Shiraz, Iran

After travelling to more than 50 countries, it starts repeating itself somehow. The landmarks, attractions, and religious places all starts looking the same. It becomes challenging to find something unique that makes you want to grab your camera out of your bag to capture the sight. I believe especially recently that I have started to capture more moments and people while travelling, rather than attractions. People in a natural setting in their every day life tells a story, and captures how the atmosphere was. 

Shiraz, oh Shiraz. As long as I can remember from my childhood, have I always heard about Shiraz (and Ghalat of course). Despite all stories, I have not done enough of research nor really dug into my roots as much as I could have. Somehow, leaving it all to my imagination with the stories from my father, made the trip quite exciting. 

When I visited Morocco in the summer 2018, I was mesmerised by the colours, the handicraft, spices and generally the atmosphere of the markets and the locals. While walking through the Vakil Bazaar, it gave me a strong throwback from Fez in Morocco, except that the vendors are less aggressive. Shiraz is the perfect city for a visitor who prefers to walk around and explore. Around and within walking distance from the Vakil Bazaar, you will find almost all most important and beautiful sights. 

From the beginning: Me and Parvin arrived to Shiraz Airport late in the evening, where my two cousins picked us up. Despite us being tired, we were headed towards Haft Khan Restaurant, one of the city's most top-notch restaurants. We had a traditional Iranian feast while enjoying the music from a live band. The very next day was busy walking through most attractions. The day started early with breakfast and a visit to the Nasir ol-molk Mosque (sometimes referred to as the Pink Mosque). The best time of the day to visit is during the morning before noon, as this is the timing when the sun rays hits the coloured mosaic windows. 

Additionally, during my time in Shiraz I also visited the Thomb of Hafez, the Vakil Mosque, the Vakil Bath, The Quran Gate, the Afif-Abad Garden, the Arg of Karim Khan, and probably more. 

During my visit, we spent time at my aunties home where my entire family from my fathers side were gathered. It was probably a moment in my life I will never forget. The gathering was for approximately 40 people, but apparently half of the family could not make it. It's a shame that I don't speak farsi fluently, as this would not only made my visit to the family much easier, but also communicating with the locals while exploring the city aswell. Fortunately, wherever I went, I had the privilege to be accompanied by a cousin or friend.

Shiraz, was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone really. I can't wait to go back again and explore more of Iran. 

Ghalat, Iran

From Kish, the beach and the heat, to Ghalat, the mountains and cold. Ghalat would probably not be  on the list of the most popular destinations to visit while in Iran, but I would definitely recommend it if you visit Shiraz. Ghalat is located 30km outside of Shiraz and is quite popular for hiking and for a weekend outing with the family. The reason for my visit to Ghalat was to explore my fathers hometown and where he grew up. I had of course heard a lot of stories of how beautiful Ghalat is, so naturally I had to visit. Fortunately, Parvins father is a good friend of my own father, and he conveniently lives in Ghalat. 

We arrived and got settled in to Parvins family's house, which very much looks like the typical Persian mountain house - loved it!. Ghalat is a very quiet and simple town, which is charming in its own way. We explored the old part of the village, walked by the house where my father grew up, had a wonderful breakfast in the mountains by the small waterfall. While it was my first visit to Iran, it was surprising that some of my fathers friends could recognise me when we walked around in Ghalat. 

As much as I really enjoy staying in small hostels, I think nothing beats living with friends in their homes. While walking around in Ghalat, I did spot a few hostels, but to truly get the authentic experience and hospitality of the locals, get yourself a Persian friend - or an entire family like myself. Parvin and her family took well care of me, and I immediately felt like I was a part of their family as soon as I arrived. 

Kish, Iran

Kish, the resort island located in the Persian Gulf off the southern coast of Iran, is the home of 40,000 residents. As Kish is a Free Zone and does not require tourists to obtain a Visa, Kish annually welcomes 1 million tourists. Kish is not well known, but is still the 3rd most visited vacation destination in Southwest Asia (after Dubai and Sharm El Sheikh). Kish is an island popular for its beaches, shopping malls, and water activities. 

I had not heard much about Kish before deciding to visit Parvin, who has been living there for 5 years. The island is quite small, and as you can probably drive around the entire island in maximum 2 hours, I would strongly suggest to rent a car. My days in Kish were spent with Parvin eating at popular restaurants, parasailing, and just spending time together basically. I also got a short introduction to a few phrases in Farsi, which could be useful during the trip and for the future.

The weather was overall pretty decent. It was raining, which caused the streets to be flooded. The weather did not impact my time in Kish, however I was not able to visit the Women's beach, which according to the local women is a must when visiting Kish. Diving was also not an option, as the currents were too strong. We visited the Greek Ship, we had breakfast at the Toranj Marine Hotel, several shopping malls and restaurants. 

Iran

Oh did I finish this year with something good. Since I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of travelling to Iran. I’ve always been proud to be from Iran, or having a father who is from Iran, but have never been able to grasp what that actually mean. Some of the stories I have been told since I was a child have been in the lines of ”You have 90 cousins in Iran, the mountains there are incredibly beautiful and we always cook and east together with the entire family”. These are only a few of the things, but no matter what story I’ve been told, it’s been all about family. Family is obviously very important in many cultures, but for some reason it has a completely different meaning in Iran.

So why did it take me 27 years to travel to Iran? Back in 2012, I had applied for a visa to Iran and was beyond the moon excited to travel there together with my father. Unfortunately he visa was rejected. The reason given to me at the time was that I had to apply for an Iranian passport, due to my father being from Iran (forcing me to change my first and last name). This of course, was not something I was willing to do, nor did I have the time before the journey. Since then, I had given up the hope and I started focusing on travelling to other countries.

Things change, I suppose, and as I was introduced to Parvin, (our fathers are childhood friends) she was eager to help me sort this out now in 2019. I decided to visit her in Kish, which is an Island in the Persian Gulf. Kish is a free-zone and does not require any visa. Therefore, as I had 1 week of vacation, I booked my flight tickets to visit Parvin and Kish. By chance, together we applied for a visa to the mainland of Iran, and lucky me, but the visa was approved the same day I was flying to Kish. How could it be so easy? Did they not realise or see that my visa had been rejected in the past? These questions and concerns were obviously going through my mind at the airport while arriving to Kish. Everything went well, and I arrived successfully in Kish and my vacation

Hunedoara & Sibiu, Romania

Leaving Timisoara, our road trip could finally begin. We rented a car and started our journey towards Hunedoara and Corvins' Castle. After a few well spent hours, we had a quick lunch before we continued our trip to Sibiu. We only had half a day to explore the city, which was enough.