Trip to Iran (Tehran)

Iran is like a mysterious city about which not much is known. Because of the many unknowns, I was frankly apprehensive before my trip. I spent two days in Tehran, and I want to share my experiences with you here.

I travelled to Iran by plane, arriving at Imam Khomeini Airport with Turkish Airlines. This airport is located about 60 km outside of Tehran city center and is a small airport. Flights to Iran are quite expensive compared to similar distances to European flights. There were very few people at the airport; it was clear from this alone that Iran is not very popular. From the airport, we reached our hotel (Parsian Azadi Hotel) via the highway in about 1.5 hours. Don't believe those who say Iran is a cheap city; the hotel cost 182 USD per night. The hotel was generally clean and comfortable; I would recommend it. Now I will share my observations in bullet points:

1-Traffic, Transportation: Public transportation is very limited and inadequate. We used a multi-lane highway, but this highway merges with other roads at dozens of points, and unfortunately, there are no traffic lights anywhere. The few that do exist are constantly flashing yellow. In short, the traffic is complete chaos and incredibly congested; cars are coming from everywhere, and there are no rules. I would advise you to forget about renting a car and driving around Tehran. The cars used are very old, 1980-1990-2000 models. Many of the cars are damaged from accidents. Although rare, some current models were also seen on the roads. The traffic is so heavy that it takes 2 hours to reach Tehran city center from a distance of 14 km. From what I saw on the screens at the airport, there were no flights going further west than Istanbul. I remember that 4 out of the 10 flights shown on the screen were cancelled.

2- Money, Business Life: The official currency of Iran is the Rial, but in the market, a currency called Toman is used, which is equivalent to 10 Rials. Approximately 320,000 Rials is equal to 1 Turkish Lira, while 32,000 Toman is equal to 1 Turkish Lira. Global banks and credit cards are not accepted in Iran; as a foreigner, you have no option but to use cash. You can shop everywhere in Iran with Toman and Dollars, but constantly converting between currencies can be confusing when buying Dollars. I recommend using Toman. As a side note, the hotel we stayed at did not accept Toman, only Dollars. You can convert your Dollars to Toman at many points in Iran, but Turkish Lira is not accepted here, and you may need to find a specific currency exchange office for conversion. Prices are definitely not low; I saw prices similar to those in Turkey. I recommend not shopping without bargaining, as they often quote high prices because you are a tourist. We went to a local market called Tajrish, where you can find local products. There are very few Iranian hotels listed on sites like TripAdvisor and Booking.com, and I'm not sure how valid any reservations made through these sites would be upon arrival. They take your passport upon check-in and only return it after you pay for it upon check-out.

3-Electricity: The electrical outlets are the same as those we use, and the voltage is 220V, meaning you can easily use all your electrical appliances in Iran without needing any converter.

4-Society: It is legally forbidden and punishable for women to go out with their heads uncovered. Therefore, all women, Muslim or not, are required to cover their heads, even with a shawl, as soon as they enter the country. However, they don't object to covering the top of the head; I saw many Iranian women covering themselves this way. Iranian women wear excessive makeup. I generally found the society to be distrustful and closed off towards foreigners. We can say that men are clearly dominant in society, and women remain in the background. The meetings opened with Quran recitation followed by the national anthem, and every Iranian presenter began their presentation with the Basmala (Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim).

5-Belief: In Iran, the Shia faith is officially dominant. I saw a few mosques, and these were somewhat different from the mosques in our country. I learned that prayers are performed three times a day here, and the way they are performed is very different from ours. I should also mention that the call to prayer (adhan) is very different from the one we know.

6-Food: Their food culture is very similar to ours; they consume a lot of rice and make many different kinds of rice dishes. They use saffron in their dishes, and red meat and chicken are consumed abundantly. Instead of bread, they usually have rice with their meals, and they drink a lot of cola. Their taste preferences are very similar to ours, so there shouldn't be any problems regarding food.

7-Internet: The internet was very slow (1 Megabit Download), many sites were blocked (Facebook, Twitter, Milliyet, etc.). WhatsApp was usable.

8-Communication: GSM lines work in Iran under roaming services.

9-Television: Satellite dishes are apparently banned, but I've seen them being used in many places.

In summary: Tehran was a city reminiscent of Türkiye 30 years ago in terms of urbanization. We cannot describe it as a safe and comfortable city, nor can we say it's a good destination for a holiday.