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What a Serial Traveler Thinks of Iran

In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Polish travel writer Kamila Napora.
By Kourosh Ziabari & Kamila Napora • Sep 30, 2020
Iran, Iran news, Iran tourism, visit Iran, tourism in Iran, Iranian people, Iran safety, Iran travel safety, travel blog, Kourosh Ziabari, Kamila Napora

Iran © Kamila Napora

Iran’s unpopular quest for nuclear energy has dominated news headlines for decades. This has left little room for reporting on less-discussed topics about the country. One of these is tourism.

At a time of a pandemic, Iran continues to face grueling international sanctions and domestic divisions. But it is an uncontested fact that the country has a long revered civilization, and getting to know the nation with all its intricacies and complexities is a challenging task. Universities around the world offer Iranian studies courses so students can learn about Iran and its history.  In recent years, growing demand to explore Iran has led to more travelers visiting the country, which is not a popular tourist destination.


Iran Through the Eyes of a Traveler (Photo Essay)

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Today, much of what the global public knows about Iran comes through the prism of the media. Most of this reporting is negative and focuses on political crises. Many people may not know that Persians — long before the advent of Islam — practiced the world’s first monotheistic religion. It’s even unknown to many that Iran is home to 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and that there’s literally a cultural, historical or natural attraction in every corner of the country worthy of visiting.  

Kamila Napora is a Polish travel writer and traveler whose adventurism has taken her to more than 70 countries worldwide. She is passionate about getting to know other cultures, meeting people from different backgrounds and learning about new places. In 2015, Napora traveled to Iran alone. She documented her experiences of traveling in the country in detail on her blog and provided recommendations for those who are tinkering with the idea of visiting Iran.

In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Napora about her experience in Iran, her observations of Iranian society and her views on the portrayal of the country in the media.

The transcript has been edited for clarity. This interview took place before the outbreak of COVID-19.

Kourosh Ziabari: Where did the idea of traveling to Iran come from? Given the international isolation that Iran suffers from, it’s not a very popular destination for many globetrotters and, at best, it received some 8 million tourists in 2018, which is still a low number compared to regional countries like Turkey and the UAE. What did you know about Iran before going there, and what motivated you to choose the country as one of your stops?

Kamila Napora: I remember reading about Iran and seeing pictures from there as a kid, and those images were so beautiful that they stayed with me this whole time and eventually made me want to visit Iran really badly. In the meantime, some of my friends have traveled there and shared some beautiful stories not only about the amazing places but especially hospitable people. These stories sold me on Iran and, shortly after, I booked my flights. Unfortunately, due to work, I had to cancel my initial trip, but my desire to visit Iran was so strong I ended up traveling there a few months later.

But indeed, before my trip in 2015, there was not much about Iran in the media or online, and most of the news stories were about politics. It was not easy to find many good travel resources about visiting Iran. I feel it has improved a lot since then. 

Iran, Iran news, Iran tourism, visit Iran, tourism in Iran, Iranian people, Iran safety, Iran travel safety, travel blog, Kourosh Ziabari, Kamila Napora
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CategoriesCulture, Iran News, Middle East & North Africa, The Interview, Travel, World News TagsIran, Iran news, Iran safety, Iran tourism, Iran travel safety, Iranian people, Kamila Napora, Kourosh Ziabari, tourism in Iran, Travel Blog, Visit Iran
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