U.S. Den of Espionage (a.k.a. Former U.S. Embassy) – Tehran, Iran

We spent the last two days in Iran, in the capital city of Tehran, visiting palaces, mosques, museums and the Former U.S Embassy, now referred to as the U.S. Den of Espionage. Yumi tried to sweet talk the guard into allow us on the grounds of the Former U.S. Embassy, but the guard clearly stated the building was off limits to visitors, unless special permission from the government was granted. Our visit was limited to walking around the compound. The compound walls displayed some anti-American slogans, but most of them where starting to fade. Iran refers to the compound as the U.S. Den of Espionage, because of the secret documents found in the Embassy during the siege in 1979. The Iranian government was being spied on by the American government.

Overall, visiting Iran was very enlightening. From a western eye, I'd say Iran is awaiting some major cultural and governmental reforms, especially with two-thirds of the population under the age of 30. On the other hand, the current, conservative government has a huge financial arsenal from oil revenue. The financial arsenal may be able to keep the masses happy and content for a number of years to come, protracting such reforms.

Holy Shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini - Tehran, Iran

As evident from the grandeur of this shrine, you can ascertain the country's (and the government) enormous esteem for the late Ayatollah, the Revolutionary Leader, who died in 1989.

Tea Room, Esfahan, Iran

Our visit to Iran is ending. If asked what I thought of Iran in a word, I'd say very homogenous. The cities look similar to each other. They all have similar, streets, roundabouts, parks, infrastructure, housing, etc. The people are basically from the same ethic background (at least when compared to America) and are Muslim. I would also describe the country as prosperous and extremely clean, and the people very friendly and happy. The stores are well stocked with food and consumer goods. Every city has numerous, manicured parks. Education is free, including at the University level. Not knowing for sure, I'd guess most of the country's prosperity is financed by the government's oil revenues. All of Iran's oil reserves are owned by the government and the profits are given back to the country and its people.

On the other hand, the dress code, especially for women, is very restrictive. And there is no alcohol severed in the country. Yes, that is right; it's been almost two weeks since I've had a beer! There seems to be an air of conservatism about the country which limits personal freedoms and diversification. Whether the limitation on personal freedom outweighs the benefits provided by the government, I don't know. The development of science and technology also seems to be absent from the society. While Iranians seem to adopt the product of scientific and technological discoveries, there seems to be little effort to develop new discoveries. We visited a number of museums mostly related ancient civilizations and anthropology, but none related to science or technology.

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque – Esfahan, Iran

A camera can not capture the incredible beauty of the mosques in Esfahan. Pictured is just a small example of the tile work in the mosque.

Main Mosque – Esfahan, Iran

Blue is the dominate color of the mosques, but the color tones tend to change with the change in light.

Artists – Esfahan, Iran

Iran has a long tradition of calligraphy and drawling miniature pictures on camel bones. These girls are art students receiving lessons from a master artist and owner of the gallery located in Esfahan. As you can see from the picture all women in Iran must were a hejab, which covers most of their body, including their hair and arms.

Cemetery - Esfahan, Iran

These are grave markers of the men (and civilians) killed in the Iran and Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

Tile Shop – Yazd, Iran

Iran is full of artisans and craftsmen such as medalist, potters, handicraft makers, tile artists, "miniature" artist, carpet makers, clothe printers, etc. Pictured is an example of the work produced by a tile craftsman.

Wind Towers - Yazd, Iran

The towers you see are used to capture the wind and send it to the rooms below. These wind towers are precursors of air conditioning. Not surprising, I'm sure, as you can also see there is some anti-American sediment within Iran. Many of the Iranians are fearful that George W. Bush will wage war on Iran under false pretenses as he did on Iraq. While this is the general sentiment, one Iranian did say he liked George W. Bush because President Bush eliminated two of Iran's enemies, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.

Nevertheless, in spite of the U.S.-Iraq war, many of the Iranians that I spoke with were intrigued with western world. Then again, most of the Iranian's that I've spoke with, spoke English (because I don't speak Farsi), therefore it was probably a biased sample. My guess is that most Iranians that studied the English language already have a pro-western view of the world. Their opinion of the western world is probably not that of an average Iranian. Nevertheless, the underlining consensuses of the Iranians that I spoke with say that they like American people but don't necessarily agree with the government.

Overall, the Iranian people have gone out of their way to be hospitable and made us feel welcome in their country. People would randomly approach us on the street to ask if we needed help finding some place or just to chat. Besides being very friendly, they are also very courious about what foreigners think about Iran and Iranians. OK, enough, but I have to ask, anyone thinking about changing there summer vacation plans?

Stone Carving - Naghsh-e Rostam, Iran

Xerxes, Gateway - Persepolis, Iran

Reza and Group – Persepolis, Iran

While in Iran we had an Iranian tour guide. He was assigned to us by the Department of Tourism. His knowledge of Iran and ability to translate from Farsi to English was of great value as we traveled through out Iran. Pictured here, Reza, our tour guide, is explaining the history of Persepolis to our group. Yes, the females in our group had to wear "hejabs" to cover their hair and arms while in Iran. The males had it much easier are only requirement was to wear long pants.

I even had to wear long pants while jogging. If you recall back in Turkey, I was in need of exercise. Well, since, I've been able squeeze in number of morning jogs. Some of them in very memorable places like along the banks of the Nile in Egypt, amongst the wheat fields in Syria, and along side the mountains streams in Eastern Turkey with the snow capped mountains in the back ground. However, there have also been some less than spectacular jogging places, like the service road along side a highway in Damascus.

The only "difficulty", I've encounter so far when jogging, other than finding suitable places to jog, occurred during my first jog in Iran. When jogging past a small village, two very large, growling dogs with huge teeth stopped me in my tracks. I picked up a large rock and screamed at the top of my lungs for them either them to get away or the owner to appear. After about a few minute stand off, they started to back away. And needless to say, I did the same, in the opposite direction, of course.

Wall Carvings - Persepolis, Iran

Just some more cool stone carving in Iran. I liked the picture so I thought I'd post it.

English Cowboy – Persepolis, Iran

Frank brushing up on his riding skills