At the Crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East

Photo credit: Ann Schneider

MIR Moment: Making Friends in Iran

Photo credit: Devin Connolly
Photo credit: Devin Connolly

MIR Tour Manager Devin Connolly has been leading groups to diverse destinations for years, from Mongolia to Iran. These are a few favorite MIR moments in Iran that Devin treasures:

MIR’s Devin Connolly has made lots of friends, in Iran and around the world. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
MIR’s Devin Connolly has made lots of friends, in Iran and around the world. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

Iranian Highlights


The ruins of Persepolis and the windcatchers in Yazd were beautiful, but my favorite moments of leading a MIR trip to Iran were the ones with all the great local people we met along our journey.

Vast ruins of ancient Persepolis in Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
Vast ruins of ancient Persepolis in Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

Windcatchers are based on an ancient design for natural ventilation. Photo credit: Martin Klimenta
Windcatchers are based on an ancient design for natural ventilation. Photo credit: Martin Klimenta

Chance Moment: Nomadic Wedding


In addition to the ordinary folks who regularly approached us throughout the trip to say hello, I loved chatting with the nomadic wedding party outside of Yasuj. On our way to Yasuj – a one-night stopover to break up the journey between Shiraz and Isfahan – we saw several cars parked by the side of the road and about two dozen people dancing there.

Nomadic wedding party by the roadside near Pasargad, Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
Nomadic wedding party by the roadside near Pasargad, Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

Our guide informed us that this was a wedding party and the guests were all waiting for the bride and groom to catch up with them so they could move on to the next location. Nomads are even nomadic about their weddings, never staying in one venue for long.

We stopped the bus to ask if we could take some pictures of the guests and they warmly allowed us to do so. Several women in colorful nomadic costumes posed for our pictures; one even danced for us, twirling her skirts so we could see how many layers go into a traditional nomadic dress.

These dresses are made for dancing, nomadic style, in rural Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
These dresses are made for dancing, nomadic style, in rural Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

After a few minutes, someone received a smartphone text from the bride and groom. Before we knew it, all the guests had piled back into their cars and were racing down the road toward the next phase of their big celebration, leaving us with great memories of a chance encounter.

Chance Moment: Bridge Concert


Another highlight was listening in as a group of teenage boys played their guitars under the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan. There are sluice gates below the bridge to let the runoff from Zayandeh Rud River through in the springtime, and above each gate is a beautiful stone archway.

For more than 350 years locals and travelers have crossed the 33 Arches Bridge in Isfahan, Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
For more than 350 years locals and travelers have crossed the 33 Arches Bridge in Isfahan, Iran. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

These archways lend great acoustics to any man who wants to sing under the bridge (unfortunately, women aren’t allowed to sing in public in Iran), so just about any time of day or night, one can find a man or group of men singing under the bridge, and the songs are usually about betrayal or unrequited love.

These men usually sing unaccompanied, but on this particular night, we stumbled upon two young men with guitars who were having a bit of a musical showdown. They were playing a call-and-answer reggae-style song under the arches of Khaju Bridge while several of their friends, and even a small group of nervous teenage girls, looked on.

Impromptu concert under the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan. Photo credit: Devin Connolly
Impromptu concert under the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan. Photo credit: Devin Connolly

These Magic Chance Moments


We felt rather lucky to have happened upon this little slice of life, as it reminded us that some things in this world are universal, especially young men who learn to play guitar to try and impress girls.

I think everyone in this group left Iran with at least one new friend, not to mention some good bazaar finds!

Sharing photos, laughter and friendship in Iran. Photo credit: Lindsay Fincher
Sharing photos, laughter and friendship in Iran. Photo credit: Lindsay Fincher

Haggling for rugs can lead to lasting friendships and memorable stories in Iran. Photo credit: Lindsay Fincher
Haggling for rugs can lead to lasting friendships and memorable stories in Iran. Photo credit: Lindsay Fincher

Travel to Iran

You can join MIR tours that travel to Iran, filled with opportunities to meet Iranians and to forge and deepen friendships. You can also book a custom private journey. 

Chat with one of our destination specialists today!

PUBLISHED: January 8, 2022


Our Trips

Showing 5 results

Close close