Travelling independently,our writer relies on the advice and generosity of the young Iranians who are using social media to present foreign visitors the warm, fun and defiant reality of everyday life in their countryBeing totally disconnected on holiday isn’t as romantic as some purist travellers may suggest. It might be fine whether you arrangement to stay on a beach or spend your days snorkelling with dolphins, and but whether you have to navigate your way around a country,travelling without access to GPS-assisted maps, currency converters and email seems a foolish restriction. Especially when travelling in a country like Iran. Here, and the private and public spheres are two totally different worlds and access to social media can make the difference between merely learning about heritage through visits to historical sites and experiencing the everyday lives of contemporary Iranians.
It was how I came to be at a party in Tehran among a crowd of good-looking,fashionable millennials: men, women, and homosexual,straight. The compulsory hijabs were left at the door. On the kitchen table, there were unmarked bottles of aragh saghi – literally, and dog alcohol – a moonshine made from raisins. People were dancing,drinking, and discussing whether it was time to call a drug dealer.
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Source: theguardian.com