Into Iran

We were treated like the vanguard. After each photoshoot would come the inevitable question: “How you think of Iran?” What they meant was: “See, we are not those raving fundamentalists portrayed in your western media.” The Iranians have never really got over George W Bush branding them part of the “axis of evil” in 2002, and become quite apoplectic at the mention of the television series Homeland.

Indeed, having gone to Iran twice as a foreign correspondent, I wanted to go back as a tourist with my family because it seemed to me by far the friendliest — and safest — country for westerners in the Middle East.

Also, there is so much to see. Iran has 19 places on the Unesco World Heritage Site list — more than any other Middle Eastern country — from the heart of the ancient Achaemenid empire at Persepolis to some of the most exquisite Islamic architecture ever created.

Locals skating

Yet the reaction of most people we told we were holidaying in Iran was: “Why? Aren’t they the people who shout ‘Death to America’, and who burnt down the British embassy four years ago?”

Well, yes — anti-American murals still adorn buildings in downtown Tehran, as well as the walls of the former US embassy, now known as the Den of Iniquity. But the Iranians are also so hospitable that almost everyone we met invited us to tea, to dinner, to their homes. The unexpected pro-western friendliness is just one of a number of contradictions. Western television is banned, and Facebook and Twitter are blocked (even though the president and Supreme Leader have accounts). Yet the people can easily get round official filters, and everyone wanted to be our Facebook friend.

Signs everywhere remind women to cover themselves head to toe with chadors or manteaus, long, shapeless black jackets, and headscarves. There is a special morality police — the Ershad — to enforce the dress code. Yet many women we saw had their headscarves so far back as to be hardly there, while their jackets were tight and brightly coloured, worn over leggings with bright sneakers or high heels. We were amazed by how forward teenage girls were, asking my son to be photographed with them, then posting the pictures on Instagram.

Jameh Mosque, in Yazd (Andrea Thompson Photography/Getty)

Like most first-time tourists to Iran, we did a circle. We started at Kashan, a small oasis town on the edge of the central desert. This was both good and bad. At the exquisite Manouchehri boutique hotel, we were welcomed with glasses of chilled rose-water — which spoilt us, as it was far better than anywhere else we stayed.

Kashan is famous for the extravagant mansions built by merchants in the 18th and 19th centuries, with mirrored halls, frescoes and Persian gardens. As we saw throughout Iran, the English translations were hilarious — my favourite was “Predominantly Enter” for main entrance.

At the Abbasi mansion, one of the courtyards has been turned into a traditional teahouse. There, lounging on cushions next to a fountain and a cage of songbirds, we had our first Iranian meal: stretchy bread, yoghurt with mint, kebabs and dizi, a lamb and chickpea stew.

The next morning started in a covered bazaar, watching a deaf old man use a giant millstone to grind turmeric. Then we headed into the vast desert, which was dotted with industrial plants. Every town we drove through had the obligatory picture of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini.

A mural with a message (Lourenco Anunciacao)

Our destination was Yazd, a former trading town on the old Silk Route, said to be the oldest living city in the world. It was larger than I had imagined and, like everywhere, plagued by endless traffic, but quite magical once we had ditched the car and walked into the Old City. We started with the 14th-century mosque, entering through a dazzling blue-tiled portal and marvelling at the turquoise and lapis lazuli tiles in wonderful geometric designs.

I could have sat there for hours, but we had a tour programme and a sinking sun, so we headed through the other side into a warren of shady, mud-walled alleys. The skyline was dotted with the wind towers for which Yazd is famous: they catch the prevailing wind and channel it into the houses, in a sort of desert air conditioning.

Much as I liked Yazd, for me the highlight of the trip was Shiraz, city of gardens and poets (and apparently nose jobs, if breakfast at our hotel was anything to go by — almost every woman had white plasters across her face). It was the home of the country’s most famous poet, Hafiz — every Iranian home is said to have a copy of the Koran and a work by Hafiz — and the garden at his tomb is a favourite gathering place in the evenings. Someone had placed a long-stemmed white rose on the grave, and an old man sat on a step reciting poems about love. Afterwards, we followed locals to Baba Bastani (Daddy’s Ices) for delicious creamy ice creams covered with chocolate and pistachios.

Open for business : Christina in the market in Tehran (Lourenco Anunciacao)

Less than an hour from Shiraz is Iran’s most famous tourist site — the vast array of giant columns on a natural platform that was the city of Persepolis, founded in 518BC by Darius I. Sadly, all the palaces and temples were looted and burnt down by Alexander the Great, the Macedonian who pops up repeatedly as the baddie at Persian sites. But the scale — and the wonderfully detailed reliefs — give some sense of what was once the centre of the vast Achaemenid empire, clearly built to impress and intimidate.

Steps lead to the monumental Gate of All Nations, through which the ruins are entered. Embarrassingly, they are covered with foreign graffiti dating back to the 1800s. If you look hard, you can spot a notable American engraving, “Stanley New York Herald 1870” — the year before he famously discovered Livingstone.

Most of the tourists were Iranian, and again it turned out we were a much greater attraction than the ancient site. We were repeatedly asked to pose with family members in front of columns and reliefs. The sweet girl assigned as our guide did little to enhance the experience, speed-regurgitating the facts she had memorised. “Do you have any historic sites in your country?” she asked as we left.

If there is one more place that will stay in my mind the most, it is the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque. You need to go there early in the morning, when the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows projects a constantly changing kaleidoscope of colours onto the walls and Persian carpets. It was one of the most magical things I’ve ever seen.

Posing for pictures (Lourenco Anunciacao)

Yet there are two sides to this country. While we were in Isfahan, Iran was hosting the Asian Football Confederation Championship. Women couldn’t attend. Our guide (Brits have to be accompanied by a guide) took the phone numbers of everyone we met. And in central Tehran, the infamous Evin prison remains a place of terror, full of young people who took to the streets during the failed 2009 Green Revolution. Iran carries out more executions than any country except China — indeed, the number has increased since President Rouhani came to power two years ago.

Even so, it was an extraordinary trip and I can’t regret it. A few provisos, though, if you’re thinking of going. Allow more time than the 12 days we had for the 1,800-mile tour, particularly in the hot summer months. Otherwise, it becomes a relentless series of mosques and palaces, when what you really want is some time hanging out with people. Make sure you have a good guidebook. Our guide told us little, spending most of his time on his phone or snoozing. Don’t expect great hotels. Most are stuck in the 1970s, with Soviet-style service. Though big hotel chains are apparently planning to move in, at the moment, if Iran does have a tourist boom, it’s hard to know where people will stay.

And if you don’t like having your photo taken, go somewhere else.

Christina Lamb was a guest of Wild Frontiers, which runs small group and private tours to Iran. A tailor-made itinerary similar to Christina’s starts at £2,475pp, excluding flights (020 7736 3968, wildfrontierstravel.com).

Flights
They’re cheap — last week, we found returns to Tehran, via Istanbul, from £212 with Pegasus Airlines. Or try Turkish Airlines.

Visas
British tourists are only allowed to visit Iran on organised package holidays. Tour operators are able to arrange visas, usually via Germany. This may change with the reopening of the Iranian embassy in London.

What to take
Shower gel and shampoo: even so-called five-star hotels provide grim toiletries. And dollars or euros — everything is in cash.

When to go April-June, September and October. Avoid Ramadan (June in 2016).

What to bring back
Carpets, miniature paintings, inlaid boxes, delicious dates, pistachios, nougat, rose-water.

Talk
Christina will be speaking about her adventures in Iran at the Royal Geographical Society, London SW7, on January 27, 2016 (rgs.org).