Iran, that’s the last country I would have thought of

This response resounded to us once or twice when we told of our plans to start our journey in Iran. For us, on the other hand, Iran promised exactly the right amount of adventure and otherness in order to get us beyond the German horizon.

Now we are finally here in Tehran and can begin to throw overboard the prejudices that got stuck in our heads. In the Western media, an image is often portrayed in which an oppressive fanatical-religious regime oppresses people, the supply of the population is not always guaranteed and in which everyday life is strictly controlled by religion guardians. These representations certainly have their validity, but they are not the whole truth.

Our arrival at the airport is very easy, we are almost waved through. Our Iranian friends, with whom we had been stranded in Turkey, organize our trip to the city while we observe that time has not stood still and the headscarf is rather loose on the back of the head. Apart from the missing Visa and Mastercard logos at the ATMs, you won’t notice years of sanctions.

Here are our first impressions: