Trip to Iran reveals quirky differences
Arizona Coin Collector
Very few coins used in Iran. Like the part below
how they determine if paper money is counterfeit.
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FROM:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/01/08/steves.iran/
Trip to Iran reveals quirky differences
(Tribune Media Services) -- Traveling through Iran to
film a public television show, I quickly filled up my
notebook with quirky observations. One moment, I saw
propaganda murals encouraging young men to walk into
the blazing sunset of martyrdom. The next, a woman in
a bookstore served me cookies while I browsed through
the books, admiring one in particular. Then, when I
was about to leave without buying anything, she gave
me the book for free.
While English is the second language on many signs,
the squiggly local script looked like Arabic to me.
I quickly learned that it's actually Farsi. Iranians
are Persian. Persians are not Arabs, and they don't
speak Arabic -- they speak Farsi. This Persian/Arab
difference is a very important distinction to the
people of Iran. My film crew and I heard over and
over again, "We are not Arabs!"
The numbers, however, are the same as those used in
the Arab world. Thankfully, when I needed it, I
found that they also use "our" numbers.
Iran is a cash society. Because of the
three-decades-old American embargo here, Western
credit cards don't work. No ATMs for foreigners
means that we have to bring in big wads of
cash -- and learn to count carefully. The money
comes with lots of zeros. One dollar is equal to
10,000 rial. (If you exchange $100, you are
literally a millionaire here.)
A "toman" is ten rial, and some prices are listed
in rial, others in toman -- a tourist rip-off
just waiting to happen. I had a shirt laundered at
the hotel for "20,000." Is that in rial ($2) -- or
in toman ($20)? Coins are rarely used, and there >>
are no state-issued large bills. Local banks
print large bills to help local commerce. To tell
if a bill is counterfeit, you rub the number with
your finger -- if it's the real deal, the warmth
makes the numbers momentarily disappear.
People here need to keep track of three different
calendars: Persian and Islamic (for local affairs),
and Western (for dealing with the outside world).
What's the year? It depends: After Muhammad
(about 1,430 years ago) or after Christ (two
thousand and some years ago)?
The Islamic government regulates women's dress
and public behavior. Men are also affected, to a
lesser degree. Neckties are rarely seen, as they're
considered the mark of a Shah supporter. And there
are no urinals anywhere. (Trust me. I did an
extensive search: at the airport, swanky hotels,
the university and the fanciest coffee shops.)
Americans visiting Iran need to be with a tour or
private guide. My guide made sure I was eating in
comfortable (i.e., high-end) restaurants, generally
in hotels. I wasn't wild about the food on my
first trip here in 1978. It's much better now but
still not very exciting. (Some country has to keep
Norway company at the bottom of the cuisine
rankings. With Norwegian heritage, I speak from
experience.)
Restaurants use Kleenex rather than napkins; there's
a box of tissues on every dining table. Because
Iran is a tea culture, the coffee at breakfast is
always instant. Locals assured me that tap water is
safe to drink, but I stuck with the bottled kind.
Iran is strictly "dry" -- absolutely no booze or
beer in public. While I kept ordering a yogurt drink,
would-be beer-drinkers seem to long for the real
thing: Local guys drink a non-alcoholic "malt
beverage" that tastes like beer, comes in a beer
can, and, I imagine, makes them feel manly.
In a lot of ways, visiting Iran is like a Cuban
cigar: It's a big deal mostly for Americans. There
are Western tourists (mostly Germans, French, Brits
and Dutch). In fact, the Lonely Planet guidebook to
Iran sells reasonably well and just came out in a
new edition. Most foreigners I met were on a tour,
with a private guide, or visiting relatives. Control
gets tighter and looser depending on the political
climate.
I can't help but think how tourism could boom here
if they just opened this place up. Once, while we
were stuck in a Tehran traffic jam, the man in the
next car asked my driver to roll down his window.
He passed over a bouquet of flowers and said, "Give
this to the foreigner in your back seat and
apologize for our traffic." And when Iran does open
up for tourism, experiences like this lead me to
believe that its people will be the biggest draw.
"Rick Steves' Iran" will air on PBS throughout
the USA in mid-January
..