shared taxi
Besides the bus I like other forms of transport in Isfahan too, especially (at least until the Isfahani subway will be finished) the shared taxi. You can pick any place on the road side and just wave at a car which might be working as a cab; apart from the drivers of the official yellow cabs or, a new phenomenon, a small minority of green cabs for women only, every ordinary owner of a Peykan, the old national car brand of Iran, can decide to earn some additional income for his family as an (illegal) taxi driver. As the taxi approaches, you are supposed to shout the name of a big square or intersection close to where you want to go. Since most of these places bare the names of important Islamic figures or historic events, I find myself regularly shouting words which are probably quite inappropriate in Iran in other situations; lately I have found myself shouting “Freedom!” or, more curious, “Revolution? Revolution?!!” Here too, the supposed gender segregation is in order. While busses and some subways have segregated entrances, the shared taxis have to find another way to make to be as segregated as possible. This leads to amusing situations and many jumping ins and outs in order to arrange this. When you enter a cab and settle on the front seat because the back seats are taken, as woman you should move the back as soon as a place becomes free. Drivers prefer a full car, which normally means five passengers: three in the back and two sharing the passenger’s seat. That front seat might be shared with a man… and I can assure you, it feels quite uncomfortable to be squeezed between the driver and another man, or even a soldier, as I have once experienced 
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