I've been wanting to see this place
For a very very long time and today it's finally happening, I'm in Iran!
I'm  here for about two weeks to work for a local agency called SURFIRAN
and as usual
I will bring you with me and show you everything I can
There is a lot to say about Iran
so much to say that I don't really know where to begin
Let's just start by saying that
there's a massive difference between
Iran the government and your own country
We all know what the media writes, says and shows about Iran
and how biasedly it's often portraited
many of you may imagine Iran as a land of
american haiting extremists,
gun toting men
and burka clad women.
I tend not to trust mainstream media.
I prefer to go see things with my own eyes before having any opinion about a country
And now that I've been there
, I can tell you that iran I saw had nothing to do with those things
"Welcome to Iran"
And the bigger picture is much more complex than what we see on the news
Tehran, the capital
Counting about 9 million people.
It's a big city that looks like many other big cities in the world
the traffic is bad,
Pollution too,
The streets are crowded
The culture is multi-layered,
a mix of Western Persian and Islamic shades
But I'm not spending much time in Tehran
I'm headed South
Good morning Guys! from my very messy hotel room
We got to Shiraz last night and
today instead of going to do the usual sightseeing and, you know
Of course whenyou say Shiraz, everybody knows
the pink mosque
and that's the image that comes to yuor mind
But today I want to show you a different side of Shiraz,
the more local side
and my favorite part of any country in the world:
the market!
I can't say this enough
If you want to see the true soul of a country
go to the market!
You can understand a lot about a culture just by looking at what people eat,
and here is where it all starts
Did I mention the food is incredible in Iran?
There are too many great Iranian dishes to mention them all but let's start with this:
Aush
As close as it gets to street food, and very very cheap,
is a soup made of chickpeas, vegetables, mint, mince meat and noodles
...or this: Beriani.
Minced lamb shoulder mixed with saffron, cinnamon, turmeric garlic and onions
And then of course there's this:
Chelo kebab,
ever present in Iran, a staple
And how not to mention this:
Iranian sweets.
An endless variety of delicious delicious goodness
Oh, I almost forgot about something VERY very important...
this!
Like in many other Middle Eastern country bred in Iran
is an essential  part of daily life,
And this is how they make it.
So if you visit Iran, please
is everything you can!
They 5 we just got to be Yazd
which is a city that looks a little older than the others and
the specialty here is clay and pottery and all that, and
And the look of the alley is very particular, loving it so far
Wrapped among two desert, Yazd,  is thought to be one of the oldest cities in the world
The look of the tangled ocher clay alleys give it a more magical
1001-nighty vibe.
If you make it here ,get lost in your town and you know what I mean!
Bt we have to leave Yazd behind quickly to head to the next city:
Isfahan.
Esfahan is the third-largest city in Iran
Former capital of Persia
and most visited city in the country,
attracting tourists from all over the world with its
mesmerizing architecture
Imam square is the second biggest square in the world
Home of the Shah and the Imam mosque ,
and gathering place for local youth and families
who fill the square enjoying a walk
a chat
a picnic
End of the road
one last stop before going home
100 miles from Isfahan
time stopped
Right now we're in Abyaneh, is a village ,red village, in the mountains, it's very
picturesque, it's very different from any other part of Iran.
Abyaneh is one of the oldest villages in Iran.
There's only about 300 people living here,
mainly elderly
Driving back to Tehran the last bit of this road trip
Along the way stretches of roads scatter with martyrs images
people who died during the 8 years long Iran-Iraq war
A war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iranians
and left a deep wound in the population spirit
When you hit the road in Iran, you don't just drive through mountains
and deseerts
and cities
you drive through history
crossing ruins of a long lost civilization
Before leaving for this trip everyone kept asking me:
"isn't Iran dangerous? aren't you afraid to go?"
The answer was, and still is,
No! not at all
Travel never scares me. It fuels me.
Iran is a land with an ancient soul.
Rich history.
Unbelievable architecture,
amazing food
millenary crafts
And surely made of the kindest and most welcoming people
I ever crossed path with on my travels.
The Iran you see on the news exists, yes,
Iran can be heartbreaking at times,
but that's not Iran I saw on the streets
I saw Beauty
I saw kindness,
hospitality in its purest form
I saw how much words matter in Iran
and that's why I'm using mine wisely here
One word in particular gave me a lot to think about
Freedom
I saw how often we give it for granted
I saw beautiful people
kind people
welcoming people
curious people
proud people
Proud of their country
their culture
their food
proud of what they do
and to show it to you
and proud
to have you there
"Welcome to Iran"
You'll hear it everywhere!
It's the end of this journey
It has been a beautiful intense trip,
I will need some time to find the right words to talk about this country
The main truth t I found here is that people are
Incredibly nice incredibly welcoming. I know I say it about a lot of countries, but
Here is particularly true
I wasn't expected to be treated and greeted so warmly by total strangers,
it it has been amazing
I met some truly beautiful people and I'm very thankful for it
And I'm especially thankful for these two:
Mehdi
and Bahar
my guides, now Friends
"Give me a hug"
"Love you"
So is it safe to travel to Iran?
YES
Undoubtedly
Is it beautiful?
Beyond expectations
And how those one sum up Iran?
You can't!
You have to go there
live it on your own skin
see it with your own eyes
Bon Voyage!
Thank you SURFIRAN, for this beautiful experience and
guys, I will see you in the next video!
 
