After a beautiful morning exploring the ruins of Persepolis, we were filling our bellies and processing all the beauty at local buffet restaurant. We had just finished our after-lunch tea when our tour leader said it was time to go. Whereas we were usually pretty relaxed since we had a small group, our leader was now a bit agitated when some people browsed at the book shop a bit too long. He urged us to make our purchases and get on the bus. Something was up.
Once we were on our way back to the city of Shiraz, our tour leader explained what was happening. The Iranian government had increased the petrol prices by 200% overnight and the people were not happy. All over the country people had taken to the streets to protest and we weren’t sure if we could reach Shiraz. As we drove in the direction of the city, people started coming back our way. Cars drove against the traffic to find a way out of the massive traffic jam we encountered.
We were about 20km away from Shiraz and we were stuck. Our tour leader went to check what was going on and started walking to the front of the traffic jam. We had no clue how long we’d be there for. When he came back he said the protesters were blocking the road and burning tires. There was only 1 police car and they weren’t doing anything. Luckily our driver was prepared for anything and from out of nowhere he got some coffee, tea and cookies. What a man!
We were all in a good mood, happy to be part of this exciting moment, and so were all the other people around us. The Iranians, mostly men, came out of their cars and started chatting to the other stranded people. Some people stared at us and tried to make some sort of non verbal contact from behind their windows. Some packed up their things and started walking. Men in suits passed us with briefcases. Some women with suitcases or grocery bags passed. When it was clear we wouldn’t be moving any time soon, some people even took out a waterpipe and started smoking it, passing it around the group that gathered.
Our leader was great and arranged for us to use the toilets at a campground that we happened to be stood next to. As we left the van I heard some men shouting some “whooohs”. Six women getting out of a van was the highlight of being stuck in traffic. When others saw us, more women soon followed and more and more people came to use the toilets. We stayed outside and stretched our legs. Some of the men asked us for photos and then it turned out one of them could speak English. He was on Instagram and shared videos and posts of what was going on in the city with us.
The young man asked if we still enjoyed Iran. He said some people were saying the revolution has finally started. Everyone was terribly worried about what we may think of the country now and if we still felt safe. At this point we were stuck in a traffic jam and couldn’t see anything of the riots that were apparently going on in cities across the country. We only received rumours, Insta footage and some random information we found in the international media. And it stayed that way.
After over 5 hours we finally started moving again. Our tour leader was gone at this point, so our driver gathered us and off we went. Slowly we started driving faster and at a turnoff with a university campus, we picked up our tour leader. He’d gone over to buy more water and snacks, assuming we’d be stuck a while longer. It was already dark now and he told us the students had invited us to come into their homes if we wouldn’t have started moving. I was almost disappointed we were moving again!
We drove past the blockade and smelled some left overs of the burning tires. Other than that it was quiet. There was nothing to see on the way to our hotel. Just to be safe our tour leader advised not to stray too far from the hotel this night, since we didn’t know what exactly was going on. I called home to warn my parents, not knowing if this would make the international news. Half an hour later the internet was cut off by the government. We couldn’t access anything anymore. And it stayed this way for almost a week, the rest of our holiday.
Unfortunately we missed seeing Shiraz, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in the country. I already knew I had to come back one day. Now I have a reason to.
