Tag Archives: Esfahan

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.