Persian hospitality and quick friendships are hard to avoid anywhere in Iran – especially when you’re in the country. On our weekend autumn getaway near Mashhad, we ate a lot of traditional food, we also visited the shrine of a local Shia saint who almost instantly answered my prayer!
It is a strange thing in Iran: they have less but they are more generous. It should be the other way around, says a Swiss friend who just finished her second tour of Iran.
“Bacon” sandwiches, 700-billion toman apartments and joyful sidewalk shoe shiners: it’s impossible to just walk for the sake of walking in the wealthy northern Tehran. Irony is everywhere.
Sometimes it’s impossible to walk away from tenacious Iranian hospitality, especially when there’s tea from a charcoal-powered samovar and unforgettable abgoosht.
Lesson on Iranian culture: never ever you made mistakes – especially when you’re being setup for marriage!
I kept seeing various versions of the above sign (see photo above) at various inns I stayed at in Iran and wondered about its significance. It says: “Dearest Guest, The employees of this inn do not use nicotine products.” So what? Why would I care what the employees do? Then one night staying in Bastam,..