Before going to Iran I was completely obsessed about wearing the hijab. I had no problem about “having” to wear it but I was concerned about the practicalities. How would I get it to stay on? What happens if it falls off? What if it accidently slips and shows some skin? It’s going to be too hot – I will melt.
Because I was so nervous I bought a ready made hijab and dutifully put it on before getting off the plane. I thought it would be perfect as it completely covered my hair and was very tight (and 100% synthetic). I got my Tours of Iran driver/guide to help me with hijab shopping. By the end of my time in Iran I had a wonderful collection of beautiful, bright, light, 100% cotton hijabs.
I soon discovered one of the easiest ways to tell tourists from Iranians was the way they wore hijab. Iranian women invariably look elegant with their hijab casually thrown over their hair and across their shoulder where it seems to stay, effortlessly. Tourists, on the other hands, have theirs firmly attached with hair clips and safety pins or, if not, they are constantly trying to keep it in place. Take my advice – use the hair clips and pins – they work. Once I had mastered this art I was extremely comfortable and confident that all would be well. I was not too hot; in fact, I think it offered protection from the sun. The one time I walked out of my hotel room and was half way to breakfast before I realized I wasn’t wearing my hijab the hotel staff just laughed at my apologies and said “don’t worry”. On the couple of occasions, I knocked it out of place the only person worried about it was me.
Iranian women are extremely relaxed in how they wear their hijab. There is no problem about showing quite a lot of hair at the front and some women even have long hair showing after the hijab stops at the back. It seems to be fine to have a small amount of neck showing at the front and there is certainly no restrictions on how bright and colorful they are.
Once I had relaxed into it my biggest problem was stopping myself from buying more and more beautiful scarves at very low prices.
The bottom line is you do have to wear it but it is not a big deal. Relax and enjoy the wonders of Iran.
For a few months before going to Iran I practiced holding a squat for a minute or so two or three times a week. It was time well spent.
In all the hotels I stayed in and in three quarters of the restaurants there were Western style toilets nearly always with toilet paper. I did make a point of asking for hotels with Western toilets only because squatting in the small hours of the morning felt a bit hazardous. But out on the road, at petrol stations and at restaurants in smaller towns, or at the major sites or the bazaars the toilets were usually squat toilets with a water hose. In the 31 days I travelled through Iran there was not a single occasion were the toilet was dirty and very rarely did they even have a slight odour. The floor was often wet but that was because of the water hose. In some places there was a small charge.
Because of sanctions Iran does not have access to Western banking systems. This means I could not use any Western debit or credit cards. I needed to bring in all the money I would need in cash. At the time I went to Iran I was not fully aware of how volatile the rial was and how much the exchange rate had risen so I arrived with far more euros than I needed. At first I was anxious about having that much cash but very quickly I felt completely safe, and, except when travelling between cities, I left my money belt locked in my suitcase at the hotel.
I am not good with money that has lots of 0000s so I found the currency difficult at first. The bank notes are in rial but most Iranians operate using toman which is effectively chopping off one 0. It is said that tourists operate with rial and Iranians with toman. Once I had been in Iran for a few days it got easier because I got an idea of what things were likely to cost. Also, my guide was always willing to help.
I was told that for major purchases like art, jewellery or carpet it may be possible to use $ or euros or even a credit card but to make sure I knew what the commission charge would be. I found most people in bazaars and shops selling expensive handicrafts were good at converting prices into $US and euros. However, for me, I did not find that useful as I had got the hang of converting to AUD and didn’t want to do another conversion.
