“Free” is among the last words used to describe Turkey these days. But freedom is what the country offers to tens of thousands of Iranian tourists who flock to their neighbor every year. Chadors are cast off, whiskeys ordered and an orgy of unfettered fun is uncorked for Iranian revelers who are formally denied such pleasures at home.

Many travel overland to the mainly Kurdish city of Van, an ancient settlement on the Iranian border, as they did this year for the March 21 arrival of spring and the Nowruz holiday that is celebrated by Persians, Kurds and Turkic peoples throughout the region. “They are coming in waves” crowed Hurriyet in an article about the latest Persian invasion of Van.

Demand is so overwhelming that all the hotels in the city of 1 million are fully booked; some have converted meeting rooms into bedrooms to accommodate demand.

Ipek Togrul, the manager of the Sahmaran Hotel that lies on the shores of Lake Van, a glittering body of water dotted with tiny islets and Armenian churches, told Hurriyet, “We are stupefied. Eight people are willing to stay in rooms that are meant for four.”