Saturday October 22, 2011
A meeting was held at lunchtime to launch the group tour. The previous night our leader Reza had just completed the same two week tour with another group and was about to repeat it all again with us.
The group consisted of ten tourists, with an eleventh joining us on Day Two. There were three Canadians - a retired couple and a solo traveller. And the other seven were all Australians - three from Melbourne and three from Sydney - although I was the only one to actually travel from Sydney as the other two had been calling London home for a long time.
From the introductions it was clear all of us had faced the same questions from family and friends "Iran? Why are you going there?", "Isn't it dangerous?", "Are you a terrorist?". (Well, except for me - I faced that reaction before the North Korea trip last year so this time no-one even batted an eyelid.) Already there was an unspoken bond from putting up with the same pre-trip reaction back at home.
I was surprised that out of the eleven people seven were female. I had a preconception carried over from the North Korea trip that unconventional destinations tend to attract far more blokes than women, especially to such a socially conservative place such as Iran.
For women covering of the hair and body ("hejab") is mandatory in Iran so all the ladies had obliged by the time we met. The two London based Australians, Katherine and Gabrielle, are the authors of their own blog where you can read about their experiences as women travelling through Iran. They've both written their thoughts on how they felt about the head dress as they approached the country.
One of the first lessons Reza taught us was that in the Middle East one should never give the thumbs up gesture as it is deeply offensive - along the same lines as "giving the bird" in English speaking countries. I had a dreadful flashback of my thumbs up to the taxi driver the day before. Good God, couldn't someone have told me that as I was getting off the 'plane!
The next lesson Reza taught us was that in the Middle East one should never give the "okay" gesture - i.e. forming a circle with the thumb and index finger. This is also offensive as the gesture is used to describe the waste expelling orifice. Again, my mind reminisced on the previous day - that poor cabbie copped two rude gestures from the foreigner. Not a good day for him.
Unfortunately as we previewed the itinerary it was apparent the trip notes published before the trip was incorrect and the afternoon of Day One would be spent at Golestan Palace. I would have to make my own plans and get to know my new companions from dinner onwards. Oh well!
A meeting was held at lunchtime to launch the group tour. The previous night our leader Reza had just completed the same two week tour with another group and was about to repeat it all again with us.
The group consisted of ten tourists, with an eleventh joining us on Day Two. There were three Canadians - a retired couple and a solo traveller. And the other seven were all Australians - three from Melbourne and three from Sydney - although I was the only one to actually travel from Sydney as the other two had been calling London home for a long time.
From the introductions it was clear all of us had faced the same questions from family and friends "Iran? Why are you going there?", "Isn't it dangerous?", "Are you a terrorist?". (Well, except for me - I faced that reaction before the North Korea trip last year so this time no-one even batted an eyelid.) Already there was an unspoken bond from putting up with the same pre-trip reaction back at home.
I was surprised that out of the eleven people seven were female. I had a preconception carried over from the North Korea trip that unconventional destinations tend to attract far more blokes than women, especially to such a socially conservative place such as Iran.
For women covering of the hair and body ("hejab") is mandatory in Iran so all the ladies had obliged by the time we met. The two London based Australians, Katherine and Gabrielle, are the authors of their own blog where you can read about their experiences as women travelling through Iran. They've both written their thoughts on how they felt about the head dress as they approached the country.
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| Katherine and Gabrielle, founders of the Not The Style Pages blog |
One of the first lessons Reza taught us was that in the Middle East one should never give the thumbs up gesture as it is deeply offensive - along the same lines as "giving the bird" in English speaking countries. I had a dreadful flashback of my thumbs up to the taxi driver the day before. Good God, couldn't someone have told me that as I was getting off the 'plane!
The next lesson Reza taught us was that in the Middle East one should never give the "okay" gesture - i.e. forming a circle with the thumb and index finger. This is also offensive as the gesture is used to describe the waste expelling orifice. Again, my mind reminisced on the previous day - that poor cabbie copped two rude gestures from the foreigner. Not a good day for him.
Unfortunately as we previewed the itinerary it was apparent the trip notes published before the trip was incorrect and the afternoon of Day One would be spent at Golestan Palace. I would have to make my own plans and get to know my new companions from dinner onwards. Oh well!
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