“Yavash, yavash,” the small, gray-haired doctor says, leaning across from the passenger seat to put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, imploring him to slow down the black Toyota as we approach another hairpin bend in the dusty road.
The driver cheerfully ignores the doctor’s pleas and continues to take the corners at a clip, smoking all the while and occasionally breaking into wailed bursts of Kurdish folk song.
We’re traveling from Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province, to Marivan, a small city just a few kilometers from the border with Iraq.
It’s the final day of Nowruz, the Iranian new year, and my companions, a doctor called Ghaffar and a taxi driver named Jahan — both from Sanandaj — are still on holiday.
In a typical display of Iranian hospitality, they’ve offered to accompany me on the journey.
To the left of the narrow road is a vertical, sand-colored mountain wall.
To the right, a 50-foot drop and a view across the spectacular Howraman Valley, a sparsely populated and beautiful part of the region.
On the eastern edge of Iran, Kurdistan province makes up part of a broader Kurdish region, which also spans adjacent sections of Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Over the border in Iraq, the territory has been targeted by the Islamic militant group known as ISIS, but Iranian Kurdistan remains unaffected, a peaceful world away from the violence.
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It’s late and after more dancing — this time in the marble-floored living room to the music coming from the TV — it’s time to go.
Jahan drives back toward the center of Sanandaj. He sings in Kurdish again, but this time there’s a more melancholy tone to the song.
How to get there: British, Canadian and U.S. citizens wishing to travel to Iran must do so as part of an official tour due to restrictions on independent travel.
Most other foreign nationals need to obtain a visa before traveling and the application process can sometimes seem slightly opaque. It’s worth checking the most up-to-date visa requirements ahead of traveling as these can change with little notice.
A variety of airlines fly to Iran, with Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport the main international hub.
Once in Iran, getting around is made straightforward by the country’s comfortable, extensive and relatively cheap bus or train networks, while for longer distances internal flights are an option.
For shorter journeys and day trips, taxis are relatively affordable due to low fuel costs. In Tehran the metro is a good way to dodge the city’s heavy traffic.
Adam Chidell is a teacher, writer and photographer, currently based in Bangkok.
