EST

Eelmisel kevadel Balkani poolsaarel hääletades veetsime aega imevahva abielupaariga Iraanist. Juba pärast esimest kohtumist sai selgeks, et Iraani külastamine tuleb lähiajal ette võtta. Ja sügisel avastasimegi end Sandriga ühel õhtul järjekordseid lennupileteid ostmas, seekord Riia-Kiiev-Teheran marsruudil.

Mis siin salata, mida lähemale reis jõudis, seda närvilisemaks me ka muutusime. Olgugi, et Iraanis EI OLE sõda ega terrorismi, asub ta poliitiliselt siiski äreva koha peal.

Teatud asjadega pidi juba enne reisi arvestama – näiteks kogu reisi eelarve tuli sularahas kaasa võtta. USA sanktsioonide tõttu ei ole Iraanis võimalik välismaiseid pangakaarte kasutada.

Lisaks ei saa riiki siseneda, kui passis on tõendeid Iisraelis viibimise kohta. Tuleviku osas tuleb arvestada, et viimase viie aasta jooksul Iraani külastanud inimestele ei kehti USA-sse sisenedes viisabadus.

Sellegipoolest teadsime juba ette, et lisanõudmistele vaatamata saab Iraan olema vaimustav – see on ju üks maailma tsivilisatsiooni alguspunkte, kultuuriliselt ja ajalooliselt meeletult rikas riik. Tegu on ju siiski Pärsiaga!

Lennud läksid veidi ärevalt, jääolude tõttu hilines esimene lend oluliselt ja jõudis Kiievisse alles jätkulennu väljumise ajaks. Lennujaama uste juures ootas juba pardateenindaja, kelle kannul jooksime läbi terve lennujaama, otse väljuva lennuki peale. Napilt jõudsime! Aga jõudsime.

Kuigi lendasime Ukraina lennufirmaga, tundsin juba oma istekohale jõudes, kuidas kultuuriruum oli muutunud. Tõmbasin salli üle juuste ning tegin kindlaks, et pika seeliku alt ka pahkluud välja ei paistaks.

Maandusime Teheranis pärast südaööd ja veetsime esimesed kaks tundi viisa järjekorras. Eks väike mure oli sellega ka – nimelt kontrollisid töötajad kõigi taotlejate ööbimiskohad üle, kuid meil oli plaanis couchsurf’ida, mis on Iraanis keelatud. Viisast keeldumine oleks aga tähendanud riigist välja saatmist lennujaamast lahkumatagi. Panime oma taotlustele kirja ühe suvalise hosteli aadressi ja telefoninumbri ning lootsime parimat.

Pärast teise tunni möödumist saime viisad kätte ning võisime lennujaamast lahkuda.

Iraan!

ENG

Last spring, while hitch-hiking in the Balkans, we happened to spend time with a well-spirited couple from Iran. It soon became clear that Iran is a must-go destination. Fast forward to an autumn evening in Estonia, we found ourselves buying some plane tickets. This time for the route Riga-Kiev-Tehran.

I think there’s no shame admitting that we got more nervous the closer the trip was in our calendars. Even though there’s no war or terrorism in Iran, it’s still situated in a politically hectic region.

There were a few inconveniences we had to take into account pre-flight. For example, we had to have the whole budget with us IN CASH. Thanks to US sanctions it’s not possible to use foreign debit cards in Iran. You also will not be permitted an entrance if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.

By going to Iran we had to accept the fact that for the next five years we won’t get into US without a visa.

We knew that meeting the requirements would be worth it. Iran is one of the sources of civilisation and therefore a culturally and historically incredibly rich country. It’s Persia we’re talking about. Iran was applied as a name in 1935. Still Persia and Iran can be used interchangeably.

The flights were tremolous. The flight from Riga was delayed due to icy conditions. Even so that it seemed that we’re not going to make it on to our next flight. As we arrived in Kiev there was a flight attendant already waiting for us at the entrance. Following her lead we ran from one end of the airport to another, through the gate and right onto the plane to Tehran. We made it.

As we landed in Tehran I could feel the shift in culture. I pulled the scarf on to my hair, as well as made sure that my ankles don’t show from underneath the skirt. It was past midnight.

We spent two hours in the queue to obtain Iranian visas. There we faced another problem. The authorities check every last one of the arrivals in the queue for their destinations, for where they have planned to spend the night. Sounds easy enough? In our case we could give them our CouchSurfing host’s address. But CS is illegal in Iran.

We could still give them the address, but not mention CS. But none of our hosts allowed us to give the government their address.

Getting denied a visa would have meant that we were to be deported. So what did we do? We noted onto our application a random hotel with the address and a phone number. Then we hoped for the best.

After another hour of waiting we received our visas and we had the permission to leave the airport.

Iran!