With a 12:30p departure to Kish and a late arrival from Muscat the previous night, it was nice to sleep in for a bit. We arrived at Terminal Two in Dubai at around 11:00a and had no trouble checking in for the flight, although only middle seats remained on the 164-seat, all-economy MD-82 that would take us to Iran.
Security was not at all invasive–bottles of water and my laptop remained in my bag and no one said anything.
Boarding begin at 12:15p and was a total free-for-all, much like the ticketing office experience the previous day, with a lot of shoving and cutting. I saw no need to rush outside into the stifling heat only to be herded into a crowded bus.
The bus took us out to a white and blue MD-82 (I had not been on once since 2002) with no livery on it. Onboard, a female crew member, wearing a black uniform with head covering, warmly greeted me and directed me to my seat. My first taste of Iranian hospitality!
Although I was sitting in the middle seat, I had requested the exit row during check-in and appreciated the extra legroom. The cabin was very dated and featured ashtrays in each seat and faded floral seat covers. Most signs were in Russian and English and my seat would not stay in an upright position. I read somewhere that Kish Air does not have a great safety record, but I tried not to think about it as the engines revved up and we began taxiing.
In the air, flight time was only 30 minutes (123 miles), so I was quite surprised when the FAs quickly sprang up and rolled out their carts. A very nice snack box with peanuts, a fig bar, and a chocolate bar were handed out with an apple juice box. All products were produced in Iran and having skipped breakfast, I quickly devoured the food.
The flight time quickly passed and soon we were descending into Kish Island. The side of the island we flew over en route to the airport appeared barren and dry. With a heavy thud and two bounces, we landed at Kish International Airport and taxied for five minutes before coming to a stop.
Airstairs were pulled up to the plane and we were once again herded into buses to take us over to the small passenger arrival terminal.
Inside the terminal there was more pushing and shoving as the men tried to game their way to the front of the immigration line. The women, primarily Filipinas, were directed to a side room where they were instructed to put on a head covering and a long black dress/smock (provided free of charge for use during their stay on the island) to comport with the Islamic Republic’s strict female dress code.
The immigration line moved slowly and because I did not feel like pushing and shoving, my friend and I found ourselves in the back of the line. About 30 minutes later we reached the front of the line, where an immigration agent took one look at my friend’s British passport, then told him to have a seat nearby. He next glanced at my U.S. passport, laughed, said something in Persian to his colleague sitting in the next booth, stamped it, then told me to sit down as well. One other Brit was already seated.
Minutes later, we were led to a back room where the three of us were asked to sit down and a border agent took a seat behind a desk. The interrogation started. I was up first and questioned why I was in Iran, if I had been to Iran before, where I would be staying on the island, why I wanted to come to Iran, and when I was returning. The agent was actually a nice young guy, trying to do his job seriously but lacking the English skills to fully understand what I was saying. After a bit of repeating, we moved on with the the fingerprinting (completed electronically, one finger at a time) and photograph. All appeared to be in order. My friend and the other Brit went through the same routine and finally, about an hour after landing, we were told it was okay to go.
Just as we passed through the immigration booth, we were called back, but the border agent must have changed his mind because he just waived us through. I stopped to shake his hand on the way out and he flashed a big toothy grin–a friendly grin, not a grin of mockery. To be honest, the experience was no worse than what many foreigners face when entering the United States–although it was a bit discomforting being led into a small interrogation room then having the door closed and a government agent with a gun look at you like you are criminal.
On the way out, I was informed I would need to change out of my shorts because such clothing did not “comport with Islam.” We collected our bags (which had really gotten thrashed aboard the Kish Air flight) and proceeded out the front door. We had made into Iran.
Next: Exploring Kish Island, but trapped in Iran!
Dude you need to up the frequency of these posts.. I can’t handle the suspense! It’s going to take till Christmas to get the full story at this point.
@Marcus: LOL.
Only two more installments!
Unless you got roughed up, or detained on the way out, ‘interrogation’ seems too strong a statement. Sounds more like the equivalent of ‘secondary inspection’?
@AS: I would look at the definition of interrogation. I was interrogated–no question about it.
One question – did you revise the post to add ‘–although it was a bit discomforting being led into a small interrogation room then having the door closed and a government agent with a gun look at you like you are criminal.’ That and the ‘clothing did not “comport…’. I missed those in my original read via your RSS feed and the first piece would have changed my original comment.
When I first read this, I think of interrogation meaning intimidation or duress that is above and beyond questioning. Having read the definition as you suggest, I would say that any questioning at immigration, routine police stop, etc. also fits within that definition.
But certainly the locked in a room with a guy with a gun meets the intimidation piece, which I didn’t see the first time.
Yo, this is much more exciting than the usual boring posts that you do lol
@Ben–thanks, I guess…
@AS: You are sharp. Both of those sentences were not in the original post, but both were true–your comment prompted me to re-read my post and recall those details that should have been in the original post.
But I think the bully American and Canadian border agents I have dealt with in the past also “interrogated” me even though it took place out in the open rather than in a closed room. I view interrogation and pointed questioning as synonymous.
It must have been your US/UK passports.
Travelling on an EU passport, VOA in Tehran was a breeze last year – pay 60 euros, fill in the form, wait 20 minutes. There was one question asked about my local contact (“so are you meeting this Mr Mohammed?”)
Beautiful place, wonderful people – shame about their governement!
One more thing – the signage on the plane is not in Russian, but in Ukranian (those ARE different), hinting that the a/c was probably sold from ther to Iran.
I have traveled to Iran and in particular the Kish Island several times and your post only illustrates your ignorance of as well as bias against Iran. Look into the way U.S. immigration agents treat foreigners in particular if they are Muslims then tell me what “interrogation” means. If you had read about the country you visit, and IF you had a bit of common sense, you would not enter Iran wearing shorts, if for nothing else, out of respect for the custums and culture of other countries. Why not show us photos of beautiful Kish, how you enjoyed your stay there, and what you learned about the true hospitality of the people you met there instead of the garbage you wrote?
adele: A suggestion for you: try reading the rest of my report before posting sentiment like this. Your comments are out of line and you look pretty stupid considering the rest of my report does cover the true hospitably of the people I met there.
Read this:
http://upgrd.com/matthew/trapped-in-iran.html
And I stated that the practice was not much worse than some experience when coming into the USA.
And my shorts covered my knees, which is more than Islam requires. Mohammed said to refrain from exposing any part of their bodies, without a reasonable cause for doing so (here, I could argue the 100ºF weather was reasonable) and Sharia law does not address it. Oh.
Looks like someone got schooled, and it wasn’t Matthew!
Im an iranian, I agree with your views about the airline as there are really many problems in updating the planes due to …..but I am sure if you had planned ahead you would have enjoyed more than you can imagine
There are plenty of hotels which provide their guests with very good services, good quality rooms, and etc…they can be booked online and usually their services are as said on their web sites. Of course those hotels are more expensive than the one u have gone to, as u said they are for people who are not on the island as tourists but only as a way out of UAE!
There were many other sightseeing available on the island beside the only one you visited, there is a birdgarden, a dolphinarium, a semi drowned ship near the beach were people go there to watch the sun set, ….maybe the quality differs a little bit with what u experience in your country but I am sure you will enjoy them,
By the way I agree with adele and AS since the titles including “interrogation” and after that “trapped” makes the reader to draw the conclusion that u were tortured and prisoned, I think u could have been nicer about it.
@Akh: Thanks for your comments. I still see a distinction between what being told to wait for every other foreigner to depart the terminal then being taken into a back room and questioned versus being questioned in a large immigration hall with cameras all around, but there is no doubt I phrased my titles the way I did to draw more attention to my post.
But Adele is just a crackpot who never read the rest of my report, so I have no patience with her.
Matthew-
I am thinking of taking this trip next year. Two questions:
1) How much did the flights cost?
2) Would you recommend attempting the day trip (and arriving at the airport earlier), or booking a night? It sounds like booking the hotel is not a cakewalk.
Thanks!
Hi Paul,
I hope you do take this trip–it is well worthwhile.
1.) It’s been over two years now, but the flight was about $120 r/t.
2.) I would do the daytrip–there is more to see, but you can do the highlights in one day and avoid the hassle of a hotel. Just get to the airport early! 😉
-Matthew
Awesome — thank you!
Hi Mat,
Its not clear from the above article if you did a day trip to Kish or stayed in a hotel there. Your flight out of Dubai was after midday so must have been a fairly short day trip. How did you get around in Kish, car hire or taxi?
Thanks,
Imran
Hi IMRAN, If you click through on the “Trapped in Iran” link at the end of the report, you can read the remaining parts of the trip report. I was in Iran overnight — though that was not the plan.
When you re-enter the USA, do the immigration officials give you a hard time when they see you’ve visited Iran?
Sometimes. Depends on the agent. One time an agent started leafing through my passport and asking questions. He sent me to secondary due to Pakistan visa. But I’ve had no problems since I obtained Global Entry.