The traffic in Iran is different to that in East Asia, though both are daunting to someone who's grown up in outback Australia. In Asia the traffic is like a river, it flows in a smooth line, moving easily around most objects. To cross a road as a pedestrian, you have to take a leap of faith, look straight ahead and step out into the traffic. Walk steadily across and don't make eye contact with the drivers, because as soon as you do they'll think you're a crazy loon of a whitey who doesn't have a clue, and then no-one will know what anyone is doing and you're likely to get cleaned up.

In Iran the traffic is more like an avalanche, crashing and careening about, cars almost—and in some cases literally—bouncing off each other. It's a jerky, stop start affair. To cross a road as a pedestrian, you have to take a leap of faith and step into the traffic, making sure you make eye contact with the drivers of oncoming vehicles in the hope that if they look you in the eye they'll be more inclined to stop or go around you and not mow you down like a little bunny.

I actually prefer the Iranian way, perhaps out of some irrational feeling that I have more influence over the situation. In both cultures, the interaction is mostly without aggression or passion. In the most part, people are just getting from A to B, and traffic is just traffic, it's not out to get you personally.

I managed to see two accidents in the two weeks I was in Iran, both minor bingles resulting in broken tail lights. I hear that Iran has an extraordinarily high road toll, but I didn't see what we saw in Vietnam, a burning bus that had driven off a mountain road. Ah, travel, full of adventure.

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.

Almost every time I told people I was going to travel to Iran for a holiday, the response was an incredulous, "Why Iran?" Very few thought it was an exciting and interesting proposition. I believe the question reflects a successful demonisation of Iran, and while there is plenty wrong with the country, it's all too easy to overlook the great things. So, I'll try to answer the question, and when I get back I'll post about what it's really like here. I'm not going to pretend that this is a well-researched politically-aware piece of writing; just my very humble opinions and observations.

Cultural reasons

I love travel. Experiencing different places, different cultures, different food, talking to people on the street, and seeing how they live, broadens the mind, and can make you a better person. It's obviously no simple task - even an impossible task - to understand another culture, but gaining some understanding is a gift.

I've travelled extensively in south east Asia, and because of geography Asia has a strong influence in Australia through proximity and immigration. Over the last four years I've worked on a computer science education project in Africa, travelling there often, and working closely with many Africans. I've travelled to Europe and the USA.

There are of course, huge chunks of the world that I haven't visited - Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, South America, South Asia, to name just a few - however the Middle East's rich and turbulent cultural history, both ancient and recent, was certainly a big drawcard. There are also a lot more Muslims in Australia than there were 10 years ago, and they seem to be getting the blame for all sorts of society's ills, as they are in many parts of the world, from largely uninformed commentators.

Finally, and importantly, my good friend and colleague Saied is Iranian, and I've had many thought-provoking discussions with him about Iran over the years. This was probably what initially piqued my interest in Iran in particular in the Middle East.

Pragmatic reasons

Some of the reasons are very prosaic. Thanks to my work in Africa, I had a lot of frequent flier points with Emirates, and these were about to expire. With the Emirates hub in Dubai, and not a lot of time to go gallivanting around the world (must ... do ... research) the Middle East makes perfect sense, close enough that I don't have to spend days travelling (damn Australia's remoteness).

Due to work, Rachel wasn't able to travel with me. I love travelling with Rachel, so I wanted to choose somewhere that I was interested in but that wasn't on the top of Rachel's list, not somewhere we'd be likely to rush off to together. The Middle East is of course harder for women to travel in than other parts of the world (but more on women in Iran in another post), so Rachel wasn't especially keen (though I think that changed as I learnt more about Iran in preparation for the trip). Another plus for deciding on Iran for my trip.

Political reasons

In a geopolitical sense, Iran is incredibly important at the moment. With its opposition to the state of Israel and its active nuclear program, Iran is making much of the rest of the world nervous. The USA is busy flexing it muscles and chest beating, and they have "refused to take any options off the table," including military action against Iran. Boy, do I hate political weasel words. The media is full of reports on Iran at the moment, and very little of it is positive. According to the international media, Iran is a country of violent demonstrations, vicious oppression, military marches. Everyone is a religious fanatic, and the country is a dusty desert. In fact, the Middle East in general gets a pretty poor showing in the international media. I've seen this before, specifically in Africa, where all the news is either about poverty or corruption, and yet there is so much more. Most people talk about Africa as if it's a single country, not 53 incredibly rich and diverse countries.

Then there are things like the government travel warnings. The Australian government travel advisory web site says:

We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in Iran because of the threat of terrorist attack against Western interests. We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets in Iran, including places frequented by foreigners.

But, as far as I know, there haven't been any terrorist attacks in Iran, against foreigners or otherwise. So, quite frankly, I don't believe the hype about Iran. I wanted to see for myself.

Saied has said, "The first step to mischief is dehumanisation," meaning that if the people don't know each other, governments can do what they want. But that's the wrong way around. We're dehumanised and anonymous to start with, and we need to try to know each other.