What you will read is a selection of descriptions that Drew Binsky has written about Iran on his website, drewbinsky.com .
Iran is NOT What You Think!!
I just completed a 14 day trip around Persia with G Adventures, and much to my surprise, Iran is not (at all) what I thought it’d be like! Contrary to popular belief, Iran is extremely safe, with the most friendly people I’ve ever met who went out of their way to make sure I was safe and having a good time. I have no incentive to lie to you about this — it is just the 100% truth.
………… Persians are the most hospitable, kind and humble people that I’ve met in all my travels to 139 countries.
I interacted with as many locals as I could, and not once on any occasion was I disrespected or even looked at funny. I even told people that I was both American and Jewish, and it made them even more interested to get to know me. I was invited (dozens of times) into peoples’ houses for a cup of tea and even offered a bed to sleep in. One time in Isfahan, I walked into a hardware store in the evening and the owner wouldn’t let me leave because he wanted to talk to me all night and he kept feeding me tea! I made many good friends while in Iran, and I can’t wait to go back and visit them all someday soon.
…………. Being in Iran is like entering a time warp back to the 1970s or 80s (not that I was alive in those decades, but from what I know, this is how the world looked like). The models of cars on the road today don’t resemble anything modern (except for maybe a few neighborhoods in Tehran), there are NO international brands or chains anywhere to be seen except for Coca-Cola (no McDonald’s, Starbucks, Uber, Marriott, etc), and the wifi speeds will remind you of AOL dial up in the 1990s (yes, I do remember that!).
But that all being said, it is somewhat of a refresher to be immersed in such a society, which is opposite to most countries that are overrun by tourists (like where I am right now in Bangkok). There are no scams in Iran. Life is as real and genuine as it gets.
