Originally Posted by netllama (Post 28026735)

Yup, and I was the only person up there the entire time:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3948/3...86df7557_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2883/3...6f5e7bfb_b.jpg

Originally Posted by luluv (Post 28027999)

Wow, you climbed the tower with the much longer walk up? I salute you. We looked at that one, said "no ma'am" and happily followed our guide to the other tower. There were still a few other tour groups around that day so if you had the whole place to yourself January must be when things really quiet down.

I'm enjoying the write-up on your blog.

Originally Posted by travellingwineO (Post 28028053)

Great report and great photos. Thank you for taking the time to post. Hopefully, the chance for US citizens won't be lost for too long.

Originally Posted by blueferrari (Post 28025944)

to be honest, I am interested to go to Iran for some time, but with US travel ban, it's got more complicated than ever before. I keep hearing things that US visa application would be impossible if we entered the banned countries. I also remember reading Dwight Yorke barred from entering US after official noticed Iran stamps in his passport. to complicate the matter more, I happen to be muslim although not from the banned countries.

Originally Posted by Ryu2 (Post 28028844)

Great pics and writeup. Wanted to read more but the link to the blog is apparently broken (404): http://netllama.linux-sxs.org/llamaland/?p=2155

Also, did they stamp US passports?

Originally Posted by netllama (Post 28030107)

I'm not able to reproduce the 404, and I see many people loading that page without issues. I'm guessing something is wrong on your end perhaps?

Yes, they stamp US passports on both entry & exit. They also put a full page visa sticker in there, so there's absolutely no way that it wouldn't be obvious that you travelled to Iran.

Originally Posted by FlightNurse (Post 28034734)

I wonder if you will get that dreaded SSS on your boarding passing moving forward when traveling in the US

Originally Posted by netllama (Post 28023715)

Much of this trip was partly inspired by a trip report ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...americans.html ) posted last year, and I am grateful to them for all the details that they included.

Originally Posted by FlightNurse (Post 28034734)

I wonder if you will get that dreaded SSS on your boarding passing moving forward when traveling in the US

Originally Posted by DanielW (Post 28028692)

I doubt visiting Iran as a tourist will affect your chance of getting a US visa. I entered the US at three different border checkpoints over the last 2 weeks and had no issues whatsoever despite my previous recent travel to Iran, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq etc. My US visa interview was also all of two questions despite disclosing all my previous 'exotic' travel.

People from visa waiver countries will have to apply for a US visa if they travel to Iran. A bit of an inconvenience but they will typically give you a 10 year B-1/B-2 visa so saves having to apply for the ESTA every 2 years though.

Dwight Yorke got denied entry into the US because he did not follow the rules, i.e. his previous visit to Iran made him ineligible for the visa waiver program and he should have applied for a US visa in advance (like myself).

Originally Posted by LAX_Esq (Post 28039016)

Really glad to hear someone actually read my trip report. :)

Sounds like you had an amazing trip, and you're lucky you took the opportunity and went when you did. The cost of a private tour makes it expensive to go for a long time, and I wish we could have spent even more time there. I'm glad you were able to go for so long.

Your experience with the various tour companies sounds familiar. The level of professionalism certainly isn't there for some of these companies. Glad you had a great guide and many authentic experiences with the locals.



We've never had SSSS on our boarding passes in the 10 months since our Iran trip. Not that we're hiding anything, but I don't think the US has it anywhere in their system that we went to Iran. The CBP kiosk knew we were coming in from Doha on a QR flight. They no longer use the blue forms where you write in the countries you visited.