IRAN

When you hear about Iran, the picture that comes into mind is violence, threat, nuclear Bomb etc…
I want to change it by showing you the other face of this country (which I find beautiful) and maybe even get you thinking ‘well this country is worth traveling to’.
Iran(also known as Persia) resides in Middle East with 636,372 square miles land era which is 18th largest country in the world and around 80 million population , it has the Caspian Lake (the biggest lake in the world which is also called Caspian Sea), and from the south it is facing Persian Gulf. The Capital of Iran is Tehran and Iranian first language is Persian/Farsi.

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Climate

As you can see below Iran has different kind of climate. It means whenever you want to visit Iran you have the option to choose the climate you like, in general west and north of Iran are moderate or cold and the south and east are warm or hot

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History

2500 years ago Persia was one of the most powerful and biggest empires in the world ruled by Achaemenid dynasty (founded by Cyrus the great). Below you can see the Cyrus cylinder which was practically the first constitution that was written for a civilized society (it is held in Britain Museum). In this cylinder he prays God and clarifies his responsibilities toward people’s right and how people are free to keep/choose their religions and traditions.

You can find the translation and other details here

But in 1979 after revolution 2500 of Iran’s kingdom finished by ending the Pahlavi dynasty and new era started for the country and people (which is called Islamic republic of Iran)
You can see how this changed everything for people (now women must wear scarf and cover their body)

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Customs

Persians have a lot of traditions and customs which I am going to mention some of them here:
Norooz (no=new, rooz=day) is the beginning of Solar Hijri calendar which starts with spring season.
Like Christmas people start buying new things and getting ready for the Norooz. At the day of Norooz and before the exact moment of Norooz (it is not at 00:00, it changes every year) people sit on the floor or around a table which has 7 items that are starting with “S sound” in Persian. This table is called Haft Seen (seven Ss)
Each item is supposed to represent a message
sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish (symbolizing rebirth in nature)
samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ (symbolizing affluence)
senjed - the dried fruit of the jujube tree (symbol of love)
seer - garlic (symbol of not being greedy, and being fair)
seeb - apples, (beauty and health)
somaq - sumac berries (patience)
serkeh - vinegar (cleanness)
There is another one which was added after inventing coins
sekkeh - coins (prosperity and wealth)

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After this younger couples and families going out to visit older ones like grandparents (it is frowned upon if you ignore elderlies in family).visiting friends, family and going to travel continues almost 15 days!!!(Yeah we have a lot of holidays)

Chahar Shanbe (Wednesday) suri(implying flame’s color)

This one is something. In this festival which happens in last Tuesday night before New Year, people start making fire and jumping over it. This means you want the fire to take your pallor, sickness, and problems and replace them with warmth and energy
Mohammad Reza last king of Iran while jumping over fire in this festival

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Food

Iran has lots of unique foods which you cannot find anywhere else.
Ghormeh Sabzi (made of vegetables, beans, sore lemon and meat)

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You can find some other foods here

Now let’s talk about some cities that could be nice to visit
Shiraz is located in southwestern of Iran, the weather is moderate in general and warm in summer.
If you like ancient buildings and you are interested in history or even if you are a fan of poetry, this place is a good choice for you
Persepolis(Achaemenid dynasty)

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Hafez Tombstone (Poet)

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Hamadan

Hamadan is located in west of Iran and the weather is pretty much cold. It has lots of ancient buildings as well, and also Avvicina is buried in this city. The Ali Sadr world's largest water cave is in this city too.

Ganj Nameh is an ancient inscription on the side of Alvand Mountain in Iran. The inscriptions were carved in granite in two sections. The one on the left was ordered by Darius the Great (521-485 BC) and the one on the right by Xerxes the Great (485-65 BC). Both sections were carved in three ancient languages:

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Ali Sadr water Cave

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Ardabil

Ardabil is a very cold city located in northwestern of Iran, its hot water is known as a cure for pain (it is like hot tub but the water is resourced from mountains directly). I tried it, it really reduces the pain in body (don’t know the medical reason)

North

North(couple of cities) is where the weather is like London (raining all the time). The scenery is wonderful and you also can swim in the Caspian Sea



All three taken by me

Qeshm

Qeshm is for people who are big fans of coral islands

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Actually I did not get to talk about 10% of what tourists can go for here, for example here you can find some fine deserts and also mountains, but I guess this is enough for now, if this post finds its audience I’m going to make another one and if it does not work I am going to make it anyway :D
Hope you like it and if finds it valuable to up-vote and possibly re-steem.
Thanks for reading my post
Have fun
by the way drinks are iligal in Iran, keep that in mind when making decisions :)

(And this is me after running for 45 minutes) :)