Shiraz in Shiraz

[Skyring]

Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

[h=1]Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feasts[/h][FONT=&amp][/FONT]
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[FONT=&amp]Tehran
[/FONT][FONT=&amp]Iran
22 Apr 2017
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[h=3][FONT=&amp]Street feast[/FONT][/h][FONT=&amp]Just outside the National Museum is a park in the traditional Persian fashion: shady trees, fountains, running water, ambling paths and benches. And beside the park, on the footpath beside a busy street is a little street food domain, a half dozen stalls selling various hot and cold snacks.
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[FONT=&amp]A hot and dry day. We had a few minutes before our bus returned through the Tehran traffic, and I scooted down to grab a couple of cold drinks, ignoring the fragrant smells of the food vendors.
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[FONT=&amp]The bus arrived, we tourists filed aboard, there was the ritual counting, and we moved off. I grabbed this snap of the al fresco food court, the cheery gent in the foreground looking up [/FONT][FONT=&amp]from[/FONT][FONT=&amp] his lunch.
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[FONT=&amp]Iranians live their lives on the streets. It somehow seems as if half the population are driving somewhere, half are strolling, and the remaining half are having a picnic of some sort. It’s a fun, colourful, entertaining lifestyle, and I have to chuckle at the misconceptions I once had of Iran as a dour land of religious fundamentalists, thanks to American media and political opinion pieces.[/FONT]
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[JohnM]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Question re visa on arrival, if I may.

It seems that payment needs to be cash. I have been advised that it's 75 Euros. Are you aware of whether they accept USD?

 

[Skyring]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Question re visa on arrival, if I may.

It seems that payment needs to be cash. I have been advised that it's 75 Euros. Are you aware of whether they accept USD?

USD is the second currency of Iran, pretty much. I took over a hefty wodge of both Euro and dollars, but found no difficulty in using dollars. The Euro were brought back home again, but will be used in Greece over the next few weeks.

The reason that they want cash is because Iran's banking system has been cut off from the rest of the world. There are plenty of ATMs around, but they only work with local banks; they physically cannot connect outside Iran. Occasionally you will find a merchant who has an arrangement with someone in (say) Qatar and will let you purchase a carpet or something by reading your credit card details over the phone to them.

Rial, Euro, and dollars are all happily accepted. Just be aware that you won't often get a good exchange rate. It's about 30 000 Rial to the USD for being ripped off, and 40 000 is a great rate. If you can find someone who will do it.

I bought a sim at the airport, and they quoted prices in all three currencies. I was able to pay with Rial left over from my previous trip, but they would have taken USD15. Bargain for two weeks of in-country data.

 

[JohnM]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

USD is the second currency of Iran, pretty much. I took over a hefty wodge of both Euro and dollars, but found no difficulty in using dollars. The Euro were brought back home again, but will be used in Greece over the next few weeks.

The reason that they want cash is because Iran's banking system has been cut off from the rest of the world. There are plenty of ATMs around, but they only work with local banks; they physically cannot connect outside Iran. Occasionally you will find a merchant who has an arrangement with someone in (say) Qatar and will let you purchase a carpet or something by reading your credit card details over the phone to them.

Rial, Euro, and dollars are all happily accepted. Just be aware that you won't often get a good exchange rate. It's about 30 000 Rial to the USD for being ripped off, and 40 000 is a great rate. If you can find someone who will do it.

I bought a sim at the airport, and they quoted prices in all three currencies. I was able to pay with Rial left over from my previous trip, but they would have taken USD15. Bargain for two weeks of in-country data.

So credit cards are out then?

Another question: For men, are shorts generally acceptable or is it better to wear trousers? And, what about short and long-sleeve shirts?

 

[pagingjoan]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

So credit cards are out then?

Another question: For men, are shorts generally acceptable or is it better to wear trousers? And, what about short and long-sleeve shirts?

Credit Cards are definitely out - unless you have a local card.
Shorts are not acceptable. Long sleeved shirts are preferable but, for men, short sleeves seemed acceptable in many areas.
Err on the side of conservative, I would recommend.
And enjoy the experience.

 

[JohnM]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Credit Cards are definitely out - unless you have a local card.
Shorts are not acceptable. Long sleeved shirts are preferable but, for men, short sleeves seemed acceptable in many areas.
Err on the side of conservative, I would recommend.
And enjoy the experience.

As I expected. Thanks for confirming.

 

[Per_Travels]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Question re visa on arrival, if I may.

It seems that payment needs to be cash. I have been advised that it's 75 Euros. Are you aware of whether they accept USD?

Just to add to this - yes USD or Euro are fine. Current cost is 175 USD or 145 Euro.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Sorry, what's that the cost of? Our tour people told us 75 euro for visa on arrival.

 

[pagingjoan]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Sorry, what's that the cost of? Our tour people told us 75 euro for visa on arrival.

This may help:
Iran Visa On Arrival 2017-2018 | Iran Traveling Center
Fee depends on your nationality/passport, as is often the case.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Thanks pagingjoan! Our tour company may have given us (JohnM and I are both doing the same tour) wrong information re the fee.

 

[JohnM]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Thanks pagingjoan! Our tour company may have given us (JohnM and I are both doing the same tour) wrong information re the fee.

Looks like it, assuming info in the link is accurate and it is not a third party operator skimming profit. Austria is 75 Euro - maybe the info that came down from London got lost in translation .

Interesting thing is that our operator is a British company but Brits can't get a VOA according to pj's link.

 

[pagingjoan]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Looks like it, assuming info in the link is accurate and it is not a third party operator skimming profit. Austria is 75 Euro - maybe the info that came down from London got lost in translation .

Interesting thing is that our operator is a British company but Brits can't get a VOA according to pj's link.

Yes, so it seems.
A related link:
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran/entry-requirements

 

[Per_Travels]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Sorry, what's that the cost of? Our tour people told us 75 euro for visa on arrival.

Prices for the visa on arrival have regularly gone up over the last couple of years. This price was valid for a visa on arrival with an Australian passport a couple of days ago (I'm typing this from Tehran). There is also the insurance - unless you can prove that your existing travel insurance covers Iran then you also have to pay about 18 USD for Iranian travel insurance (this has only come in recently).

 

[JohnK]

Re: Shiraz in Shiraz: Street feast

Interesting trip report. Nice writing style.