Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 08:17:01 -0700
Subject: Iran
From: "Anthony Butler" 


(sorry doing this on a turkish keyboard too many letter and those I know
are in the wrong place)

Well we left iran this morning. Very confusing border. No signs in any
language to show us where we were ment to go.

Iran was a plesant place, very modern, very cheap, but lacked the excitement
of the sub-contient.

---------------

High lights.
  people and persian achitecture.

Places visited
 Bam- oasis town in desert. Old citidal+city. VERY beutiful
 Kerman- great market town
 Shiraz- wine no longer made here. Ruins of 2500yr old city. Very cool.
 Yazd- 2nd oldest (>2500yrs) inhabited city in the world. Pleasant people
 Esfahan- awesome beutitful persian capital, lovely bridges. Nicest town
square jen and I have ever been to. Will post photo (when I get home)
of the fine example of town planning.
 Tehran- Don't go!!! 13million people. V crowded, V polluted, V awefull
traffic. Buidling horrid crubling 60+70 style in city center, with massive
concrete housing estates in the suburbs. Few -> no redeming features.
Quite possibly the worst city I've ever been to.

Food.
 not much choice. plain rice and kebabs. sausage meet in bun with pickle.
tomatos. Strange as pakistan and turkish food are good, and that the
markets haev heaps of really good produce.

Iran Scenery.
  Desert with mountain in the distance. Dramatic but monotonous.

People.
  Mostly extremely friendly, less so in tehran. Less strictly religous
than pakistan.

Politics.
  Most iranians we spoke to want change - and soon. Your ID card (carry
at all times) has who you vote for on it (of the 4 candidates nominated
by the clergy), no freedom of press (reports "disappear"), and a revolutionary
gaurd who several people told us are known to torture (several method
described to us) those who oppose the clergy. Multiple check points on
the roads and we saw people get taken away for questioning for no apparent
reason. 
  This seemed odd in a islamic country as from what jen and I have seen
in pakistan and bangladesh muslim values are similar to christan values
(ie respect for other, honesty, kindness etc). Certainly the revolutionary
gaurd seems quite opposed to the beliefs of the muslims in pakistan and
bangladesh and closer to those of a totalatarian state.

See ya 
Ants.

PS email in turkey is cheap and very where, so feel free to email me.