Ebook: Couchsurfing in Iran: revealing a hidden world

In Couchsurfing in Iran, award-winning author Stephan Orth spends sixty-two days on the road in this mysterious Islamic republic to provide a revealing, behind-the-scenes look at life in one of the world's most closed societies. Through the unsurpassed hospitality of twenty-two hosts, he skips the guidebooks and tourist attractions and travels from Persian carpet to bed to cot, covering more than 8,400 kilometres to recount "this world's hidden doings." Experiencing daily what he calls the "two Irans" that coexist side by side--the "theocracy, where people mourn their martyrs" in mausoleums, and the "hide-and-seek-ocracy, where people hold secret parties and seek worldly thrills instead of spiritual bliss"--he learns that Iranians have become experts in navigating around their country's strict laws. Though couchsurfing is officially prohibited in Iran--the state fears spies would be able to travel undetected through the country--more than a hundred thousand Iranians are registered with online couchsurfing portals. And thanks to these hospitable, English-speaking strangers, Orth gets up close and personal with locals, peering behind closed doors and blank windows to uncover the inner workings of a country where public show and private reality are strikingly opposed.