A travelling day today. Had a somewhat lazy morning as our flight (Iran Air) to Tehran wasn't scheduled to leave until 12.35 pm. A bit of last minute money changing back to US dollars before being collected at 10 am by Moshtebo. Shiraz airport terminal is relatively small and access to our aircraft was by bus as has often been the case on this trip. An uneventful flight over the desert saw us landing in Tehran a little over an hour later. As before, Mr Habibie was there to greet us and transport us to our hotel in his taxi. The afternoon was spent packing and an aborted attempt to mail some items back to Australia from a Post Office that didn't actually allow us to mail items as they were all deemed samples and hence banned from export - go figure. Given that our flight from Tehran to Istanbul departs at 5 am tomorrow morning we have opted for an early dinner and some evening sleep. We are to be picked up at 1 am after all.
As we are about to leave Iran now seems as good a time as any to reflect on what we have learnt about the country and it's people. The thing that struck me the most was the incredible hospitality of the Iranian people. Wherever we went we were treated as honoured guests with the by now familiar remark that the attention given us was seen as their duty and not an imposition. So, so different from nearly every other country we have visited. Next greatest impression would probably be the driving. Iranians would have to be the worst and the best drivers in the world depending on how one views these things. The worst insofar as they have something like the highest road traffic fatality rate in the world. The best when one considers the feats that are possible in a motorcar or motorbike. I actually have a great deal of admiration for their ability to navigate tight spaces, travel backwards at speed on motorways, avoid pedestrians while riding their motorbikes on sidewalks and generally avoid hitting each other while proceeding through intersections with complete disregard for traffic signals and the like. And Iran has to be the land of the speed hump - never have I seen so many speed humps - every town and city has a great many and all seem to be on the main roads to slow one as one approaches a U turn location or a side street entry. Then there are the nose jobs. Plastic surgeons in Iran must be rolling in money given the large number of girls and women (and sometimes men) wandering the streets with sticking plaster on their nose. Apparently Iranian women, despite being amongst the most beautiful in the world in my opinion, are not entirely happy with the shape of their proboscises and happily pay to have them reshaped. And did I mention the food? Iranian food is generally to die for - so much variety and so many interesting and delicious taste sensations. And lastly the Iranian sense of humour which is not dissimilar to an Australian sense of humour. They are quick to laugh and also to disparage themselves while remaining proudly Persian. I suspect that a very large percentage of the population crave greater freedom and given the large proportion of young people in Iran I hold high hopes that they will achieve this one day. The restrictions placed upon them by the regime only foster discontent and methods to get around the stifling constraints of everyday life.
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