[0:22]Iran, one of the most negatively portrayed country in the media. They feel the military option really is the only way to stop Iran. Iran's nuclear program in Iran, freedom comes at a deadly cost. A woman's choice to unveil can now lead to flogging, prison and even execution. Israel-Iran conflict that does continue to unfold. Iran, Iran, Iran, Iran. I decided to see what is really happening inside Iran, to find out what is hidden beyond what the media tells.
[1:05]Hello, Tovarish. I'm now looking at the airplane that they are preparing for the flight that I'm going to board now. And this destination is going to be so much different from anywhere I've ever been to.
[1:24]There is a weekly direct flight from Moscow to Tehran. So I will be in Iran just in 3 hours and a half.
[2:00]And I'm here in one of the most closed and mysterious countries in the world. Knowing that I'm one of the few people who've got a chance to explore this region, makes me feel like the main character of an adventurous movie. Let the movie begin. Tehran is the capital city of Iran. Tehran has a long history with evidence of settlement dating back over 6,000 years. To feel the ancient energy, I decided to walk through the Grand Bazaar, which is considered to be over a thousand years old.
[2:57]Nowadays, with a population of 14 million people, Tehran is Iran's largest city and one of the most populous cities in the world. I will remember it as a very modern, clean and lively city. I didn't spend much time here because I couldn't wait to see what everyone comes to Iran for: the ancient Persian culture and history. So I headed to the city Shiraz.
[3:23]I will explore every city in Iran with its locals, and in Shiraz, I met Omid, whom I started to bombard with questions right away. I have just arrived in the country. Yes. And I don't really understand the rules about hijab and covering hair. How obligatory is it and uh, do I need to do it everywhere all the time? Yeah, in public areas actually. It's a must, it's a rule of the country based on the Sharia of Islam. Because in Islam, ladies they have to cover their bodies, the only parts they are allowed to show, it's based on their religion or their hair faces and their hands and the arms and part of their feet. What will happen if I don't?
[4:13]Normally there are some kind of police, we call them morality police, the morality police, it sounds a little weird, but yeah, we do have morality police in Iran. They come to you and will first tell you please keep your job on, if you don't listen to them then you might get fine or get arrested. It used to be more strict than what it is now. What is your hometown Shiraz famous for? Oh, for many different things. Shiraz is one of the oldest historical cities of Iran. It used to be even the capital of Iran few times, four times actually. Most famous thing from Shiraz is wine. There is a type of grape actually, local grape of uh, this region and for the first time more than four, 400, 500 years ago, when European were in Shiraz and they heard about that type of grape.
[5:01]They heard also local people of Shiraz, they make wine out of it, they taste it and they found it nice, interesting, so they took it from themselves and they started plantation of that kind of grape in Europe because the origin of it was from Shiraz. It's called Shiraz grape. Officially before revolution of Iran, we had Shiraz wine factory, of course it is forbidden now, drinking alcohol in general is forbidden. Now there is no this wine. No, homemade wine, local people, they make it at home, but not officially, it's illegal. It's illegal at all to sell alcohol in the whole country. Yes. So people never, there is a special permission for the non-Muslim minority who lives in Iran, like for example, Jewish and Christian, Armenian especially we have in Iran, they are allowed to have their own alcoholic drinks.
[5:48]Also the employees of the embassies, like the diplomats, they are allowed to have it. But overall nobody drinks alcohol. Good question. A lot of people drink it, but illegally. So they sell it somehow illegally. Yes, and you can't find it everywhere. And what else is Shiraz famous for? For the pretty girls. It's true. Also, you know what I noticed that uh, so many girls make uh nose job. No, Oh, that's very common in whole Iran, not only in Shiraz. Cosmetic surgeries, they became so popular in Iran. But why they want to change nose? Ah, they like it smaller. Who cares about the nose? Many of them. Sometimes they just do it because of the jealousy to the other friends or family, like they said, oh, your, uh, my cousin did it, I have to do that as well. Their nose has no problem, I mean, maybe just a little bigger than what they do. I think if you can breathe your nose doesn't have problem. This is what the mentality is unfortunately. And uh, they do it in Iran, right, this? Yes, yeah, even many people from other countries, especially from Arab countries around the Persian Gulf, they come to Iran and they do surgery.
[7:09]Even men? Even men, Arab men, they come to and Shiraz city is very famous because of the hospitals and technique. Yes, I saw even men with this. Yes, even for hair, uh, plants, uh, plantation, yes, it's so popular. And one more thing, what is Shiraz famous for? In general Shiraz is famous as city of gardens and flowers. In the gardens of Shiraz, we have a lot of cypress tree that they are the tallest cypress of Iran. And in the from the old time in Persian poetry, when they wanted to describe a nice tall girl, they always compared her with cypress of Shiraz. So wine, girls and cypress trees. Cypress tree and poetry, like some of the most famous Persian poets are from Shiraz, poets like Hafiz and Sadi are the most famous poets, but we have hundreds of poets from this city.
[8:36]We are at the Shiraz Grand Bazaar. It used to be a place to sell just coppers. And nowadays the modern life standard of the life is changed, so you can see a lot of uh other products, especially clothes. Do you have any international brands, like Adidas, Nike, stuff like this, or it's completely We used to have them, but since sanctions, there are a lot of embargoes against Iran and since that time, most of the famous brands, international brands in Iran are closed. They're not allowed to be in Iran, but we still do have some famous brands. What brands? We do have Adidas, actually in Iran, through other countries, mainly from UAE, exactly. Same in Russia now. Yes, I know, I know about your country also, I've been to your country two years ago, and I saw how they changed the McDonald's name to another one. Kusni toka. Yes, exactly, do you also have McDonald's under cover? No, we never had it, we never had it. But we have, for example, in Shiraz, we have SFC, Shiraz Fried Chicken. It's exactly like the KFC, but it's not officially, uh, from United States. So as you can see, we see so many different type of Samovar. It came from Russia to Iran more than 200 years ago and we still call it Samovar, like your country. You also drink tea from this? Yes, yes, it's a special for tea. How this Samovar is used? It's actually a mix or combination of Samovar and oven together. At the same time, you can have water in it and also you can cook in it. So inside of the container, it is divided to two parts, in one part you can add charcoal in it to make a fire and heat it up and then you can do cooking and on the other side you can add water, so you can use it as a Samovar.
[10:46]a break to cool down and I will try Iranian traditional drink. It does have a name? It's called Arghavan. Arghavan and it has uh saffron, rose, mint, and this kind of herbs, actually seeds are kind of herbs, we call it hachir. I really don't know the name in English. It's a local herb seed.
[11:15]It's so good, I tried rose drink for the first time when I was in India in 2017.
[11:29]And uh India was one of the very first countries that I visited and I went solo and it was like the beginning of my life as a traveler. Oh, remind you of that trip. And I tried this the last time in India. Wow. Bon appetite. It went into the pomegranate, now it's full of pomegranate. Okay. Let me, let me. Oh okay, in a watermelon. It's so good. In a watermelon. Okay, that's it. You can have watermelon, uh, Samovar with pomegranate. That's a good idea. Okay, it's so good.
[31:24]The most beautiful thing about traveling is that before you get to a country, it's just a point on a map for you, without a deep meaning. But once you explore the place, the point on a map gets colors. It transforms into landscapes, sounds, tastes, faces, feelings and many memories. When you're back home, everyone will tell you, oh, it seems like you've never left. But you will want to scream, of course I've left, I've lived a whole life during that trip and I've changed so much.
