the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

~~.' I\;;:;.~~ ~=- -!~ 0\.0 mN .= '" t- 0> ..... a; .s;: :c t 0_ 0 0 G; 0. .l!l ~ .~ ""iii t 0 E .... -= I: ~ :c t 0 .= '" a; ..... O> 0> .s;: 0 C!. G; 0. .l!l ~ ~ ""iii t -= I: ~ E .... 0 BEST PLACE TO DIG UP THE PAST: Built in 520 BC and then burned by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, Persepolis was the center of the Great Persian empire. Although mostly ruins, enough of the former structures exist to give you a platform to contemplate ancient Persia. BEST PORT TO SWALLOW FISH EGGS: Ramsar, located on the Caspian Sea, is an aesthetically pleasing seaside town and a great spot to slurp caviar. TALKIN' 'BOUT A REVOLUTION Literacy r ate of Iranian women in I979: 3 5 Literacy rate of Iranian women in I999 : 74 MILESTONES AND HEADSTONES 559 BC: The Achaemenid dynasty founds the Persian Empire. 637-1050 AD: Islamic Arabs conquer Persia and introduce the Muslim religion. 1921-1979: Reza Khan comes to power in a coup d'etat. After WWII , his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, became shah (king) and pursued a policy of modernization (coupled with repression). 1964: The shah exi les Ayatollah (the highest rank of Shi'ite cleric) Khomein i-a vocal opponent of the shah's plan to reduce the clegy's property rights and emancipate women. FEBRUARY 1979: Following the shah's flight from Iran due to mas- sive demonstrations, Khomeini returns to Tehran. APRIL 1979: Khomeini proclaims the country a clergy-dominated Islamic Republic . Soon after, Khomeini orders the execut ion of hundreds of people who had worked for the shah's regime. NOVEMBER 1979: Militant Iranian students seize the US embassy in Tehran and hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. SEPTEMBER 1980: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invades oil-rich southwestern Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq War. JULY 1988: Iran- Iraq War ends in a cease-fire. Iranian casualties: About 1 million. JUNE 1989: Khomeini dies. MAY 1997: Mohammed Khatami, a moderate clergyman, intellec- tual, and former minister of cu lture, runn ing on a platform of greater openness wins 70 percent of the vote to become new president. SAUDI ARABIA BUT STILL TALKIN' 'BOUT A CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 24: Publications and the press have freedom of expression except when it is detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam or the rights of the public. ARTICLE 27: Public gatherings and marches may be f reely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam. (from the 1979 Constitution) TURKMENISTAN not your father's Iran. The hostages are free, the war's over and Khomeini 's dead. Black on black is out. Hair, makeup and color are in. Reform is in, too. In 1997, Iran elected its most liberal president yet in Mohammed Khatami, who promised continued reform. He and other liberals are attempting to color Iran with change, whi le staying inside the thick lines of Islam. It's no easy task. The real constitutional power-the power of the poli ce, the army and the judiciary-remains in the orthodox hands of Ali Khamenei, the religious leader and a successor to the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the fundamentalist leader of the 1979 revolution . Reform may be tricky and at times slower than the con- struction of an 800-knot-per-square-inch rug, but be certain of this: in the coun- try formerly known as Persia, the times they are a'changin'. ~ TRAVELER FACTS: The sheer size of Iran and the farflung locations of its cities and historic sites make this a difficult country to see rapidly. Buses go everywhere but speeds rarely top 40 miles per hour and even short trips can be time-consuming. Domestic airfares are cheap--cross-country flights can cost as little as US$50-and should be considered by anyone with only a few weeks to experience Iran. VISAS: Visas are required for Americans and most other nationalities. If you can't get a tourist visa while you are at home, opt for the transit visa-avai lable at any Iranian embassy and less hassle to get-and then obtain visa extensions once inside Iran. In America, contact the Iranian Interests Section of the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington, DC (202-965-4990). THE 2,529TH* ANNUAL BEST OF PERSIA AWARDS BEST PLACE TO SPACE OUT: Imam Square, Esfahan. This massive publ ic square-the second largest in the world- is surrounded by the Royal Bazaar, the Roya l Mosque, the Roya l Palace of Ali Qapu and the dome of the Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque. BEST MOUNTAIN THAT'S NOT A MOUNTAIN: Chogha Zambi l is the world's best preserved ziggurat (a pyramidal temple built on a rectangular base) . It was constructed by the mountain- worshiping Elamites who built their own mountains where they didn't exist. Official Name: The Islamic Republic of Iran. Referred to for thousands of years as Persia-from the Greek word for nobles-until the 1930s when the Iraman government reverted to the FarsI name Iran (also meamng nobles). CAPITAL CITY: Tehran AREA: 642,720 square miles (about the size of Alaska) POPUlATION: 66 million GOVERNMENT: Islamic Republic SPIRITUAL LEADER: Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei PRESIDENT: Hojjat-ol-Eslam Seyed Mohammed Khatami ETHNICITIES: Persian (Farsi): 51%, Azeri (Turkic speaking people from Azarbayjan, in north-western Iran): 24%, Gilaki and Manzdarani: 8%, Kurd: 7%, Other ethnicities (including Arab, Lur, Baloch and Turkmen): 10% LANGUAGE: Persian (Farsi) RELIGION: 98.5% Muslim (90% Shi'ite, 10% Sunni), 0.7% Christian, 0.4% Baha'is, 0.3% Jewish, O.l % Zoroastrian CURRENCY: Rial. US$l = 3000 rials DON'T GET CAUGHT WITH YOUR PANTS DOWN The guardians of the public morals, the basiji, police infractions such as dress code violations, alcohol use and illegal staring. All these fall under Sharia law-Islamic laws governing every aspect of lifestyle. Any female over the age of seven is legally required to wear clothes that disguise the shape of her body and must cover herself entirely, excluding her hands, feet and face above the neckline and below the hairline. Alcohol is illegal. Men must refrain from looking into the eyes of women to whom they are not related. Years ago, sto- ries of the basiji raiding tourist hotels looking for dress code viola- tions and flying in helicopters over Tehran looking for satellite dish- es were not uncommon. Now things seem to be more relaxed. In Tehran and other cities you'll see women showing their hair and wearing makeup. Recently, Iranian schoolgirls were allowed to take off their obligatory head-scarves at school for the first time in 19 years. The traditional Islamic dress code is still required of all females outside of school. Advice for women traveling in Iran: wear little or no makeup, cover arms, legs and feet and wear the roupush (head-scarf). * Tehran • Esfahan IRAN • Persepolis Shiraz 'Bam

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