Cautioned not to travel to Iran, Chad Sayers and Forrest Coots decide to go, regardless. They immediately find comfort in Tehran’’s bustling bazaars, Isfahan’’s dazzling mosques, and the powder filled slopes of the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges, topping 3,000m. It is a culture not easily understood, but profoundly welcoming. As journalist Elaine Sciolino writes, “Iran can be dazzling, and light-filled, a reflection of its complexities; but it can also be cold, confusing, and impenetrable.” Yet they are reminded, as Pico Iyer writes, “to learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.”

More info: www.askiersjourney.com