Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kurtz]

Anyone flown to the Middle East?

Was thinking of checking out Jordan/Syria.

Thinking maybe you have to fly to Dubai and then connect to other capital cities in the Middle East.

[runthegauntlet]

[soviet_man]

I went to Iran last year. It was pretty great.

The food, culture, people, architecture, history and especially the Iranian hospitality. Nothing at all like the misconceptions in the west, I felt 100% safe at all times.

They do issue tourist visas for independent travel and once in, you are allowed the run of the country.

Domestic flights only cost about US $30 (eg. Tehran to Esfahan or Kish Island) per sector.

Food is incredibly cheap. Accommodation is also inexpensive, you could comfortably get by on $200-250 per week.

The thing I liked most was that there was virtually no tourism in the country. Tourists are a complete novelty. There is no McDonalds, no bullet trains, no neon lights and almost no ATMs. It is essentially a very closed country, which makes it all the more special and unique.

Iran Air flies Incheon to Tehran once per week (not too expensive either) on their ancient 35-year old 747. It was a fantastic flight. Like everything, it was far from modern, but the Iranian sense of kindness and hospitality made up for any shortcomings. Random people will go out of their way to look after you and show you a good time.

[Kurtz]

Thanks for note on flights to Jordan.

Sovietman, how did you arrange the visa? seems like it's a bit of a lottery who they give visas to right now after the mess during the elections.

My research showed that you have to be in your home country to get the visa. Is this correct?

Cheers

[roadwork]

[roadwork]

[curiousaboutkorea]

[ajgeddes]

I travelled to Iran two years ago and at the time got my VISA in Seoul. I had heard nightmares about the VISA process, but from when I actually started the process, I had my passport with VISA back in my hands in less than 2 weeks. I'm Canadian and at the time Canadians had the worst success rate with VISAs. Americans can travel to Iran, but do need a tour guide the whole time. However, the guides are pretty flexible and often leave you alone from 6PM onwards to do whatever you want. Nobody is ever going to bother you. Even when I applied, I had to give a day to day itinerary of what I was going to do, but once I got my VISA, I had free reign to go wherever I wanted and nobody cared. Just show up at the hotel and stay the night.

As to what Soviet_man said about the country and the people, he is absolutely correct. I was treated with nothing but absolute hospitality everywhere I went and was even not allowed to to pay for some of my meals or tea at some places.

The only negative thing is the money issue as you have to carry as much as you are going to need for your whole visit. No ATM's work for foreigner cards (ATM's themselves are actually everywhere), you can't use your credit cards except for at some carpet dealers and no traveller cheques. So, when I went in, I had USD$1600 just spread throughout my bags.

The only time I felt I was in danger was on my second night when some people were following me through a park on bikes but staying just far enough back that I couldn't see them clearly. In the end, they started catching up to me and when they finally got to me, they..... said, "Welcome to Iran".

I also flew Qatar Airways which was nice and comfortable. They also put me up in a high level resort with free meals in Doha for my 18 layover from 6AM to midnight.

I have a flickr page with a tonne of pics. Just PM me if you want to see them.

[Kurtz]

^

Thanks for the heads up on Iran.

Did you contact the Embassy direct? or go through someone like iranvisa.com.

Reading on the net, it seems if you screw up your application in some way, that makes it very hard to get a VISA in the future. That's why people pay extra money and let a company do the leg work for you.

Also, did you need a LOI (Letter of Invitation) from your Embassy to get your VISA?

Cheers for the help.

[bucheon bum]

What nationality are you Kurtz? If you're American, you're pretty much SOL getting a visa for Iran. If you're Canadian or from the EU, you're fine.

Qatar Air is indeed a great airline.

Syria was my favorite country in the M.East to visit. It is cheap, has lots to see, and easy to travel around. If you have 3 weeks, you could see the highlights of both Syria and Jordan, and not be rushed.

Israel is also a great country to visit.

What exactly are you looking for? And what is your budget? Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf States are about as costly as western countries. Jordan isn't super cheap either, but Syria and Egypt are.

[Kurtz]

I'm Australian and looking for some hiking, hanging out in interesting cities and NOT getting hassled by touts!

Syria seems a little off the beaten track, Jordan is meant to have some good hiking. Iran seems very off the beaten track, and from what I've read, the locals are great people.

I spent a little bit of time in Kashmir in India and really liked the exotic feel of Muslim culture.

I have 3 weeks and money is not an issue.

[ajgeddes]

http://iranianvisa.com/index.htm

I am pretty sure I used this site. This site also has stats for approval rates. Americans have a 100% success rate and Australians have a 96% success rate.

You need a letter of invitation which is just a number. Then you go to the embassy with that number and fill out the forms.

When I used the company for my VISA invitation I wasn't able to pay them because you can't use credit cards and you can't transfer money to Iranian banks internationally because it will probably be blocked. So, they just asked me to please stop by their office once I was in Iran and pay them the $30 (I think) in person. They were completely trusting that I would do it, but there was nothing that made me do it.

You don't need anything from your embassy.

[Kurtz]

^

Thanks again, that doesn't sound too bad.

Looks like Jan is not the best time to travel, March looks much better in that part of the world.

[bucheon bum]

[Kurtz]

^

Sounds like a good plan. I'm really over touts these days, they simply do my head in and going to off the beaten track places is the only way to go.