I knew little to nothing about Iran before coming here (well I still don’t know much) so when I got into the plane I was wondering what to expect. All I knew was I need a headscarf and a long dress or coat which I conveniently located next to me in the plane.
After having some last struggle with my hand luggage (I finally got it down to 7.8 kilo and I have never been happier to see that number!) I was ready to board the plane. Flying to Istanbul gave me the luxury of having a complete row to myself, but on my way to Tehran I got a window seat and a sleepy Iranian couple next to me who introduced me to Iranian friendliness and hospitality after landing in Iran. While I was still sitting in my seat waiting for the crowd to pass by, the wife remembered where I put my hand luggage and got her husband to grab it for me; and out of nowhere my backpack was next to me on the seat, accompanied by a friendly smile from her.
The question of when exactly it was time to put the headscarf on was also answered by itself as every woman around me magically wore it at one point so I decided to go with the flow and wrapped it around my head. This turned out to be more difficult than expected, because the ends were too long and constantly fell into my way when trying to put my backpack on. My coat wasn’t of any help either, nor were the other 2 jackets I needed to fit somewhere. When I finally thought I was ready to go, I got a taste of Iranian traffic as it was impossible for my sleepy and exhausted self to get into the hallway and out of the plane. But I finally managed, and from there on it was the usual procedure.
It was surprisingly empty at the airport. Getting my visa confirmed, collecting my bag and leaving the arrival area barely took half an hour.
As soon as I stepped out I was surrounded by taxi drivers not leaving my sight and trying to get me into their cabs, but I finally managed to get into the airport taxi. It is not the cheapest option but I decided after three hours of sleep within the past 24 hours and no clue about what I was getting into I play it safe. I finally arrived at my destination at 6AM and was even able to sleep a little before I forced myself to get out of bed at 9, even though I would have loved to sleep the whole day.
