Oct 26 - Up at 2:45 for the hour drive to Imam Khomeini International Airport. The streets are empty except for the army of street cleaners, waving straw brooms along the gutters and sidewalks. The terminal, even at 4:00, is full of passengers, and the line for our ticket counter is very long. However, for whatever reason, we get pulled out of line and to the counter after less than ten minutes.
At immigration, there is only one counter for foreigners, so it takes awhile. The family standing in front of us is Afghani (according to their passports), but the women are dressed like Iranians. I’m guessing that they have been living in Iran for a long time. Their five year old daughter is dressed like a princess and enters into a pantomime conversation with Odette.
The agent isn’t sure what to do with me, so he leaves to consult his superiors while I hold up the line. In the end he just looks at the visa and lets me through without stamping it or the passport.
As can easily be imagined, there isn’t much of a duty free section in the departure lounge, though there is a fancy prayer hall. The prayer call goes out as we languish at the gate.
I haven’t mentioned much regarding the presence of security forces as we traveled around the country. I only took a few photos of security personnel, mostly because it isn’t a good idea, considering how strongly the Iranian government is intent on hiding the extent of the protests. In retrospect, I remember seeing riot police in four different cities, congregated at traffic circles and plazas. Some sat astride motorcycles, others standing in lines with various articles of riot gear, and still others, slumped back in military buses, playing with their phones. Their presence was undoubtedly to deter protesters from using these central locations to begin their marches. It is very difficult to estimate how many people thus far have either been killed or detained, since the government does all it can to control the data. Now that we are leaving the country, I no longer have to concern myself with the risk that we might get caught up in a protest by accident. Rather, now I can see it with the focus of having a past connection, however temporary, that pulls me into worrying about the futures of the people I met there. I already manage these emotions with respect to other places, not least of which is Venezuela due to family.
COST SUMMARY:
This is our final day in Iran. Unlike all previous summaries, this one is just a lump sum that is nearly impossible to break down by type. Nearly everything we paid was to the travel agency. If I were to guess, food for all of us totaled about $30/day, and accommodation would have been about $60/night had we been paying ourselves at the same hotels.
Projected daily cost from the pre-planning phase = no estimate made
Realized daily average costs for Oct 9 - Oct 26 = $268/day
Hard to comment on this daily number. Had we been EU citizens and able to travel independently, I would guess that it would not have been much over $120/day, assuming we took taxis to see the same sights we saw in our guide’s car. Public road transport in Iran is very cheap thanks to heavily subsidized gasoline prices.
IranTürkiye III