International sightseers visiting the region of Gilan tend to go to Masouleh, a 10th-century terraced village, or the enormous ruins of Rudkhan Castle, built during the Seljuk dynasty. But most Iranian families trek north to escape the summer heat at the beaches along the Caspian Sea. In accordance with religious laws, Iran’s beaches are divided into three sections: one part for men only, another for women and a family section where all are welcome. Women are free to wear bathing suits at the female-only beaches, but at the family beaches, they must be fully clothed and wear a head scarf. One bather said that she doesn’t know how it would feel going into the sea without full hijab, because as a religious woman, she always prefers to swim with family members, rather than keep to herself at a single-sex beach. Another beachgoer said that it is difficult to swim in a hijab and that enjoying a family vacation is tough when you are unable to go in the water together comfortably, without being weighed down by clothes. The men are, by contrast, unencumbered. A man from Maragheh, a city in the north, was taking a vacation from his job at the utility company. He visited Gilan with his twin brother to “swim all day long and feel free and calm. Here we don’t really think of anything. North of Iran is totally different from anywhere else in world.” J.L.