel experience
You check in at your hotel and the owner’s friend invites you to have dinner at his house. He takes you to the house of a third person and you all spend the night talking, eating and dancing traditional Iranian music.
* Because of the embargo, booking.com doesn’t work in Iran. If you are looking for accommodation, check the 1st Quest website.
12 – Connections become friends
You tell someone you have just met that your next destiny in the country is a city in the south. This person gets in contact with a friend who has a friend who is from this very city. This friend picks you up at the bus station when you arrive at 6 am and takes you instantly to his house. He says: “You sleep a bit over here and if you want, I will take you to a hotel later today”. You end up spending 5 days at your newest friend’s house
