Iran - Andrew Burke [324]
Offering to take pictures of your Iranian friends and post or email to them later is greatly appreciated – as long as you remember to post or email them. If you don’t plan to keep the promise, don’t make it.
Restrictions
In Iran it is especially important to avoid photographing government buildings, airports, naval dockyards, nuclear reactors, roadblocks, military installations, embassies/consulates, prisons, telephone offices or police stations – basically, any government building at all. We know of a group of Polish travellers who were detained for hours in Bandar Abbas for taking a picture of the port, and we can speak from first-hand experience of being arrested in Howraman-at Takht for unknowingly taking a photo of a hill that happened to be the Iraq border. When you see a ‘No Photography’ sign, take heed. If you’re in doubt, ask. If you get caught, don’t try to be anything except a dumb tourist.
Technical Tips
The sunlight can be strong during the day, so think about underexposing by a third or half a stop between about 11am and 3pm. A polarising filter will also help to cut out some of the glare, which can be particularly bad in cities such as Tehran, where the pollution is so bad. If hazy, polluted sky is ruining your pictures – such as in Imam Sq in Esfahan – consider coming back at night when the lighting means it’s just as beautiful but you can’t see the smog.
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POST
Postage is very cheap. The cost of sending an airmail postcard to anywhere is IR1000. The cost for a normal-sized letter by airmail to anywhere outside Iran should be IR4000. The service is reliable and reasonably swift. Postcards usually reach Europe in four or five days. In contrast, the domestic postal service is reliable but slow, and sending a letter across the world is often quicker than getting it across the country.
If you’re sending mail to a complicated address or to somewhere remote, try to get someone to write the address in Farsi on the envelope. Post boxes are few and far between, except outside post offices. Poste restante is little used and, according to readers, unreliable.
Parcels
Sending a parcel out of Iran can be a frustrating exercise in form shuffling, but it’s reasonably priced and your package will usually arrive. Take your unwrapped goods to the parcel post counter (daftar-e amanat-e posti) at the main post office (postkhuneh-ye markazi) in a provincial capital – the bigger the better. There it will be checked, packaged and signed for in triplicate. There are three parcel services – pishtaz (express), havayi (airmail) and surface. Rates tend to vary depending on who is quoting them, but a 5kg parcel to anywhere by surface mail should cost less than US$20. The customs officer on duty at the post office generally has discretion over what can be posted abroad, so be nice (Click here for customs regulations). You will usually be asked for a photocopy of your passport.
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SHOPPING
Iran has plenty of products that make good souvenirs, with the widest selection sold in Esfahan and Shiraz. Prices are low and quality ranges from cheap rubbish, such as plaster of Paris griffins at Persepolis, aimed at domestic tourists, to high-quality carpets. If you are prepared to search through old stuff in smaller bazaars you should come away with a great souvenir and a good story as to how you found it. If you’d prefer to do it all at once and aren’t too worried about price, the bazaars in Esfahan and Shiraz are for you.
Various places in Iran specialise in specific products. Often, knowing the best place to buy something is as important as getting a good price. Export restrictions apply to some goods (Click here). Persian