Category Archives: Iran

Day 286 – Over the hills and far away

Another bright and sunny day!

Another bright and sunny day!

The night had been slightly eerie as we could hear the wolves howl. I was happy when the sun was back up and we could pack and leave. I know that there were enough sheep around that no wolf would be interested in us but still…

All of today was dedicated to exploring the Alamut valley. We started with a stint to Evan Lake which was the back-up camping option yesterday. Arriving at the tiny lake with lots of rubbish at the shore and almost no privacy, we were glad that we’d camped in the fields. However, on the way out we met a retired French couple doing an overland trip in a 4WD. They were lovely even though the conversation was in French (go Flo!) and gave us the coordinates of a possible campsite further on.

almost back on the main road now

almost back on the main road now

The next “attraction” in the Lonely Planet is a road that leads through or alongside canyons. Flo found a loop that we could ride to not double up and so we went in on river-level. First, we follow the road along the ride with the cliff side to your right. It was hard to photograph as the sun was right behind the cliffs. After a while, the road starts to wind up into the mountains. From here, you can look into the valley with the canyons below. Again, we saw the tents of nomads up here.

Full service overland adventure ...

Full service overland adventure …

On route to Alamut Castle, the next of the famed Assassins’ castles, we saw a group of overlanders parked in a little side alley. They rode down from Switzerland in a tour, complete with support vehicle full of spare parts and tires, and will continue for a month. Thus, they were in a bit of a hurry…once a flat tire was fixed. We talked to them until we were near melting, standing in full gear in the sun.

A quick roadside lunch at the Alamut Castle parking lot prepared us for the hike up to the castle. The “Assassins” were prosecuted and thus quite paranoid when they built their castles here: There is no easy entrance and no easy siege. The mountainside is steep so the narrow staircase is the only way up (the second entrance has been destroyed).

one wing of the castle. Must have been decently manned

one wing of the castle. Must have been decently manned

Alamut Castle is the one with a bit more structure remaining but it is also the one where you have to pay a fee and most of it is covered in scaffolding. We were a bit disappointed, yesterday’s castle had much more to offer.

Technically, the “attractions” end here. There is a pass leading out of the valley all the way to the Caspian Sea but the Lonely Planet only describes it for hiking. The French overlander couple from his morning came in that way and while the views are gorgeous, they said the road was in bad condition and muddy. They were happy to have 4WD. Thus, I was not keen to go that way. However, coming from Alamut valley, most of the road up is sealed. Flo wanted to go as high up as possible…fair enough. First, the road continued on in the valley in a rather unimpressive way. When the incline finally started, the road became interesting again. Up and up and up and up. When we seemed to be level with the snow-capped mountains on the other side of the valley, the tarmac ended and Flo stopped as promised. We took a couple of pictures of the valley, Rocinante and us before heading back down.

The 'final' view - pretty cool

The ‘final’ view – pretty cool

It was late enough to look for a camping spot but we were lacking in the important departments of food, water and fuel. So we hopped from village to village hoping to remedy these lacks without having to go too far. The first shop, with a lovely owner, had water, eggs and veggies for us. Good start but not all we needed. Again, he gave us the things for half the price and a toffee on top. The next village supplied cheese and bread but fuel was only available in the third village. By now it felt late. The first possible spot next to a field of wheat was ours.

Flo cooked the tomato-egg dish for me that Azemeh had made for breakfast all those days ago. It worked well and was delicious with bread and the seed mixture that Azemeh had given us as well. Well fed, we had a short visit by a shepherd asking for water before settling in for the night.

Day 285 – Assassini, assassini!

On the road to the mountains

On the road to the mountains

Rejuvenated, we left our guest house in Hamadan in good time to tackle the 340 km for the day with little worry. I was looking forward to some more camping, but if we had to stay in a hotel, I wish it would always be like this one.

The road started out really flat, with only the occasional hill to hop along the way to Qasvin, the gateway to the Alamut valley. We reached it in time for a slightly late lunch and settled in our hurry for an overpriced restaurant in town, only to end up with kebab and salad once more.

All the more reason to leave for the mountains – not least to escape the heat. On our way out, we grabbed some of our now standard dinner / breakfast fare of bread and cheese. Once more, the local baker could not be persuaded to take our money.

Great views from the road

Great views from the road

There are only two sealed passes from Qasvin over into the valleys – we decided to take the western one in, and work our way east to take the eastern one on our way out. That meant the first point of interest would be Lamiasar Castle, one of the famed castles of the Assassins.

But before that, the pass itself was the first real attraction. Rising steadily from 1200m to 2300m, this narrow mountain road was just our cup of tea. When we first dipped over and saw the snow-capped peaks of the Alborz Mountains, we slowed down and started exploring a bit. One of the dirt tracks leading off to a particularly epic lookout / picnic spot lead us right into another Persian encounter. A family seemed to have arrived shortly before us and was getting ready for their picnic. The spot was so nice that if it were not for them, we probably would have camped right there. Instead we took pictures and got invited to tea right away.

A better look on the affair

A better look on the affair

We once again did not share any language, so conversations were had by pointing and gesturing a lot. We got treated very kindly and had to take the chance to leave at an opportune moment, just before the chicken skewers over the fire were done or we probably would have spent the rest of the evening up here. We could not, though: there was a castle to be seen. We were not even stopped by the swarms of crickets trying to suicide themselves on the road in droves.

It looked even more like Altaïr in reality :)

It looked even more like Altaïr in reality 🙂

It was a nice but exhausting climb up to the ruin of Lamiasar Castle. Not much is left up top, though. The Mongols really knew how to raze a castle. We still enjoyed climbing around the impressive site all on our own in the afternoon light.

Soon enough, it was time to look for a camp spot. Our first try further up the side valley was a nice ride, but did not score any good site. Instead, we headed back for the main road and towards the next point of interest from the guidebook. After maybe 3 more tries, we did find a lovely and secluded patch of green near the road but just out of view for anyone around. This time, we really appreciated the longer days further north, as we got everything set up just in time to have a sunset dinner …

Day 284 – Sweet, sweet Hamadan

Set timer, run ... smile!

Set timer, run … smile!

Not having to camp meant that we slept in a little. Fereshteh made us an early breakfast as other members of the family were still sleeping. Afterwards, when everyone was up, we took a round of photos as we hadn’t taken enough yesterday. Packing up was comparatively quick and we were good to go on the “short” ride to Hamadan, about 180km away.

Bisotun, the ancient inscription site, lay on our way. Again, we had to pay the standard price of 400.000 rials as tourists (about NZ$20) to gain entrance. The site is big though.  We started with a short hike up to a rock which has carvings of human figures on three sites. One is identified as a king while the others are not as clearly marked.

charming greek decor

charming greek decor

Further into the park, you pass a Hercules statue. Hercules, you might ask? Yes. Well, the Greek left it as a “hah, we conquered you” gift. Originally, there was a lion statue depicted there; the Greek then added the Hercules on the back of it, making a rug out of the lion. Charming fellows all around.

There used to be a Parthian relief of Mithrades II next but it has been defaced with a giant inscription plate in Arabic. I didn’t even take a picture of it.

Sadly, all hidden away behind scaffolding

Sadly, all hidden away behind scaffolding

Next up was the main attraction: Darius as a bas-relief with inscription panels in Elamite, Akkadian and Old Persian around the scene. This was an utter disappointment. Almost nothing of it was visible as a scaffold told of renovation efforts. You could only take a picture from far, far away or have only the scaffold on it. I even hiked up to the beginning of the closed off zone to see if there was any way of getting a look but nope. Especially Flo was disappointed. He didn’t feel too well to begin with as I might have given him my sniffles.

The site stretches out quite a bit after Darius but we were hot and tired already. So we walked to Farhad Tarash to have a look and then turned around. Farhad Tarash is a huge, cleared area on the rock face some 200 meters long which was dedicated for an inscription which has never been done. So now, it’s just a huge, smooth, vertical surface at the bottom of the cliff. So odd. From here, we also had a view to an old caravanserai but didn’t go anymore.

He gave us a free lunch because we are guests

He gave us a free lunch because we are guests

Time to head back to the bike and get on the road. Our excursion had lasted longer than we expected. Hunger caught up with us before we reached Hamadan and we stopped at a roadside eatery which advertised a burger on its door. When we went in, two guys just bought ice cream. There was a little kafuffle when they left and one of them pointed at us while refusing to take his change. So the next thing that happened was ice cream, appearing in front of us. Those guys had just shouted us ice cream! How nice is that? We still needed real food though and went with falafel sandwiches. When we wanted to pay, the owner didn’t take it. Instead, he showed us a word in Farsi on an app similar to google translate: Guest. What were we supposed to do? We thanked him for his kindness and felt really good about the world and its people. 🙂 Not much else you can do after that.

Now Hamadan was only a hop away. The Lonely Planet listed some cheap options and we found the perfect place in the Ordibesht Hotel. A spacious room (3 beds), clean toilet facilities and even a small kitchen with a samovar providing hot water. If we could have exactly this place in every city, we’d be so happy.

Nina's normal reaction to a cake shop

Nina’s normal reaction to a cake shop

Flo felt off so he got to have a two hour nap while I updated the blog and commented the photos for it. At 5.30pm, we left in search for dinner. Right next to the hotel, I stumbled upon a cake and sweets shop. Everything in here looked delicious. The owner didn’t speak any English but speaking with hands and feet we got the information that he would close at 8pm tonight. Enough time to go for food, come back to choose a dessert and go back to the hotel.

Searching for dinner was a tedious thing. Both restaurants we wanted to go to were closed (Friday). So we wandered back towards our hotel, looking for food and ended up in a fast food joint at Imam Khomeini Square. The fast food was Irani for once so I got to try the large “samosas” (that’s how they look like to me) filled with potato and herbs while Flo had a bun filled with salmon or some kind of sausage and a very meaty looking pizza pie. My food was really yummy so this is something I would go for again.

Hamadan in general was nice to us. The sun was shining and while wandering around looking for food, many people smiled at us, greeted us and welcomed us in their city/Iran. Some even stopped for a conversation. One young lady must have followed us for a bit (I think) as she had three questions which sounded like she spent some time thinking on how to phrase them. She was lovely, as were all the others. Hamadan doesn’t see that many tourists so the feeling of being famous or a rockstar returned.

Nina struck gold :)

Nina struck gold 🙂

One last thing needed to be done…buy dessert! Going for the smallest available box, I was slightly overwhelmed with the choices. I got cream-filled puffs, chocolate cupcakes, slices of a creamy looking cake, cookie sandwiches and dry cookies where I had no idea what they were. My box was full to the brim in the end. And the owner wanted to give it to us for free. Trying really hard to pay this time while buying “luxury” for us, the owner only accepted half the money it would have cost us. Leaving the shop with a box full of sweets that I bought for NZ$2.20. That’s maybe a euro fifty for you European folk.

Everything in it was yummy though one thing needs to be singled out as heavenly. Flo had spotted the cookie sandwiches and I am very grateful for that. Between two crumbly cookies was a gooey marshmallowy cream which had softened the cookies a little bit. It had something of an overly large macaroon but with marshmallow in the middle. Divine!

Day 283 – Generosity

Camping spot in the morning

Camping spot in the morning

Right, there exists something called weather in most of the world …

We woke up in between showers. The rumble of thunder was still audible somewhere in the valley. When I poked my head out and tentatively started to make breakfast, the drops started falling again. All around were dark clouds, except for one small patch of blue that sparked our hopes. By the time breakfast was ready, the rain was in full swing again, though. So we climbed back into our little bubble and sat it out.

Sun...over here, please. Epic sun beams on the other side of the valley

Sun…over here, please. Epic sun beams on the other side of the valley

By 10 am we had packed everything up again. We had some luck and just got all in during a brief pause in the rain. The tent will have to be dried at some point within the next two days, though.

I must say I enjoyed the change of landscape and weather. For the first time that I can remember, we were both wearing the full Compañero, including the rain proof layer, so the cold and wet did not phase us at all. Besides, we only had 150 km to go to reach Kermanshah, where we would likely stay overnight.

...except for sheep...

…except for sheep…

I am not sure if it is just the lack of a direct route or my setting the GPS to shortest distance, but we took a real back country road for the last 90 km or so. It was nice and quiet, but could have done with a pothole or two less. The quiet road made the contrast all the more stark, coming over the last hill into Kermanshah. From subsistence farmers with donkeys to the three lane boulevards of a ¾ of a million people city within 10 minutes.

We stopped soon after getting into town to set a waypoint for a recommended food place near the city centre. Open street maps are pretty reliable, but most waypoints are only stored in Farsi, which the Garmin does not handle well. So instead of searching, I usually have to set waypoints manually by matching them with the maps in the Lonely Planet. Kermanshah is big, so it took me a while right there on the side of a busy road. A few people stopped, until Hesam came out of his car to check up on us as well.

Into the city

Into the city

A moment later, he got his sister Sara on the case as well, who’s English was even better than his. Instead of fiddling with the GPS, they offered to lead us there with their car. Once again, we are blown away by the kindness and hospitality of the Iranian people. It is a strange thing, on the one hand, we are getting used to these random acts of kindness, on the other hand we have to laugh hard imagining this kind of genuine “Menschenliebe” anywhere else. In Germany, people would probably rather call the police than follow a stranger.

We only went for 20 meters, when Sara and Hesam stopped again and Sara came to talk to us once more. She asked if we were only looking for a simple room. If so, we could come and stay at her family’s home, where her mother and aunt live. She and her brother were also just visiting at the moment. We had not gone with an invitation since Azemeh’s home and with the rain still going on, we were really glad for a dry place, so we kindly accepted and followed them there instead.

We got a very warm welcome by mother Fereshteh and aunt Shahin, got immediately treated to tea and biscuits and when we remembered that we had still not eaten, Hesam went out to organise Felafel sandwiches for everyone. They had a spare room in the cellar which was just perfect for us and while I unloaded our gear, Nina got the chance to take the shower first.

Flo was moderately excited

Flo was moderately excited

After we got everything sorted, plans were made. Sara was only in town till tomorrow and had family matters to attend to this afternoon, which left plenty of time for us to explore the city’s main attraction Taq-e Bostan on our own and sort out some things in town. We got back on the bike and headed for “the mountain”. Taq-e Bostan is a Sassanian era bas relief at the foot of a massive mountain that rises almost vertical and forms the natural northern end of town. We took a little detour up the public park that stretches one third up the slope of the mountain, to watch all the picnickers and weekend frolickers out and about. At the sight, the restaurant next to the entrance was kind enough to let us park our bike under the CCTV and we got in to once again pay the ridiculous 400.000 rial ticket price. This time, I was really a bit annoyed, since there is little to the site but the relief, a spring and a pond – no explanation or much of anything else given. The annoyance lasted only for a moment, though, since the setting was rather nice and the people were continuously lovely. We sat on the grass for a while and took some photos with a group of polymer chemistry students while generally having a good time.

A group of chemistry students swarmed us at the park :)

A group of chemistry students swarmed us at the park 🙂

Back at the bike, we made the day of the young soft ice cream seller’s daughter by letting her hop on Rocinante for an Instagram. Pa was in a good mood as well and outright refused to take our money for the two soft ice cream we had.

Back at the house, we had a good time showing Shahin and another aunt some of our pictures from Oman and Iran and communicating without pretty much any shared language. When Hesam came back later, he asked if we would like to join him catch up with a friend at his restaurant. We tagged along and had a good time with even more tea, tochmeh (roasted sunflower seeds) and cheese flavoured popcorn.

We did explain to Saleh how this sign could be misunderstood ;)

We did explain to Saleh how this sign could be misunderstood 😉

As a bonus we got to observe friend Saleh and his crew try to improve the decoration of the place.

After such a full day, with many great and unexpected moments, we had to retreat to our room pretty soon after coming back to get some good sleep. On top of the long day, I was also coming down with Nina’s plague from last week …

 

 

Day 282 – Choqa Zanbil and the reappearance of weather

Porridge with mutton for breakfast ... hmmm .. going local

Porridge with mutton for breakfast … hmmm .. going local

Breakfast after a very comfy night was the Persian standard with a European twist. We got the usual bread, cheese and tea with the addition of hard boiled eggs but then coffee, orange juice, milk and jam were also available. Carrot jam really isn’t my thing, while sour cherries jam is a good match to the flat bread. I, then, felt obliged to also try the rose jam which was weird but tasty. Enough food talk now.

We left Shushtar to ride to Choqa Zanbil, maybe 30 more kilometres away. Choqa Zanbil is a Unesco heritage site, protecting the 3300 year old ziggurat. From the pictures on the internet, we weren’t really impressed. Being on the site though, our view changed. We’re unsure if it’s the scale of the ziggurat or if it was a combination of the loneliness of the place (we arrived before the tour buses did) with the dramatic, lead-coloured sky announcing a storm. Whatever it was, it was impressive. The whole structure is built of mud-bricks, some of them burnt. It has five levels going up and is being restored at the moment (or rather, for a long time).

3300 years ... wow

3300 years … wow

The first person I ran into, while Flo took the longer way through the outlying buildings, was a restaurateur. His English wasn’t quite that good but he managed to give us some information, guided us for a bit and allowed Flo to get up on the first level of the ziggurat. All that while lightning could be seen in the distance behind the structure (and I didn’t get it in a single picture) and then the thunder boomed overhead.

The information available in English is much better here than in Persepolis, probably because it got some Unesco funding from 1998 onwards. When the first drops started to fall, we tried to hurry back to the bike…unsuccessfully. A German guided tour had just arrived so we talked to them for a bit and shortly entered the ziggurat again with them. At the bike, we answered more questions of locals, took a couple more pictures with them…and rode off into the storm. The wind was incredible. The rain still hadn’t reached its full potential so we decided to play it safe instead of being soaked through to the bone. At the next intersection/check point with a bit of cover, we put on our entire rain gear, this time including pants.

We took the toll road for 38 km - not sure if we were allowed to, but it was fast

We took the toll road for 38 km – not sure if we were allowed to, but it was fast

Choqa Zanbil was the last point in the low lands of Iran for us so we headed towards the mountains again for which I was grateful. Yes, it was stormy today but yesterday it had been just too hot for me to cope well. So we looked towards Kermanshah as a next destination which we wouldn’t reach today. Lunch was had at a real (real) truck stop where I had rice with yogurt and a salad because all they sold was kebab. It was a slightly weird experience to stop at a real truck stop, I must say.

Parts of the afternoon went by in cruise mode before we stopped to pick up ingredients for dinner. To mix up our usual bread-heavy camping grub, Flo wanted to boil potatoes which could be mixed with the remaining eggplant-tomato-dish from a can. The roadside vendor where we stopped refused to take any money for a handful of potatoes and tomatoes and instead insisted on giving us a watermelon for free as well. No amount of shaking our heads could dissuade him (where should we put a WATERMELON on the bike?) so in the end, we went for the smallest one he had. It got stored in the bag that usually holds our waterproof gear which we were wearing now.

Loaded to the brim like this, we headed into the mountains proper. Already tired, we let one or two promising spots slip before stopping on a meadow with trees that seems to be a popular picnic/camping spot. There was no one else around though so we put up our tent and had a quiet but delicious dinner. By the time we were ready for bed, the now familiar rumbling of thunder was back. The night’s rest was interrupted when the lightning storm started as the strikes could be seen very well even from inside our tent. Luckily, it didn’t cross right over us so we went back to sleep not long after. Earplugs are your best friend in such cases.

Day 281 – All roads lead to … Romans

The rain was good for this for sure

The rain was good for this for sure

We made it alive and well through the storm and rain last night. This morning, the tent was still fine (thanks Salewa, great product) and the sky clear.

There is very little to write about the road today, other than that it was amazing. I was not quite sure about this whole idea of ours of doing a big detour through the Zagros Mountains instead of the direct route to Hamadan before. The stunning landscapes along the road really did change that, though. The constantly changing landscape following down the Karun from 2400m down to almost sea level was truly worth it.

Rocinante and Flo posing with the great landscape

Rocinante and Flo posing with the great landscape

We had memorable little moments in between, nonetheless. The first one that comes to mind is at a police check point in Loristan. Iran is the first country we actually get stopped by the police at times. This time, they invited us into the main building for tea and to check our papers. Sadly, the shared language skills were not enough for any deeper conversation.

We stopped to buy some ingredients for lunch, when we were once again surrounded by a bunch of kids and very friendly villagers. After a brief chat, we hopped back on the bike to find a lovely picnic spot in the shade of a tree.

Suddenly, the tarmac stopped despite being marked as sealed on both the GPS and the paper map

Suddenly, the tarmac stopped despite being marked as sealed on both the GPS and the paper map

The green around us faded as gradually as it came yesterday. This time though, a bright aquamarine was added to the palette by the Karun River and its many hydro power reservoirs along the way. At the same time though the level of complaint by both Nina and Rocinante rose as the heat did on the way down. When we reached the altitude of our destination (100m above sea level) the thermometer hit 40°C again, even at 5 pm.

Reaching Shushtar was a bit of a stretch, but we still made it by 5.30 pm and quickly found a hotel. While looking in vain for the recommended one, we were waved into the newly renovated traditional hotel in town. They made us a good offer and even had a ramp ready to get Rocinante into the inner courtyard. We bottomed out for a second, but no damage done. Tomorrow without luggage then …

Looking down on the historic parts

Looking down on the historic parts

The town was one of those pleasant surprises you get. Never heard of it, but full of great historic stuff. The waterworks here had been built 1800 years ago and were crucial in the irrigation of the whole region. Oh, and they were built by forced labour from Roman Legionaries. The force was captured by the Persians, including their Emperor Valerian. The only Roman Emperor ever to have been captured in battle. He likely died in captivity in the resident Salosel Castle.

Tomorrow, we will go for even older stuff … 3300 year old Elamite Ziggurat of Choqa Zanbil!

Day 280 – The mountainous side of Iran

The mosque from the outside

The mosque from the outside

Three nights in Esfahan seemed enough. But as Flo wrote, we kept missing the mosque that made it to the cover of the Lonely Planet. After breakfast, after packing everything, this was our last stop: Masjed-e Sheikh Lotfollah.

This mosque considerably smaller than the other two that we visited. It was thus a nice stop before leaving the city. Through the blue entrance, you come to a small tunnel which leads into the domed chamber of the mosque. The tunnel is necessary to ensure the orientation towards Mecca but it very subtly done. You mostly realize it because the guide book tells you that’s what’s happening. 🙂

Part of the whole thing

Part of the whole thing

The chamber itself is beautiful with tiles in the lower wall section and then real mosaic for the inscription. Unfortunately, by now we are mosque-d out and didn’t stay long even though we enjoyed it. It is also possible to see the vaults underneath so we went. All the walls are clinically white and a single stall sells tiny wooden versions of the mosque…

For a good bye wave, we crossed two of the bridges that cross the river in Esfahan and rode off towards Zagros Mountains. The Lonely Planet describes the stretch between Chelgerd and Yasuj as “spectacular but without tourist infrastructure”. Doesn’t that sound exactly like our cup of tea? Since we only left Esfahan around noon, we wouldn’t make it all the way today anyway. Instead, we had a picnic lunch under trees and prepared for the height and coldness of the mountains. Well, Flo did. He put on the water- and windproof layer at lunch time. I was still feeling fine mostly because Flo acts as my wind blocker.

Snow-covered mountain view framed by trees...how very picturesque!

Snow-covered mountain view framed by trees…how very picturesque!

The Mountains. We reached a cruising height of about 2200 meters. The ranges in the distance were still higher and completely snow-capped. Snow…a sight we haven’t had in a while. With a cloud cover, wind and the height, it was now c.o.l.d. I didn’t want us to stop just so I could put on a jacket…so we had a tea break instead. 🙂 Hot drinks were amazing on such a day and got us into the right spirit to delve deeper into the world of mountains. We bought everything for dinner and headed out with the intention of camping somewhere along the way.

Sharing the road...

Sharing the road…

Which is exactly what we did. Enjoying the ride with little traffic, sharing the road mostly with shepherds and sheep, we continued. Evidence of nomadic life can be seen everywhere here. Tents, shelters built of branches and the occasional brick house can be seen on the slopes of the mountains while small herds of sheep are being moved constantly. Most shepherds have dogs to help them keep the sheep in line while some also ride donkeys. While the donkeys are universally cute and fluffy (not to speak of the loads they carry), shepherd’s dogs are a bit more worrying. Most of them seem to really dislike the sound Rocinante makes and their sense of protection kicks in. Once or twice a dog chased after us.

All set up with a gorgeous backdrop

All set up with a gorgeous backdrop

When we had enough for the day, we followed a dirt track up into the hills. It turned out to be a service and access road to an irrigation channel. Making sure we didn’t block anything and didn’t end up pitching our tent in a field, we found a spot that was perfect. Out of the way, level and mostly private. Once we had set up camp, a lone fellow visited us on a motorbike. He seemed to belong to the house/farm further down but we couldn’t really communicate. I think he invited us to stay at the house but I’m not sure. Also, with the tent now up that would have been just more trouble than it’s worth. He came back twice in the evening; once to warn us that the sprinklers would now be turned on (which didn’t affect us) and the last time…we’re not sure but he left wishing us a good night. That is one phrase that I know even if I cannot say it; Azemeh and the girls tried really hard to teach me.

 

Day 279 – The princess is in another mosque

Happy Mothers Day, Connie and Sabine!

This was the spontaneous bonus day we added to our stay in Esfahan. For one, Nina can do with some more recovery time. Plus, with today, we have at least caught up with the blog till yesterday. I had called my mum last night, Nina had planned it for today. And so the day went by, until well into the afternoon.

The fountain is modeled after the qibla in mecca and pilgrims would come here to practice ...

The fountain is modeled after the qibla in mecca and pilgrims would come here to practice …

Nina had one more sightseeing goal for Esfahan, to see the mosque from the cover of the lonely planet. Yesterday, we went to the Shah’s Mosque, which was not it. So we forced ourselves out of bed and back to the city one more time. It was a decent walk to today’s destination, Masjid-e Jameh. Our mood was low, but we pushed it.

Well, it turned out that this was not the one either. Apart from the hefty 400.000 rial admission fee, it was still pretty cool. It is the largest mosque in Iran and very different from the ones on Naqsh-e Jahan. Here, there were almost no mosaics, but instead the decorations were fashioned in brickwork instead. It is also much older than Masjid-e Shah, at least in parts. Nina was a bit bummed that we still did not find the “cover mosque”, but this was a great consolation price.

Another round of walking (and getting lost) in the bazaar

Another round of walking (and getting lost) in the bazaar

We left the mosque at about 4 pm and made our way to the final stop: a recommended ice cream shop at the other end of the bazaar. The idea was to find food along the way. Unfortunately, we failed a bit at reading the map and made it almost all the way to the sweet treats before realising that the restaurant we were looking for was … somewhere else. Sweets before lunch / dinner it was, then.

Because we had skipped lunch and have not had a “treat” meal in a while, we decided to go to one of the fancy and a bit touristy restaurants afterwards. This one was really pretty, located in one corner of the massive Jahan square (which allegedly is the second largest square in the world after Tianamen). The food was good but not overwhelming. At least a lot better than our usual fast food joint roadside snacks. I had a lovely piece of mutton and Nina got an aubergine stew.

Time for a "Fancy Feast". Flo had lamb...spot the bone

Time for a “Fancy Feast”. Flo had lamb…spot the bone

During dinner, we finally found the image description on the Lonely Planet to find out that the mosque on the cover was of course the last of the big three – the one we had snubbed yesterday. It would be closed for the day once we were done with our dinner, so it got put on the “maybe tomorrow morning” list in the end.

Happy and full, we slouched back to our hostel. It could have been nice to finish off the day at the riverfront, but we could not muster the energy for the 45 minute walk anymore.

 

 

 

Day 278 – Seeing Esfahan on foot

Our blog needed some love and attention; it’s not that we are tired of writing but a combination of bad internet connections, long and full days and thus not enough time to write the appropriately long entries had led to the biggest backlog we had so far. Thus, the whole morning was spent on posting blog entries to catch up. Even if we have pre-written the entries, uploading photos and then commenting every single one takes time.

We left the hostel for lunch, mostly because Flo was hangry. As always, vegetarian choices were severely limited so I was stuck with soup, salad and dessert. The dessert Khoresht mast was a new thing I tried and it did not convince me. Looking it up on the net also revealed that while it is a dessert, it is not vegetarian…

Two mosques, one enormous gate bazaar entrance. This square has it all.

Two mosques, one enormous gate bazaar entrance. This square has it all.

Afterwards, we strolled down one of the bigger streets until we found Naqsh-e Jahan Imam Square which is the center of Esfahan, really. The name means “pattern of the world”. The square is a rectangle and it is enclosed by the low buildings that house part of the bazaar with the main entrance of the bazaar to one (short) side and the entrance to the Masjed-e Shah (Royal Mosque) on the exact opposite. A second mosque, Masjed-e Sheikh Lotfollah, has its entrance at the middle of one of the long sides. From its dimensions, the square is impressive but unfortunately, there is a construction site right on the square and the dome of Masjed-e Shah is also clad in a scaffold; this takes away from the impression quite a bit. Continue reading →

Day 277 – Guardian angels

Of course, we don’t believe in supernatural beings, faith or such like. But sometimes these ideas are a good shorthand to deal with the weirdness that occurs when a single observer gazes at an overwhelmingly complex and often random world. Why did we stop right there for food? How come Mohammad had to drop of two of his guest at that exact same moment? As much as these moments can neither be influenced actively nor explained with some sort of directed external force, there is a part of ourselves in them nonetheless. By opening up to the world, traveling as we are, and being open to be swept up by what may come, I believe that we “spike the deck” ever so slightly in our favour.

Saying good-bye to Mohammad

Saying good-bye to Mohammad

Whatever it may be, we consider ourselves supremely lucky to have ended up here. The Tak-Taku Homestay is an amazing place to the point of being surreally so. We spend the rest of the morning lounging and catching up on the blog a bit more (a reoccurring theme at the moment, it seems). When it was time to tackle the last 100km to Esfahan, we packed our gear once more and got ready. All that was left was to give a huge thank you to Mohammad, his family and the lovely other guests we had the pleasure to meet.

The GPS was set, we had just wiggled our hindquarters into position and turned back onto the main highway, when I noticed something ahead. The road was freshly sealed here, without markings yet. I saw a dust cloud 500m ahead and closed my visor, thinking maybe a digger or some other machine was at work next to the road. When we got there, I was first confused, then realisation dawned. There was a wrecked car, on its roof and facing the wrong way maybe 10m off the road in the dust. Terrible, blood freezing confirmation came when we stopped and saw a little girl, maybe 6 years old, crawling out of the wreck, screaming.

Nina was terrified, especially when we both saw the foot sticking out of the former driver’s side window at an odd angle, unmoving. I was sure someone must have died or at least sustained horrible injuries. I handed Nina the phone and the number of Mohammad and grabbed the first aid kit. By the time I got to the car, miraculously, all four members of the family had crawled out of the wreck on their own. Maybe 1 minute has passed since the crash. More people stopped and came over and I had a look at the four. No obvious broken bones, no bleeding, heck almost no abrasions either! They were all walking, obviously in shock and covered in dust, but pretty much unharmed.

For a minute or two, I could not quite believe their luck – and ours for that matter. They were certainly not buckled up and the Iranian cars are usually at the safety levels of 1985. For all of them to walk within a minute, no one showing signs of injury, is like winning the lottery. Or as a short hand, their guardian angels were doing overtime today.

There were plenty of people here now to help, no one needed first aid and we don’t speak Farsi. To avoid any misunderstandings, especially once the authorities show up, we decided to move on. A moment later we stopped again briefly to call Mohammad anyway and asked him to double check with the ambulance service just in case.

A great setting for a tea house

A great setting for a tea house

Shaken but relieved we rode the 100km in relative silence, all the way to our next hostel in Esfahan. Mohammad had suggested a place with a great price and even called ahead for us to make a reservation. All worked out smoothly. The room is just what we need, maybe even a bit more, and the bathrooms are clean. Best of all, there is proper safe parking for the motorcycle.

We lay low for a couple of hours. Nina was enjoying the chance to recuperate a bit more and I was just chilling. When sunset drew closer, we thought we might still want to go out to see at least one thing or two.

The Lonely Planet suggests the Tea House of the Abbasi Hotel. Part of a luxury hotel set up in a magnificent old caravansary, this place serves snacks good enough for a dinner for us. The courtyard has been transformed into a beautiful garden, with the seating lightly sprinkled around. It is hugely popular, especially around that time, and it took a moment for us to find a spot. The ash was creamy and filling, the tea excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the “date night” feel of it.