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Iran
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Note from a traveler: weekends in Iran are Thursdays and Fridays!!
===Hitchhiker [[User:Damaniacle|Dominic]]===
I noticed some different things while hitchhiking in Iran. Firstly, (as a guy), i was groped/asked for sex/had-people-talking-about-how-beautiful-i-am-to-the-point-of-discomfort, more times in iran than my entire previous hitchhiking experience in other countries. Young blond kids with no beards and long hair should bear this in mind. Secondly, much has been made of how kind and generous iranian people are. This is absolutely true and it is wonderful. However there are glaring downsides to this, chiefly that your rides begin to care too much about you, and refuse to let you continue hitchhiking, instead, they invite you to their home, or quite literally force you onto a bus, despite constant protest. I even had a driver that decided that my cs host was going to hurt me somehow, and wouldn't allow me to get out when my destination came. it took many phone calls and constant pleading to finally negotiate with my driver to let me out. Thirdly, while saying that you have no money (pul nadarim) is the easiest way to hitchhike, it is also a lie/half-truth that can lead to frustrating consequences, especially when they take you to the tourist police or regular police because they are worried about your situation, or force you onto a bus and try to pay for it for you (i usually end up pulling out my cash-stash at that point), or they give you money from their own pocket (in western countries this is not an issue for me, but here, people are hurting very badly from an awful financial situation, and generally have a hard enough time keeping their family afloat. here you can take a 500km+ bus for the price of a berlin u-bahn ticket). Finally, hitchhike during the day if you can. during the night, it is easy enough to find your first ride, but it is difficult to convince that first ride to let you continue hitchhiking, whereas during the day they will usually give up after a couple of minutes.
Despite these quirks Iran remains in its deserved place on every hitchhikers bucket-list. Astonishingly beautiful, superlatively kind and generous people, great food, and fascinating culture. Just keep these things and the other issues already written about in mind and you will have an amazing time.
== Cities ==
