Recently my husband and I travelled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Iran for vacation.  The trip was sponsored by The Nation magazine, which hosts tours throughout the world.  We were part of a group of twelve U.S. citizens residing in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York and Carboneras, Spain (U.S. transplants) along with a member from the Nation magazine.

First stop was Dubai where the temperature was 108^o Fahrenheit.  Dubai doesn’t have much oil today and has expanded if efforts toward tourism and turning Dubai into a modern metropolis with many architectural structures.  It is the home of the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s tallest building with 160 stories. Normally, tourists are allowed to go up to the 124th floor, but special arrangements were made so that we could travel to the 146th floor.  Dubai has the largest shopping mall in the world, many hotels, a metro system, museums and restaurants.  They have franchises such as McDonald’s, KFC, Five Guys restaurants and businesses such as Johnson and Johnson and Ace Hardware.

Initially, I wasn’t excited about travelling to Iran because of the negative press.  As a woman I definitely didn’t want to wear the additional clothes, covering up my hair, arms and torso, especially in a desert climate.  My daughters told me to embrace the culture and make it an adventure.  With this mindset I enjoyed the trip and even sweated off a few pounds in the heat. 

We flew from Dubai to Tehran where we were met by Ali, our Iranian guide and travelled within Iran on a comfortable tour bus.  We arrived in the Espinas Hotel where Russian president, Vladimir Putin had departed a few hours before to attend the summit regarding Syria with Iran president, Hassan Rouhani and Turkey president, Recep Tayyip Erogan.  The hotel staff didn’t know whether he would be returning and the lobby was filled with security and activity.  We were caught up in the excitement as we listened to them talk about Putin.

Spending three days in Tehran, we visited the Niavaran Palace, museums, the last home of Mohammad-Reza Shah, Persian gardens, art galleries and viewed the Iranian Crown Jewels.  From there our group travelled for three hours to the city of Kashan. We explored beautiful gardens, the Tabatabaei House which was once the home of a nineteenth century merchant with a stucco dome and inlaid mirrors.  We stayed at the Manouchehrie Hotel which surrounded a lovely rectangular garden with colorful flowers and pomegranate trees.  In the center was a long trough like water fountain.  Even though our room was quaint, it reminded me of a scene from the movie Casablanca in Morocco with Humphrey Bogart.

One evening was spent at the Aaran Gallery where we met the owner, Nazila and talented young artists.  My husband and I were drawn to a young artist and we spent an hour discussing art and his desire to travel to the United States to promote his work.  Nazila relayed the story of inviting Anthony Boundain, CNN celebrity, to lunch with her family and friends.

We visited Nooshabad where there is an underground city with depths of fifteen to sixty feet.  We journeyed down one of the tunnels that lead to the underground city, finding numerous passageways and rooms.  The underground city was built to protect the Iranians in ancient times from intruders that raided the city.  Many of the rooms were small but would accommodate a family of six people.  There was a large sacred room that they would congregate and use as a temple for worship.  The cool air underground was quite a relief from the hot temperature above ground.

Travelling south in the desert, our next stop was the city of Isfahan.  We saw mosques with distinctive architectural designs that included colorful ceramic and clay tiles.  Many of the mosques throughout our visit were centuries old and all of them had dome ceilings and towers.  We visited palaces, bazaars, churches, museums and wonderful gardens with water fountains.  We saw the bridges of the Zayanderud River, which was unfortunately dry.  Prior to our leaving for the trip, we watch a program on Frontline that actually showed water flowing in the river.  We learned that a few times of year it is full, and then the water extracted for irrigation and other purposes.

In the afternoon, we stopped to see the Persepolis, an archaeological ruins from the 6th century BC.  Although the desert heat was beating down upon us, we couldn’t resist exploring the ruins of columns, statues and carvings of ancient Persia.

The last city on the tour was Shiraz where we saw more beautiful gardens, fountains, mosques, bazaars, buildings that dated back to 1257 in the Qajar dynasty and the tombs of famous poets born in 13th century.  Viewing the tomb of Saadi, a well-known poet born in 1213, we learned that President Barack Obama has been known to quote him. 

We were served Mediterranean cuisine which consisted of lamb, fish, chicken, and beef shish kabobs, rice, potatoes and plenty of vegetables and beans, flat breads, fruit and cheeses.  Interestingly, most of the restaurants served some form of jello and ice cream for dessert. One afternoon we ate pizza for lunch.  Although it was pleasing to the palate, it did not stand up to Chicago’s pizza, since we have the best pizza in the world!  Legally, the Iranians are not allowed to drink alcohol.  So they drink non-alcoholic beer, which is what we drank for the ten days that we were there.  Actually it wasn’t too bad, perhaps we convinced ourselves of that, since the alternative was to drink bottled water, fruit drinks and Coke-Cola products.

The desert was hot with temperatures ranging from 80^o to 102^o F.  Although Iran is known for producing petroleum and gas, it makes fine carpets, ceramics and tiles.  As tourists, we couldn’t resist purchasing them.  Since the US dollars was worth must more than their currency, it was hard not to buy things.

Improving my perspective of Iran and its people, I found them to be warm and inviting.  I enjoyed talking with and taking pictures with the Iranians that I encountered and/or caught them taking a picture of me.  Many were proficient in English while others could only speak a few words, but the message was clear that they wanted to engage with me and our group because we were Americans.  Ali, our guide, informed us not to talk politics with the Iranians because we could get in trouble, but the Iranians freely expressed that they like the people of the United States, the governments were the problem and I secretly concurred.

Ali discussed how the sanctions imposed upon Iran by our president would hurt the Iranian’s economy this fall.  I have empathy for the Iranian people.  They are Muslims and that just means they practice a different religion, they are human beings that are no different from us.  They are not terrorists.  They want job security, to be able to care for themselves and their families.  They want to feel safe in their environment and find happiness in everyday life.  They like Americans and want to be able to exchange thoughts and ideas, engage in trade, which would eventually improve their economy and lifestyles. 

This trip was truly was one of the best trips I have taken with a group.  I would encourage anyone who is able to take a trip to Iran.  Meet the people, submerge in the culture by enjoying the attractions, see the beautiful landscape, view the desert and enjoy the hospitality of the people, hotels and restaurants.  We were exposed to a mind-blowing experience.