Whether you choose to call it Iran or Persia, one thing is clear: this is not Arabia.
Although Western media may tempt you to define Iran by virtue of religious principles alone, to do so would be a naive misjudgement - for Iran is so much more than mosques and mandatory headscarves.
Open your mind to more than just the call of the muezzin and Iran quickly reveals an abundance of diversity: from quirky desertscapes to multi-coloured mountains and waterfall-fed gorges.
While Tehran bursts at the seams with hipster cafes and colourful murals, cities like Yazd and Isfahan display a more traditional front, while still hinting at Iran’s lack of religious homogeneity - from Zoroastrian monuments to Christian neighbourhoods.
Throughout the country however, one rule remains consistent - Iranians provide a welcome much warmer than you’d expect from much of the West.
Hands-down one of Isfahan’s best people watching spots, si-o-se bridge separates the old town from trendy Jolfa & her modern cafes in the Armenian quarter.
In the late afternoon, the arches are stuffed full of people waiting for the sun to set, and once night falls, a cappella singers gather beneath the bridge to send their voices bouncing off stone as trendy Isfahanis gather round in awe.
These travertine terraces of Badab-e-surt in Northern Iran form a natural staircase overlooking surrounding mountains and valleys.
Formed over the course of millennia, natural hotsprings running down the mountain have slowly deposited minerals in their wake, morphing nature into architecture.
Located just outside the city named for a grape it can’t legally turn to wine, Lake Maharloo hosts a resident population of plastic swans that perch atop a sea of salt.
The lake bed features ponds of water featuring a spectrum of shades, from Rose to Shiraz, which swell and contract throughout the course of the year.
Located towards the border with Turkmenistan, the Mazandaran Province stretches from the sandy shores of the Caspian Sea, to the Alborz Sierra, home of Mt Damavand - Iran’s highest peak.
The Chehrabad Salt Mines have been in operation for so long, that digging around has been known to unearth perfectly preserved mummies dating as far back as 1700 B.C.
The mummies are a testament to the hazards of operating in an industry with the irksome habit of sometimes burying its workers alive - and perfectly preserving them for analysis by modern day museums in the process.
The rock tombs of Naqsht-e-Rostam are enough to make you wonder what sends hoardes of tourists to one archaeological site over another. Is it just visa complications and marketing, or actual merit?
While over 7 million tourists visited the colosseum in 2019, and over a million lined up to see Petra in the same year, there’s almost no-one to obstruct the view at this ancient necropolis just down the road from Persepolis.
Look at any guide book for Iran and it will extoll the virtues of seeking out multi-coloured mosques as if that’s all the country has to offer.
Whether and how a building makes it into a guidebook as remarkable is anyone’s guess, however for every building marked out on a map, you can be guaranteed there are many more that are just as noteworthy, but happily escape ‘official’ notice.
This is a reminder that Iran sits at a true crossroads of history - with so much jam-packed into the landscape that even today, it’s only possible to get the smallest idea of the layers of history lurking beneath.
The ancient carvings at Persepolis are truly impressive, but stare a little closer at the base of structures like this one, and you’ll find graffiti carved beneath, dating back to the world wars and earlier - when western armies poured through, inspiring foreign lieutenants to carve out their names in what can only be regarded as a bizarre sort of pissing contest.
Although undeniably vandalism at the time, with the passing centuries the newer etchings have become markers that tell more of what Persepolis has continued lived through, long after Alexander the Great sought to destroy it.
You didn’t think Iran was all barren wasteland, did you?
The fertile fields of northern Iran, lying between the mountains and the Caspian sea could be reminiscent of Europe, or even Asia - once you step into the Alamut Valley’s rice terraces - bar the crumbling castles that overlook them.
Stories abound as to what exactly motivated Alexander the Great to burn down Persepolis in 330 BC.
While theories vary, they have enough in common to form a convincing storyline for a sequel to ‘The Hangover’ : from being spurred on after too much booze, to revenge for ancient Greece, or just out of pure jealousy.
Whatever the case, like most hangovers - apparently the aftermath left Alexander with more than just a tinge of regret. The fact that many pillars still stand to this day, more than a thousand years after the site’s destruction, speaks to the impressive marvel Persepolis was in her hey day.
The Pink Mosque of Shiraz is as touristed as Iran gets.
Although the city of Shiraz is famed for the wine its grape originally produced, sitting underneath the light show that bleeds through these windows is the closest to drunk you can get (legally, anyway) in this Islamic republic these days.
Walking around Tehran, you’d be forgiven for thinking most Iranians loathe the USA.
While colourful murals like this can be found throughout the city to remind you that the governments of Iran and the west do not exactly see eye to eye, many Iranians have family living in western countries themselves, including the US.
While there’s no true black and white to any narrative, talking to the average Iranian is a helpful reminder that governments do not always represent the thoughts and sentiments of their citizens - and that they’re aware the same applies vice-versa.
Considered one of the hottest and driest places on earth, the sands of the Lut Desert have been recorded to reach temperatures of up to 70 degrees celcius (that’s 158 degrees fahrenheit).
It was over 50 degrees celcius on the day that this shot was taken, after we’d zoomed into the desert in a rattling 4x4 which made disconcerting crunching noises as we flew over the dunes.
When we were told that the car only had enough power to run the aircon, or move forward - but not both, we wound down the windows and embraced having just opened a hot oven door to check on what was baking (us!) in exchange for the simple reward of a night under the stars.
Iran has incredible examples of islamic architecture, from Shiraz’s Pink Mosque, to Kashan’s Agha Bozorg (pictured).
Put down the guidebook to focus on the periphery of these feats of architecture and you’ll be most rewarded as you let the comings and goings of daily life come into focus in the foreground.
Ever wonder how many knots go into a persion carpet, or how much crushed blue agate dyes the wool or silk threads bright blue?
No?
Will visiting Iran still see you lugging around one of its famed carpets as much (un)needed excess luggage anyway?
Probably, yes.
Iran’s Esfahan is all the color, noise and the vibrancy people look for from more ‘typical’ tourism drawcards like Marrakech.
Isfahan comes with the genuine, warm hospitality of people who haven’t been jaded by never-ending queues of tourbuses, and just want you to fall in love with what’s in their backyard - like the local bazaar at Naqsh-e Jahan.