The Durango Herald | George Johnson: Persepolis, founded in 515 BC, was the capital of the ancient Persian Empire, one of the first great superpowers. The empire occupied three continents and was home to Darius the Great, Xerxes and Artaxeres, names that bring to mind the movie “300.” This is the history that makes modern day Iranians proud. Today, Persia is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

My wife, Jan, and I visited this ancient land last year. We toured through Tehran, with its marvelous National Museum, Peace Bridge, Azadi Tower, the Fire and Water Park, and the Shah’s Winter Palace. In a city of 14 million people, when we were on our own at night, we felt no danger or threat. In fact, over our eight-day stay in the country, we found that people were more than kind and helpful.

We heard “Welcome to Iran,” “Welcome to our country” and, most telling of all, “We are people just like you. It is the governments.” The question we got first was: “Are you Americans?” When we answered yes, we received only smiles and handshakes.

This is to be expected in a country where 65 percent of the population is younger than 35. They don’t remember the hostage crisis and behave more like Westerners. They like fast food, European fashion and rap and country western. Education, jobs and family are important to them, as is living a life outside of the theocratic government, which they essentially do inside their private apartments.

As one young man explained: “Ours is not a revolution as was the Arab Spring. It is a quiet revolution of taking one small step at a time.”

This can be seen in major cities where women dress in high fashion but within the rules of hijab: bright colors, jeans or pants, scarfs at the very back of the head, showing lots of hair, makeup and bright smiles. According to our guide, if the hijab was not law, 90 percent of Iranian women would immediately dispose of them, the rest would continue for reasons of religion and custom.

Amazingly enough, Islam does not seem that important to a majority of citizens, until you get into the more conservative countryside. These young people are not terrorists. They want to live in peace and would prefer closer relationships with the United States and Europe, even though the government painstakingly keeps the paint fresh and clean on the “Satan” on the wall of the defunct American Embassy.

Stunning culture, historyFrom Tehran, we flew to the city of Shiraz on Iran Airlines in a brand new Airbus 300. A most wonderful visit was to the tomb of Hafez, the Persian poet who spoke of love, wine and eternal truths. He is the second most revered person in Iran after Muhammad and pilgrims flock to his tomb. It was truly an experience, sitting in the shade of trees listening to our guide quote Hafez in Farsi (Persians do not speak Arabic) while watching Muslim women in full black studying the Quran, all with the tomb of Hafez in the center. Shiraz was once an area of more than 300 wineries, until they were shut down when the Ayatollah came to power. Now, there are more than 3,000, but underground!

Most impressive on our journey was, of course, Persepolis, with massive columns reaching stories up into the pure blue sky and the amazing bas-reliefs for which it is so famous. We walked among the amazing ancient ruins, including the palace of Darius and Xerxes. Not far from there are the tombs of Darius the Great, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, which are hand carved to perfection out of sandstone cliffs so massive that, when taking a photograph, a person must be included to show their scale.

Our next stop was Isfahan. The highlight of Isfahan is Naqsh-e Jahan Square, more commonly known as Imam Square, the second largest public square in the world, featuring the 17th-century Ali Qapu Palace, Lotf Allah Mosque, a football-field-sized pond with fountains and the most impressive Imam Mosque. This square, with shops, restaurants, coffeehouses and even horse-drawn carriages, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Eager to make friendsThis is not the Iran many Americans imagine. Yes, it has its deserts, but it also has two mountain ranges. The mountains north of Tehran are beautiful, and quality skiing is within an hour’s drive, with some peaks reaching 16,000 feet. We visited the palaces of the deposed Shah, which are now public. They are surrounded by cool air and gorgeous trees and interspersed with sculptures and coffee shops.

The people, as mentioned, are not radical Islamists. They are hospitable, curious and interested in Americans, not as enemies but as friends. In fact, Jan and I continue to communicate with Amin, Maziar and Nafis. One of the interesting things we noticed about the Iranians is that they love to picnic. We stopped a couple of times to do so ourselves. Our driver, Cyrus, was always prepared with everything in his trunk. Driving through a desert region we saw, under the only tree in view, an Iranian family having a picnic in its shadow.

To visit, you are required to use a tour guide and company. The process for a visa is handled by the tour company and can take a couple of months, with first an invitation from the Iranian government. The biggest issue we saw with the application was the question asking if we were journalists or worked for the media.

Entry and exit were a snap. It took us five times as long to get back into the U.S. than it took for us to enter and exit Iran in total. Our trip was in mid-April, and the weather was perfect. Only about 2,000 Americans travel to Iran in a year, and we actually met one from Seattle in a coffee shop in Isfahan. Mostly, we heard German and some French.

Our guide, Amin, was incredible, a young man of 30, a gentleman, with a great sense of humor and an amazing grasp of the history and culture. We strongly urge you to visit for a firsthand look at a country that will make you feel special and welcome.

George Johnson has been a Durango area resident for 20 years.