Bandar Abbas, Iran and Kuwait

So I am now one of the few Americans who have been to Iran. I went on an organized tour of Bandar Abbas. The organized tour, while nice, and safe, didn’t really give me the opportunity to get a sense of the local culture.

The Shiite Syed Mozafar Mosque (cool)





Here is what I did take away. Bandar Abbas is a very poor city and I don’t know if that is representative of the nation. The people were curious and very friendly. There was a surprising amount of English written around the city. That is not to say there was a lot, but there were signs that said things like "City Center" and street names. I did not expect to see English. People at the sites knew a couple English words, such as "Thank you." Although Muslim, it did not seem oppressively so. Our tour guide, a woman who laughed a lot, wore something which covered her hair only in the most token of fashion. In general, though some were dressed in what I would classify as western attire, women were covered from wrists to neck to ankles. Most were dressed in more traditional Muslim attire however.

All in all, I regret (though my parents most definitely do not) that I did not venture out to the city center outside the organized tour to get a real sense of the place. Though I have been to Iran, I don’t really feel that I experienced the place. (stupid)

Iranian money (my only souvenir from Iran)



As we traveled away from Iran in the night, we passed oil rigs with burning release valves. I have sailed a lot of seas, but seeing what appears to be fire in a light fog on the ocean at night is very eerie.

Today we are in Kuwait City which is fairly western. The skyline of high rises could just as easily be an American city. The dress code is casual and people were allowed to go ashore in any attire they desired. (The ship, in order to protect our guests and crew, has been enforcing the local dress customs as we travel to Muslim countries. People who are not properly dressed according to local customs are forbidden to leave the ship.)



There was a haze in the air of Kuwait City. I thought the haze was fog, but I have been told that it is actually smoke from the burning oil fields.

I was not able to go ashore, but fellow crew members came back with tales of McDonalds, malls, nice beaches, lots of large SUVs (gas prices not being an issue) and a few Americans tried to get to the border with Iraq (crazy people).

Kuwaiti money (my only souvenir from Kuwait)



Tomorrow, Bahrain.