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Jamie Maslin, 33, is the London-based author of the just-published book "Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran" (Skyhorse, $24.95).
Q. As an English-speaking foreigner, did it help not being an American?
It wasn't really a case where I stressed that I was British; I don't think that would've made much of a difference. Britain is known there as the "Old Fox" and is just as demonized. Historically, Britain has meddled in Iran as much as the United States. I expected to encounter animosity, but didn't.
Iranian people distinguish between a national government and the population. I think people would welcome you with open arms; that's what I encountered. But being an American and getting a visa may be difficult.
Q. Given the title of your book, I wouldn't expect the Islamic government to welcome you back too soon.
You're absolutely right. I tried to get a visa in April to visit. I was declined, so I am now officially denied entrance to that country. I think it has to do with the title.
Q. How long were you hitchhiking there? How did you communicate with people?
I was there for a month, and traveled to most of the major cities and to a good number of smaller towns. I would've loved to spend more time there, but it's difficult to obtain a visa to Iran. I was granted only a four-week stay.
A lot of people speak English in the larger cities. Language wasn't really much of a problem even in smaller places. I could always rely on miming and pointing at things. It adds a little bit to the excitement.
Q .What was your single best day or night in Iran?
Probably the best day was when some students I befriended in Tehran took me out for an illegal picnic in the nearby mountains. It was "illegal" because the students had brought along bottles of what I thought was vodka.
Alcohol is highly illegal in Iran.
They poured out huge shots of the stuff and mixed it with cloves and cherry juice. At the count of "three," we downed it.
As soon as I swallowed, I looked at the bottle for the fist time and saw it said "ethanol - 96 percent volume." Essentially, I was drinking a surgical-spirit spritzer.
And it was harsh as hell on the gullet. I was gasping for breath immediately. I asked if this was a normal beverage in Tehran; they said it was. I explained that this was something only a homeless person would drink back in Britain. They found that highly amusing.
This day was the best day, and not because of drinking that. It was a day with friends spent in a place with beautiful scenery. There's a popular skiing destination just past where we were. Most Westerners are unaware of this, but Iran has about 20 world-class skiing resorts.
Q. So Iran isn't just deserts.
Iran is a very geographically diverse country. The north is lush and green - like Cambodia or Vietnam, with rice plantations and banana trees. Near Azerbaijan, it's more like Italy or Switzerland.
I went to (the ancient Persian capital) Persepolis, near Shiraz, in the south. The ancient palace complex is fascinating for its size and the majesty of the place.
Q. What was your scariest or iffiest moment there?
There was a strange encounter on my second from last day. I was in the restaurant at a hotel in Tabriz and was approached by two men. "Ah, you got your visa through iranvisa.com, didn't you?" one said. I was immediately suspicious: How would they possibly know?
The guy claimed he worked for iranvisa.com and had seen all the passports and recognized my face. That's highly unlikely. Iran is a country of 71million people, and the odds of me winning a lottery are better than the odds of him running into me and recognizing me.
He went on to question me about my stay in Iran and how long I was remaining in the country. I immediately suspected he was from the secret police. I'd been warned by some Iranian friends to be very cautions when sending e-mails within the country. I hadn't really heeded them, and in e-mailing friends had made no secret of my plan to write this book. Whether the secret police managed to intercept my e-mails, I'm not sure.
The encounter in the restaurant lasted a couple minutes. It was the only encounter that gave me pause. Other than that, I was welcomed with open arms. Complete strangers invited me to stay at their places. On one occasion, the Iranians insisted I sleep in their bed while they slept on the floor.
Q. "Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn" - were those typical experiences from your visit, or the more outrageous?
When you travel to any nation, you only manage to get a snapshot of it. The title refers to some of the less-than-Islamic experiences I had. The title is not intentionally provocative; it's a reflection of experiencing two things I never would have been expected.
Western rap is not officially sanctioned; porn is highly illegal. I met students from Tehran who had a fondness for both. They showed me their collections of "super film" - their slang for "porn movie."
Q. Iranian rap - was this in a club or recorded?
They do have local rap groups. All sanctioned music has to be cleared first by Iranian authorities to make sure it doesn't contain anything deemed sexual or capable of inciting teenage rebellion.
The "Iranian Rappers" in the title refers more to young guys I met who were really into Western-style rap. We were driving around Tehran and the car's sound system was on max volume. One minute they're rapping along enthusiastically to an aggressive Eminem (song) ... and the next track is a romantic ballad by Chris de Burgh - an Irish singer from the '80s!
Amazingly, he's popular singer there because he's the only Western artist sanctioned in Iran. The apparent reason is one song he did that has the line, "There's only one God."
I love the irony: These young guys went from rap to the lovey-dovey antithesis of it.
Q. Remind me: Who is Chris de Burgh?
"Lady in Red" is one of his songs. It's not my cup of tea. His music should be banned.
