Travel insurance is a requirement in order to obtain your visa for Iran. In smaller places, where there may be only one or two buses a day to your destination, it is essential to book ahead. In medium-sized towns, such as Hamadan and Kerman, buses to nearer locations leave every hour or so, but longer trips (and any cross-desert trip) will often be overnight. Between major cities, such as Esfahan and Tehran, buses leave at least every hour between about 6am and midnight. You can buy tickets up to a week in advance from bus company ticket offices in town or at the terminal. Except on very short trips, standing is not allowed. Fares are set by the government so variations are small. Speeds are recorded and drivers must stop and show this log to highway police every 100km or so. The quality of bus drivers does vary, but the government does its best to minimise ‘insh’Allah’ (God willing) attitudes by aggressively enforcing speed limits. More than 20 bus companies offer thousands of services on buses that are cheap, comfortable and frequent. In Iran, if you can’t get somewhere by bus (or minibus), the chances are no one wants to go there. For tickets it’s best to use one of the many travel agencies, where you’ll get all the options, rather than an airline office. Domestic prices are set by the government, so it doesn’t matter which airline you fly, the price will be the same. Iran Air is the largest among a growing roster of domestic airlines and boasts an extensive network of flights, covering most provincial capitals. Just be sure to confirm which unit you are exchanging into first to avoid confusion. I can be confusing at first but will become normal to you pretty fast. Thanks to the rapid inflation, Iranians often use Tomans and this is how they count money but it is always better to ask. Iran also has another unit of currency which is Toman (a sub unit), 1 Toman is equivalent to 10 Rials. Take note however that you need to have bank notes in very good conditions without anything being written or stamped on them. It is illegal to change money on the street however money exchange shops are all over Iran so you will have no problem finding one. You should bring enough hard currency with you ($US or Euros) so you can exchange a decent amount on arrival. It is usually not possible to change travellers’ cheques. Even common, major credit cards like Visa and MasterCard are not accepted in Iran, so bring cash. The currency is Iranian Rials and when you are wandering out and shopping or eating (most places only accept Rials). Walking around the awesome power and beauty of Persepolis, experiencing the remote power of Susa (Shush), and taking in the wonderfully immense Elamite ziggurat at Choqa Zanbil will carry you all the way back to the glory days of Ancient Persia. Some of history's biggest names – Cyrus and Darius, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan – all left their mark here and the cities they conquered or over which they ruled are among the finest in a region rich with such storied ruins. If you're drawn to places where echoes of ancient civilisations resonate down through the ages, Iran could be your thing.
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