Muslim Travel Guide Iran Tehran and Qom: Local Muslim Life, Mosques and Travel Notes
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Iran Muslim travel guide records the author's real travel experiences in Tehran and Qom. It preserves the local interactions, mosque-related context, street observations, and the peaceful moments before later gunfire described in the source.
Friends who follow me probably know that I went to Iran at the beginning of December last year, where I interacted with the local people. With the current outbreak of war in Iran, I am reminded of those things I saw and experienced.
1. Iranian taxi drivers
After landing at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Iran, I got into Uncle Hosseini's taxi and started my journey to downtown Tehran. The international airport is quite far from downtown Tehran, and the trip took us a full hour and a half. Along the way, Uncle Hosseini and I kept chatting using a translation app. Communicating with a translation app is actually a bit troublesome, but the uncle was very enthusiastic and didn't mind me talking so much, so we chatted the whole way.
It is strange to say, but the first person I had a deep conversation with in Iran turned out to be a staunch patriot. After entering the city, although the exterior walls of the buildings looked poorly maintained, the streets were brightly lit and full of life. The uncle asked me if it was my first time in Iran, and if I realized after arriving that it was nothing like what the outside world portrays. I guess the uncle meant that the outside world always claims Iran's economy is stagnant and people's livelihoods are depressed, but looking at the street scene before me, Tehran is not as bad as people say. Actually, in my opinion, Tehran, including the international airport I just left, looks quite old and is not much better than how it is described by the outside world. But from the uncle's words, it is easy to see that he sincerely loves his country.
He then talked about international relations. He said he really dislikes Israel and Western countries, and he believes China and Russia are good friends to Iran. I saw this for myself later on. My Iranian tour guide pointed at a bus on the road and told me that Iran imported a batch of buses from China. I also saw a large Xiaomi store (Xiaomi Zhijia) in a modern shopping mall in Iran. I occasionally saw our domestic new energy vehicles on the road too. The guide showed me photos on his phone of himself with some Chinese trade representatives, which shows that our country and Iran have a decent relationship, at least in terms of trade.
I later asked him if Iran was really going to move its capital. He said every government talks about moving the capital, but it involves too many people, so it is impossible to actually move. We reached the destination, and I said goodbye to the uncle.
(A view of Tehran streets taken through the window of Uncle Hosseini's taxi. In front is a poster of an Iranian athlete winning a championship, and behind it is an anti-Israel propaganda poster.)
2. My tour guide is a conservative liberal.
Unlike the driver, Uncle Hosseini, my local Iranian tour guide is quite against the current system. On the first day I met him, we passed a government building. He looked at the well-dressed people going in and out and said to me, 'Look at these people. They sit in their offices all day, nice and warm, drinking coffee, and they finish work without doing a single thing.'
That night, he complained to me that the government was truly incompetent, as the price of a pair of shoes had gone up ten times over the years. I was a bit puzzled at the time. But thinking about it now, could it be that U. S. blockades and sanctions are why Iran cannot buy cheap raw materials, and therefore cannot make cheap shoes?
Even this tour guide, who hates the current situation, told me he was scared. He is afraid that the U. S. might actually attack. He said he is not afraid of Israel, but he is truly afraid of U. S. military power.
His fear is actually quite normal, because missiles only identify thermal imaging, and U. S. missiles cannot tell which Iranians support the regime and which ones support overthrowing the government. So when war comes, the fear of a foreign enemy will likely push conservative liberals like the tour guide into the arms of the Iranian authoritarian government.
(The tour guide is using his Samsung phone to check the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and the Iranian rial for me, worried that I might lose money if I exchange too little.)
(The tour guide is using his Samsung phone to check the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and the Iranian rial for me, worried that I might lose money if I exchange too little.)
3. Enthusiastic people
I actually stand out quite a bit walking on the streets of Iran. I have the typical look of a yellow-skinned person, with single eyelids and straight black hair. Maybe it is because things are valued when they are rare, but the people here are especially warm to me and take the initiative to greet me. More than once on the road, people came up to me and said, "Welcome to Iran."
Once, while I was visiting a mosque, I suddenly became the center of attention. Namaz had just ended, and they started sharing hot black tea in the mosque. I got a cup too. One person called his family or friends right there, excitedly telling them he had met a Chinese person today. Everyone gathered around and curiously asked me all sorts of questions. One young man spoke good English and said he had studied in the United States. He even offered to be my tour guide. But I was leaving Tehran for Qom soon, so I politely declined his kind offer.
(After namaz, the mosque started handing out hot black tea with sugar cubes. It tasted pretty good.)
4. The kind ticket agent
Iran is currently under sanctions and cannot use bank cards from other countries, so tourists like us have to bring US dollar cash in advance and exchange it locally in Iran. For those few days, I was always walking around with big bundles of cash on me. Once, when I went to the manual ticket booth at the subway station, the ticket agent saw that my bag zipper was open and a stack of cash was clearly visible on top. She was so worried that she quickly reached over and shoved the stack of cash to the very bottom of my bag under some other items.
She was reminding me to watch out for pickpockets in the train car. She was truly very kind. I have remembered this kind gesture ever since.
(For Iranian subway tickets, you scan a code to enter through the gate, but there are no gates when you leave, so you just walk out.)
5. Free french fries
Years ago, I saw an avant-garde building in Iran on the 'Youth Architecture' WeChat architecture post, and it happened to be in Tehran. I decided to go see it, but after searching for it by name, I realized I had gone to the wrong place. It was lunchtime, so I went to a nearby restaurant and ordered some french fries. I saw another diner nearby and thought he must know where the building was. I felt a bit shy about just asking him directly, so I grabbed a can of Coca-Cola from the restaurant's drink cooler and handed it to him. After thanking me, he stared at the picture I showed him for a long time, trying to sound out the words on the building, but he couldn't find the answer in the end. He left after he finished his meal, and I was just about done with mine too. When I went to pay, the clerk told me that the person who drank my cola had already paid my bill. I guess I got a free meal of french fries out of it too.
(An ordinary street scene in Tehran)
6. The Rose Bread Uncle
I met this uncle who sells rose-filled bread after I finished visiting Azadi Tower. Azadi Tower is surrounded by a large roundabout with an incredible amount of traffic, making it hard to cross the street and just as hard to get back. I was stuck on the side of the road for a long time, and it felt just like being back in Vietnam.
An old man carrying a large rose-filled flatbread (rose bing) saw me, and since he was heading across the street too, he waved for me to join him. He grabbed my arm and led me with long strides right into the traffic, and before I knew it, I was on the other side of the road. I really admire these locals from the bottom of my heart.
The uncle then asked if I was going to the subway station. I was indeed planning to take the subway to a bus station in Tehran to catch a bus to Qom. So, I walked with him toward the subway station. He handed me the rose-filled flatbread (bing) he was holding so I would have something to eat on the road. Along the way, he showed me his contacts on his phone. I think I saw a photo of him with former Iranian President Rouhani, along with many others who looked like high-ranking officials or people in military uniforms. Who exactly is this man?
Regardless of his background, I decided to ask him for directions to the bus station. When he heard me ask about the bus station, he patted my shoulder and then his own chest, using body language to tell me not to worry. He then stayed with me on the bus until we were a few stops away from the station. Before getting off, he made sure to point out which stop I was at and exactly where I needed to get off. He was truly very kind, much like the other Iranians I had met before. My impression of Iranian people was set right then.
(A standard ID photo of Azadi Tower.) Actually, there is an underground passage to Azadi Square from other places, but it was already closed when I went, probably because it was too late.
7. I lost my phone, and my feelings are complicated.
It was the day I left Qom, and the hotel front desk helped me call a taxi using a ride-hailing app. Once I got in, I felt something was wrong. The driver had a shifty look in his eyes that made me feel very uncomfortable. After I got out of the car, I suddenly realized my spare phone was missing. I remembered then that when I was getting out, the driver deliberately threw his bag onto the passenger seat. I was wondering at the time why he had to throw his bag on the passenger seat instead of putting it somewhere else. Looking back, he must have been using the bag to cover my phone, which had slid onto the seat. I tried to look for him, but he was long gone with my phone without a trace.
I had no choice but to take another car to the airport with a heavy heart, and there were other passengers in the car. I was the only Asian person in the car, and the other passengers and the driver started to get curious about me. They asked if I liked Iran. I said I liked it, but because I had just lost my phone, I really could not bring myself to like Iran at that moment. Still, I decided to give it a try and used a translation app to ask the driver and other passengers for help. The moment they received my request for help, they immediately took action and started calling the hotel where I stayed to see if they could find that taxi driver through the front desk. I did not know whether to laugh or cry, and my feelings were a mess. On one hand, I was very upset because my backup phone was stolen, and it had very important things on it. On the other hand, I felt a bit comforted because these strangers were so eager to help me.
(A street in Qom, where I lost my phone.)
Postscript: In the end, I never got that phone back. I have been back home for two or three months now. After I returned, large-scale protests broke out there, and later Iran got caught up in conflict with the United States and Israel. If I wanted to go back to Iran now, it would probably be impossible. I wonder if those kind-hearted Iranians are doing well today and if they are still living in peace.
Summary: This Iran Muslim travel guide records the author's real travel experiences in Tehran and Qom. It preserves the local interactions, mosque-related context, street observations, and the peaceful moments before later gunfire described in the source.
Friends who follow me probably know that I went to Iran at the beginning of December last year, where I interacted with the local people. With the current outbreak of war in Iran, I am reminded of those things I saw and experienced.
1. Iranian taxi drivers
After landing at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Iran, I got into Uncle Hosseini's taxi and started my journey to downtown Tehran. The international airport is quite far from downtown Tehran, and the trip took us a full hour and a half. Along the way, Uncle Hosseini and I kept chatting using a translation app. Communicating with a translation app is actually a bit troublesome, but the uncle was very enthusiastic and didn't mind me talking so much, so we chatted the whole way.
It is strange to say, but the first person I had a deep conversation with in Iran turned out to be a staunch patriot. After entering the city, although the exterior walls of the buildings looked poorly maintained, the streets were brightly lit and full of life. The uncle asked me if it was my first time in Iran, and if I realized after arriving that it was nothing like what the outside world portrays. I guess the uncle meant that the outside world always claims Iran's economy is stagnant and people's livelihoods are depressed, but looking at the street scene before me, Tehran is not as bad as people say. Actually, in my opinion, Tehran, including the international airport I just left, looks quite old and is not much better than how it is described by the outside world. But from the uncle's words, it is easy to see that he sincerely loves his country.
He then talked about international relations. He said he really dislikes Israel and Western countries, and he believes China and Russia are good friends to Iran. I saw this for myself later on. My Iranian tour guide pointed at a bus on the road and told me that Iran imported a batch of buses from China. I also saw a large Xiaomi store (Xiaomi Zhijia) in a modern shopping mall in Iran. I occasionally saw our domestic new energy vehicles on the road too. The guide showed me photos on his phone of himself with some Chinese trade representatives, which shows that our country and Iran have a decent relationship, at least in terms of trade.
I later asked him if Iran was really going to move its capital. He said every government talks about moving the capital, but it involves too many people, so it is impossible to actually move. We reached the destination, and I said goodbye to the uncle.
(A view of Tehran streets taken through the window of Uncle Hosseini's taxi. In front is a poster of an Iranian athlete winning a championship, and behind it is an anti-Israel propaganda poster.)
2. My tour guide is a conservative liberal.
Unlike the driver, Uncle Hosseini, my local Iranian tour guide is quite against the current system. On the first day I met him, we passed a government building. He looked at the well-dressed people going in and out and said to me, 'Look at these people. They sit in their offices all day, nice and warm, drinking coffee, and they finish work without doing a single thing.'
That night, he complained to me that the government was truly incompetent, as the price of a pair of shoes had gone up ten times over the years. I was a bit puzzled at the time. But thinking about it now, could it be that U. S. blockades and sanctions are why Iran cannot buy cheap raw materials, and therefore cannot make cheap shoes?
Even this tour guide, who hates the current situation, told me he was scared. He is afraid that the U. S. might actually attack. He said he is not afraid of Israel, but he is truly afraid of U. S. military power.
His fear is actually quite normal, because missiles only identify thermal imaging, and U. S. missiles cannot tell which Iranians support the regime and which ones support overthrowing the government. So when war comes, the fear of a foreign enemy will likely push conservative liberals like the tour guide into the arms of the Iranian authoritarian government.
(The tour guide is using his Samsung phone to check the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and the Iranian rial for me, worried that I might lose money if I exchange too little.)
(The tour guide is using his Samsung phone to check the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and the Iranian rial for me, worried that I might lose money if I exchange too little.)
3. Enthusiastic people
I actually stand out quite a bit walking on the streets of Iran. I have the typical look of a yellow-skinned person, with single eyelids and straight black hair. Maybe it is because things are valued when they are rare, but the people here are especially warm to me and take the initiative to greet me. More than once on the road, people came up to me and said, "Welcome to Iran."
Once, while I was visiting a mosque, I suddenly became the center of attention. Namaz had just ended, and they started sharing hot black tea in the mosque. I got a cup too. One person called his family or friends right there, excitedly telling them he had met a Chinese person today. Everyone gathered around and curiously asked me all sorts of questions. One young man spoke good English and said he had studied in the United States. He even offered to be my tour guide. But I was leaving Tehran for Qom soon, so I politely declined his kind offer.
(After namaz, the mosque started handing out hot black tea with sugar cubes. It tasted pretty good.)
4. The kind ticket agent
Iran is currently under sanctions and cannot use bank cards from other countries, so tourists like us have to bring US dollar cash in advance and exchange it locally in Iran. For those few days, I was always walking around with big bundles of cash on me. Once, when I went to the manual ticket booth at the subway station, the ticket agent saw that my bag zipper was open and a stack of cash was clearly visible on top. She was so worried that she quickly reached over and shoved the stack of cash to the very bottom of my bag under some other items.
She was reminding me to watch out for pickpockets in the train car. She was truly very kind. I have remembered this kind gesture ever since.
(For Iranian subway tickets, you scan a code to enter through the gate, but there are no gates when you leave, so you just walk out.)
5. Free french fries
Years ago, I saw an avant-garde building in Iran on the 'Youth Architecture' WeChat architecture post, and it happened to be in Tehran. I decided to go see it, but after searching for it by name, I realized I had gone to the wrong place. It was lunchtime, so I went to a nearby restaurant and ordered some french fries. I saw another diner nearby and thought he must know where the building was. I felt a bit shy about just asking him directly, so I grabbed a can of Coca-Cola from the restaurant's drink cooler and handed it to him. After thanking me, he stared at the picture I showed him for a long time, trying to sound out the words on the building, but he couldn't find the answer in the end. He left after he finished his meal, and I was just about done with mine too. When I went to pay, the clerk told me that the person who drank my cola had already paid my bill. I guess I got a free meal of french fries out of it too.
(An ordinary street scene in Tehran)
6. The Rose Bread Uncle
I met this uncle who sells rose-filled bread after I finished visiting Azadi Tower. Azadi Tower is surrounded by a large roundabout with an incredible amount of traffic, making it hard to cross the street and just as hard to get back. I was stuck on the side of the road for a long time, and it felt just like being back in Vietnam.
An old man carrying a large rose-filled flatbread (rose bing) saw me, and since he was heading across the street too, he waved for me to join him. He grabbed my arm and led me with long strides right into the traffic, and before I knew it, I was on the other side of the road. I really admire these locals from the bottom of my heart.
The uncle then asked if I was going to the subway station. I was indeed planning to take the subway to a bus station in Tehran to catch a bus to Qom. So, I walked with him toward the subway station. He handed me the rose-filled flatbread (bing) he was holding so I would have something to eat on the road. Along the way, he showed me his contacts on his phone. I think I saw a photo of him with former Iranian President Rouhani, along with many others who looked like high-ranking officials or people in military uniforms. Who exactly is this man?
Regardless of his background, I decided to ask him for directions to the bus station. When he heard me ask about the bus station, he patted my shoulder and then his own chest, using body language to tell me not to worry. He then stayed with me on the bus until we were a few stops away from the station. Before getting off, he made sure to point out which stop I was at and exactly where I needed to get off. He was truly very kind, much like the other Iranians I had met before. My impression of Iranian people was set right then.
(A standard ID photo of Azadi Tower.) Actually, there is an underground passage to Azadi Square from other places, but it was already closed when I went, probably because it was too late.
7. I lost my phone, and my feelings are complicated.
It was the day I left Qom, and the hotel front desk helped me call a taxi using a ride-hailing app. Once I got in, I felt something was wrong. The driver had a shifty look in his eyes that made me feel very uncomfortable. After I got out of the car, I suddenly realized my spare phone was missing. I remembered then that when I was getting out, the driver deliberately threw his bag onto the passenger seat. I was wondering at the time why he had to throw his bag on the passenger seat instead of putting it somewhere else. Looking back, he must have been using the bag to cover my phone, which had slid onto the seat. I tried to look for him, but he was long gone with my phone without a trace.
I had no choice but to take another car to the airport with a heavy heart, and there were other passengers in the car. I was the only Asian person in the car, and the other passengers and the driver started to get curious about me. They asked if I liked Iran. I said I liked it, but because I had just lost my phone, I really could not bring myself to like Iran at that moment. Still, I decided to give it a try and used a translation app to ask the driver and other passengers for help. The moment they received my request for help, they immediately took action and started calling the hotel where I stayed to see if they could find that taxi driver through the front desk. I did not know whether to laugh or cry, and my feelings were a mess. On one hand, I was very upset because my backup phone was stolen, and it had very important things on it. On the other hand, I felt a bit comforted because these strangers were so eager to help me.
(A street in Qom, where I lost my phone.)
Postscript: In the end, I never got that phone back. I have been back home for two or three months now. After I returned, large-scale protests broke out there, and later Iran got caught up in conflict with the United States and Israel. If I wanted to go back to Iran now, it would probably be impossible. I wonder if those kind-hearted Iranians are doing well today and if they are still living in peace.
