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Iran

163 bytes added, 01:23, 16 September 2010
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'''Iran''' is a very friendly country, at least for male hitchhikers. Some hitchhikers on their way to [[India]] even decide to stay in Iran instead.
Although waiting for a ride can be a frustrating experience sometimes, in general, however, it Hitchhiking is relatively easy to hit the way with a thumb done in this country. Frustration comes when there is a driver stopping for you every few minutes and suggesting taking you to a bus terminal, and sometimes you may find it hard to explain that you travel Iran by waving one's arm at low budget and that you actually WANT to hitchhikean oncoming car. When thumbing Do <b>not</b> gesture with your thumb up as in the north of the countryWest, it might occur that people stop just to ask if you need some not related to traveling help. In fact, you don't stand longer than 10 minutes without some car stopping for you. It can be even a police/army vehicle (they are because this is an obscene gesture in every corner of Iran): they will pick you up and even stop a car for you and convince a driver to take you furtherPersian culture.
Waiting for a ride can occasionally be a frustrating experience sometimes, but it is generally relatively easy to hitchhike here. Frustration comes when there is a driver stopping for you every few minutes and suggesting taking you to a bus terminal, and sometimes you may find it hard to explain that you travel at low budget and that you actually WANT to hitchhike. When hitchhiking in the north of the country, it might occur that people stop just to ask if you need assistance unrelated to transportation. In fact, you don't stand longer than 10 minutes without some car stopping for you. It can be even a police/army vehicle (they are in every corner of Iran): they will pick you up and even stop a car for you and convince a driver to take you further. In Farsi language (official language in Iran spoken as a first or second language by most citizens) the word "hitchhiking" doesn't exist. The translation of this word found in English-Farsi dictionaries seem to have a confusing effect on locals of Iran since they hear it for the first time in their lives. Though some people (especially couchsurfers or young Tehranians) know about it, call it "autostop" or English "hitchhiking". The farsi "Farsi ''majani savar shodan" '' seems to be the closest. Useful phrases are:
Do you go to ...? - shoma be ... mirin?
Can you do me a favour please? - Mishe ie lotfi be man bokonin?
== Getting in ==
 
You can't rely on it completely but if you're not American you can probably get a code through [http://iranianvisa.com iranianvisa.com] that you can use at Iranian embassies. People successfully managed to get Iranian visas in [[Istanbul]] and [[Ankara]]. Some hitchhikers received their visa in Trabzon without the expensive code the same day they applied for it.

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