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Iran
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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.
Hitchhiking is done in Iran by waving one's arm at an oncoming car, or by dribbling one of your hands. Do <b>not</b> gesture with your thumb up as in the West, because this is an obscene gesture in Persian 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.
Can you give me a ride to ...? - Mom kene man ro be ... beresoni? lotfan
I don't want to pay - Man nemicham pul bedam
In the North West of Turkey (Tabriz area, until Qazvin), Turkish will work equally well.
=== Tarof ===
Watch out when somebody says a ride is for free: it might in fact not be. Tarof is an Iranian custom of saying a white lie, which is understood by both parties. This enables everyone to keep face. For example, at the end of a taxi ride, the driver will say it's free, because tradition dictates you should be extremely hospitable to guests. If you reply with "na" (no), he will quote the real price. While you could ignore this, it can cause offense, as it is an integral part of Iranian culture, whether you like it or not. One of the more useful phrases is "Tarof nist?" (it's not Tarof?) with a rising intonation at the end. When the answer is no, you can probably expect the offer to be genuine. Maybe the answer is another instance of tarof, but I think you can safely stop playing the game at this point.
[[File:Shiraz.jpg|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker [[User:Fran|Fran]] waiting for a ride in Iran.]]
Hitchhiker [[User:Alex|alex]]: ''"Sadly, I had to fly into Iran. I did not manage to get a visa in [[Yemen]] or in the [[United Arab Emirates]] beforehand (I stayed 7 days in [[Muscat]] until the embassies opened again; they told me at the Embassy of Iran that they can only issue for residents in contrast to what I have been told before). Flying into Iran is an option for people from some privileged countries. Larger airports in Iran can issue a 14 days transit visa on the spot. However, I guess this is not an issue as most people here will travel the other direction and will only start their journey when they have this visa (since this is the only visa Germans can not get at the border)."''
== The Persian weekend trick ==
By [[User::Harveypekar|Harveypekar]]. Every weekend, thousands of students from Tehran climb into their jeeps, and head out into the country side. It's difficult to catch them as they leave the city, but in the remote places, it's easy to pick them out. And in every car you will find at least one who speaks passable English. The downside is that Iranian weekends tend to make these places fuller, but as i was traveling in November, this was not an issue for me. This way, I managed to hitch inside Alamout valley (but I got trucks and motorbikes too), and also inside of the Maranjob desert. With that last one, I stayed with them two days, seeing nearby attractions and camping out with them. Because cars tend to be full, it might not work so well when you are more than one person.
== Personal experiences ==
