{"id":424,"date":"2017-08-10T15:42:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T15:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viajerosdelcamino.wordpress.com\/?p=424"},"modified":"2018-03-10T17:59:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-10T17:59:52","slug":"gente","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viajerosdelcamino.com\/en\/gente\/","title":{"rendered":"The People"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is by far the most important lesson of our trip to Iran: the negative impressions we\u2019ve gotten throughout the years by the media about this country has to do entirely with the interest of the people in power and their international affairs with Western countries.<\/p>\n

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Real Iranians are hospitable, generous, affectionate, kind, helpful, communicative and very sociable people. The motto we permanently heard was: “welcome to Iran” or just “welcome” from the humblest ones, which quite possibly was the only word they could say in English and rapidly switched to speaking Farsi. <\/p>\n

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Everyone was curious to know where we came from and most were enthusiastic to speak to us with the little English they managed. Moreover, the caravan attracted a lot of attention, so much so, that at some point we reduced our greetings to simple smiles and hellos, because otherwise we should have charged the entrance and tour fee!<\/p>\n

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We were happily surprised at the many expressions of kindness and hospitality we received from total strangers. For instance, a nearby neighbor and his daughter once showed up at our caravan\u202fdoor with a plate of fruit as a gift. Another time we were received at a palace by a tour guide with a plate of fresh cherries, and on a couple of occasions we were escorted by people who went out of their way to guide us for a long distance, so we wouldn\u2019t get lost. Similarly, we were once guided for over an hour to a safe parking space.\u202f\u202fOn another occasion we were short on fuel and the closest gas stations were too far away.\u202f From nowhere a group of truck drivers from Azerbaijan helped us not only with gas but also invited us to join their picnic at a nearby park and shared their fresh melon snacks with us! In general, we always felt helped and welcomed by Iranians of all ages as we traveled within their lands.<\/p>\n

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We like to extend our gratitude and great appreciation to all the people of Iran. Thank you for sweetening our journey through arid deserts and suffocating temperatures (52 degrees Celsius) with your refreshing and kind smiles.<\/p>\n

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