Venturing into the Middle East, Iran, Turkey and Syria

“What? Are you crazy, you’re going to Iran?” That’s the general response of many of my friends when I told them about my month-long expedition to the Middle East. To many Singaporeans, Iran is often associated with their nuclear policy, the unsafe country next to Iraq where war is imminent. For me, I’m curious to explore this mystery-strodded part of the world which I have seen and heard so much and see what life is like there.

The Middle-East trip turned out to be a lot more challenging as we had to decipher the good and sometimes bad intentions of the people, find quick solutions to get ourselves out of awkward situations with ease, play charade with strangers to get them to understand our questions
We visited many sights and mosques till we suffered from arches-fatigue and swore not to see arches again. We enjoyed the comfy comforter in a tree-house, endured the icy water in a heater-less cave hotel and spent an unforgettable night with the nomads in the middle of the desert.

We made friends with many locals, chatted with guides about their countries and their hopes, talked to shop-owners about their beloved cats, girlfriends and their restaurants, spoke to travellers about places they have been and eavesdropped about the case of a missing Australian girl in Syria,

The people showered us with great hospitality, too much sometimes. Free snacks and drinks offers by old friendly vendors in the bazaar, young Iranian girls chucking pieces of paper and notebooks into our faces for autographs as if we were celebrities. And even private, lewd jokes about the Iranian men and women, complete with actions and special sound effects by our Iranian guide, erm.. too much actually.

Some experiences were very pleasant, and some were rather risky on hindsight. But all in all, the one month in Middle East was truly a memorable experience. We embraced the beauty and the people of this often misunderstood cradle of civilizations.