Video by alex.by.air

So they say if you fly to Iran just months before the U.S. bombs it because you want to see what it's really like, you'll be taken, abducted into one of the most transformative travel experiences you've ever had. A world of stunning architecture, thousand-year-old Persian rugs, traditional ice cream, and unfortunately some of the worst pollution in the world. But to see the real Iran,

you look through the fog to the people in Qom, one of the country's most religious cities, chatting with an Islamic leader. You're from opposite worlds in almost every way, yet somehow Find a way to have the most amazing three-hour conversation because you really aren't very different. Then with a full tank of gas,

you filled for less than $2 total. You head to Isfahan and end up meeting with someone your age who gives you a full rundown of what it's like to be Gen Z living in Iran over the last year. You become good friends. That's when she has the crazy idea of climbing a mountain together

in the middle of the night, which is apparently a very popular thing to do here. But right when you think you've seen a lot, the next few days become a blur. You have dinner with a stranger. Learn backgammon the Iranian way. See over $100,000 worth of saffron. Visit a beautiful red clay village with vegan street food.

And as soon as you take a deep breath, wake up in the city of Yaz, where all the walls are made of sound dampening mud bricks. And one corner away from a busy street, it's dead silent. There are rooftop restaurants all over the city. The alleyways feel like you've been teleported back in time.

And yet there is this intangible thing you can sense. And it hits you as you're having your third dinner with a stranger in the same week. Iran has something almost no other country has. A social rule that it's normal and welcome to talk with people as you walk around the streets. It's impossible to go 10 feet without someone new starting up a genuine conversation, which is so refreshing.