<\/p>\n

It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the ’60s and ’70s, Iran was a widely visited country and an integral part of the “Hippie Trail”<\/a>, which means your parents are much more likely to have seen Iran than you.<\/p>\n

Which is, of course, sad since Iran would likely be a major destination for travel today if not for its current political climate, given its rich history and unique culture dating back a few thousand years. Imagine visiting the ruins of Persepolis (a World Heritage Site), or checking out the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA), home to an impressive collection including works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Warhol, Duchamp and Pollock (and estimated to be worth $2.5 billion).<\/p>\n

For those of us who aren’t going anytime soon, check out The Atlantic’s<\/em> stunning photo essay to see what it would be like to visit Iran today<\/a>. The above picture was taken from the photo essay put together by Amos Chapple, a freelancer\u00a0photographer\u00a0from New Zealand who took these photos from his travels in the country throughout 2012.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, he was amazed at the difference between the reality on the ground versus the perception the public has about the country. “[I] was amazed by the difference in western perceptions of the country, and what I saw on the ground . . . people have a skewed image of what Iran is — the regime actually want to portray the country as a cauldron of anti-western sentiment so they syndicate news footage of chanting nutcases which is happily picked up by overseas networks. For ordinary Iranians though, the government is a constant embarrassment.”<\/p>\n

[A Trip to Iran via TheAtlantic.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

By Matt Stabile<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Stabile is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Expeditioner. The Expeditioner began in 2008 and is headquartered in New York City. You can read his writings, watch his travel videos or contact him at any time at\u00a0TheExpeditioner.com<\/a>. (@TheExpeditioner<\/a>)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the ’60s and ’70s, Iran was a widely visited country and an integral part of the “Hippie Trail”, which means your parents are much more likely to have seen Iran than you. Which is, of course, sad since Iran would likely be a major destination for travel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2569,2576,2562,2567],"tags":[382,1169],"yoast_head":"\n