5 things I learned while travelling in Iran
What’s it really like to visit Iran? Filmmaker and first-time Iran visitor Leon McCarron reveals some of the surprises in store…
1 – Iran is enormous
2 – The welcome is warm
3 – Rural areas are more conservative than cities
4 – Taarof
5 – People are awesome
The landscapes are beautiful, the history is breathtaking. The greatest thing about Iran, however, is the people. Hospitality is an intrinsic part of the culture. I’ve never been to a friendlier country anywhere in the world. Whenever anything went wrong, an Iranian inevitably turned up to save the day.
Our closest shave with disaster came when I capsized my kayak on the Karun and lost my paddle. It could have been catastrophic for our hopes of finishing the trip. Instead, the very first person we met in the closest town immediately decided our problem was his too. He chucked some customers out of his taxi, closed business for the day and drove us off into the mountains in search of a new paddle.
Improbably, he found one – and we returned triumphantly to his house where a mad and memorable night was spent eating kebabs and listening to his stories of adventures in the hills.
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Check out Leon’s film from his time in Iran, Karun, at www.karunfilm.com
All images: Leon McCarron/Tom Allen
