Travel is always surprising. That's what makes it so rewarding, and it was one of the reasons I chose to travel to Iran. Having worked closely with an Iranian for five or six years, and partaking of regular political and social debate with him (though we agreed most of the time), I felt I was better prepared than most for my visit to Iran. Nonetheless, of course I was still surprised, and more often than not it was my biases that got me.

First off, Iran is not a developing (or third world) country. I guess I hadn't really thought too much about it, but I was expecting it to be a bit more like travelling in South East Asia or Africa. The reality was quite different—the airport was efficient, roads were well-maintained, everything was clean, there wasn't rubbish lying around, and while there was certainly evidence of poverty, there was also evidence of a thriving middle and upper class. Iran is not short of cash.

Driving into Tehran from the airport.

While Tehran is mostly a mass of concrete, it does have a pretty groovy feel about it, and I'm sure if I'd spent a little bit more time there I would have found some fantastically interesting tea houses and other gathering spots. Regretfully, I didn't get much of chance to delve into the contemporary art scene—that might have to wait until the next trip—but some stuff jumped out, such as the sculptural art in Tehran Gardens, made out of hundreds of little glass lanterns.

The gardens were fairly packed with young couples sitting on seats, chatting, flirting and courting. They were mostly on their own too, no aunts or uncles hanging around making sure they didn't get up to anything untoward.

Of all the places outside Tehran that I visited, Shiraz felt the most interesting and edgy, and apparently it's always had a reputation as being the cultural centre of Iran. Several major poets hailed from Shiraz, and most people I talked to spoke of the wonderful Persian poets, particularly Hafez.

While some parts of the country were dry and dusty, the cities were mostly unexpectedly green. Esfahan, a UNESCO world heritage site, was especially lush and beautiful.

The main street of Esfahan.

The quality of the produce was surprising. Fresh fruit and vegetables of the highest quality were available pretty much everywhere I went. I'll write more about food in another post.

Check out these huge pomegranates (called anar in Iran).

Finally, the extent of the hospitality I was offered was nothing short of extraordinary. I had been warned that it might seem a bit extreme, especially for a pretty laid back Australian, but nothing could have prepared me. I was unexpectedly picked up from the airport—well out of town—by a friend of Saied's family, and taken to my hotel, which had been booked for me. When Saied's father in law and his brother visited me later in the afternoon they asked if I would come with them to their holiday house in Lavesan, in the foothills of the Alborz mountains, north of Tehran. The whole family, including grandparents, came up the next day especially to meet me. Over the course of my stay various members of the family bought me about eight meals, and gifts of books and CDs, despite my protestations. I was even taken out to dinner by another contact of Saied's for my birthday in Shiraz, and had wide-ranging conversations with her and her two sisters. A Dutch friend joked that he knew what it was like to be a hostage in Iran, they'll feed you and ply you with tea for days and days!

Sunrise at Lavesan.

And it wasn't only people I had some connection with. I had a stranger buy me a bus ticket without me knowing, another leave his family in a restaurant to help me find suitable food, another walk around for an hour to help me find a hotel, and many offer assistance on the street when I stood around looking dumb with a map.

While the image we see of Iran in the media is all goose-stepping military and anti-imperialist pig dog scum marches, the reality is quite different. Everyone I met made the distinction between people and their government, so it was no stretch at all for them to not blame Americans (or Australians) for their government's actions in the Middle East. Having said that, if the US is stupid enough to invade, with the pretence of rescuing the Iranian people from a repressive regime, they will find that most people will be in the streets blocking their way.