My Little Iran Adventure Part 2

Kish Island is known to almost 90% of Filipino expats here in UAE. You see, one does not need to get a visa to enter their country. It has a very close proximity (30-45 mins plane ride) to Dubai which makes it more convenient for expats to exit for change of visas. Other nationalities though which countries are also near UAE tend to exit to their own as they don't have a strict immigration.

When I learned that I have to exit, I was really anxious and terrified because of the horrible stories I read online about Filipino expats in Kish. My sister who also went there for her exit had her fair share of tips and what-to-do's and what-not-to-do's in the place. I had a lot of things in my head that it seemed like I was being punished to be sent there. I nearly entertained the thought of going back to the Philippines for good. In hindsight, being able to experience Kish was something I had to go through so I can have the full UAE expat experience.

Here are some share-worthy things I discover to be true in Kish:

ENTRY and VISA CONCERNS

As mentioned earlier, you don't need to get a visa prior to visiting Kish. However, if you stay longer than 14 days in the island (which happens a lot), you have to get an Iranian Visa. It looks easy when I saw some folks get it. They just fill out a form, give 2 copies of their 2x2 pictures and pay about 150 dhs if I'm not mistaken.

There has been a lot of talks in the airport though that if your passport has an Iranian Visa to it, you cannot travel to the US or to some EU countries. This is something I have to validate though because I cannot find any information pertaining to this in the internet.

DRESS CODE FOR WOMEN

Kish is very strict in terms of dress code for women. Women have to wear shela and floor length dresses or skirts. If you opt to wear pants or leggings, the blouse/shirt you pair it with should be long enough to cover the butt. This has to be followed every time, a woman goes out of the house or in our case, the hotel. So even if the beach looked sooo inviting, hardly can you see women/girls out swimming. For guys, there is really no problem, they can dress up the same way as they do from their home countries.

By the way, if you're a woman and you happen to go there unprepared, they let you borrow a long blouse and shela at the airport just before you line up in the immigration.

SECURITY FOR WOMEN and IN GENERAL

Women, especially expats are to go out in groups. I'm not really sure when this rule came about but my sister was firm when she told me not to go out alone even if it's day time. So that's basically what we do there. In the airport, you get to find Filipinos who are in the same situation as you, so you talk, you share your sentiments, and you get to befriend them. These are the same people you will ask to go with you while you are in the island.

Remember in my previous post when I said I only have the Samsung S4 with me? That's because the hotel we stay in is sharing. And some expats who have been staying in the island for more than a month already waiting for their employees to process their visas are desperate to have cash to survive so they resort to stealing. It's sad and I don't like to think that they can do it to fellow Filipinos but it's what they do to survive. Better be safe than sorry. This explains the lack of photos and good photos.

FOOD

Every morning the hotel I stayed in gives free breakfast which consists of flat bread (it's so hard we coined a term for it: tsinelas), cream cheese (unbelievably good), butter and jam, and tea. The rest of the day, it's up to us to buy our own. During lunch, I usually buy rice and chicken from the nearby cafeteria. Their rice is long-grain and it has a certain smell which I detest. I'm usually a rice eater but I couldn't finish one serving because of that different smell. Evenings make me happy because shawarma is available. It's delicious, almost perfect. Aaaand it's cheap, 10 dhs for a really big helping. Also, their ice cream is creamy and rich in flavor. It's unbelievable. And you know how much is it? 3 dhs for one bowl with 3 flavors altogether. I can't stress this enough and I regret not having to take pictures but the shawarma and ice cream in Kish made my little adventure worth it.

SHOPPING

Kish is a free trade zone. Shopping comes out really cheap. Their mall hours are weird though. They open as early as 8AM and close at 1PM. Business will resume after 5PM till 10-11PM. Perfumes are everywhere in Kish. They have scents from different famous brands which is exactly like the original and sold in 10 or 20 ml bottles at 10 dhs each. What could go cheaper than that? They have everything from Chanel No. 5, Burberry, Eclat, Chanel Bleu, and a whole lot more.

Kish also offers a variety of make-up. Iranian girls take their make up seriously. Most brands are from Europe and I sampled some of their products too. I have to say that their foundation powder has really good coverage and can last longer than 12 hrs. It's the best 25 dhs I spent in my entire life.

IN CONCLUSION

Overall, it wasn't really a bad experience. I'm glad that I was given the worst expectations which made my reality so much better. I think that Kish has a really big potential in terms of tourism. They have wonderful beaches. They have good food (except for their rice). The people are surprisingly friendly especially the kids. They look at you with amazement and try their best to communicate just to say hi or how are you or where are you from.

I think the dress code for women is just a little inconvenient and if they can't change that then tourists from not-so-strict countries wouldn't be able to enjoy what their beaches has to offer. I mean seriously, how can you go swimming in clothes so heavy?

Here are some more of the less than 20 photos I took the entire time:

Someday, I wish to go back to Iran in a different circumstance. I want to fly out with the feeling of excitement rather than fear. I want to discover the places they're proud of. I want to interact with the locals with unyielding enthusiasm to learn their culture. I want to bath in the Iranian sun and laze the whole day. I want to go back and write beautiful stories rather than sad ones.

xo,

jas