Following our tour from Tehran South to Shiraz we zig-zagged our way back to the capital, staying first in Yazd, followed by Esfahan and Kashan on our way up North. By that time we were fairly familiar with the bus system and we headed to the bus lanes with the tickets in our hands. Getting closer, we identified the bus driver and posed the eloquent question: "Yazd?" The destination of the bus was confirmed with emphatic shouts of "Yazd! Yazd!" by a chorus consisting of the driver and just about every Iranian in the vicinity. They kept shouting "Yazd!" and patting our shoulders while our backpacks were being loaded onto the bus, and after a few more minutes of yazd-ing by the crowd we were fairly confident this was indeed where the bus was headed.
Time travelers and desert winds
Yazd is truly unique. Looking back at a history of more than 5,000 years, Yazd is one of the oldest cities in Iran, which is quite the achievement in a country in which basically everything you see is ancient. In the 1270s a fellow named Marco Polo walked through the streets of Yazd and described the city in his travel stories. Walking through the striking mud and brick desert architecture, one cannot help but to feel like a time traveler - not much has changed since Polo's days. The tiny paths of old town create a maze in which we got happily lost, walking around aimlessly, but fascinated between the buildings.
The houses in Yazd have a simplistic grace and are perfectly suited for the desert climate. Wind-catchers are installed on all rooftops to cool the rooms down below - a simple yet very effective air conditioning system. You can see one on the first picture on the right hand side.
To take a look at the surrounding area, we climbed the rooftop of our hotel in the evening. The setting sun tinted the buildings around us from bright yellow to orange to purple to blue. Marveling at the sight we shouted at each other from various points on the roof, pointing at particularly beautiful spots, taking photos in all directions.
Esfahan - Visiting "half of the world"
Our next stop on ourtour up North was Esfahan. It is the second-largest city of Iran (after Tehran), and the glory of the Persian past is evident everywhere. Esfahan was the capital of Iran a few times throughout its history and the parks and architecture are a sight to behold. No wonder the Iranians say "Esfahān nesf-e- jahān ast" - "Esfahan is half of the world". Among the boulevards, parks, bazaars and other sights, two stood out: The first is Pol-e Chādschu - the 400 year-old bridge spanning between two city quarters. The bridge has two floors and offers interesting views and angles on every few steps. A beautiful, pleasing construction, but due to droughts and pipeline systems, the bridge spans a dry river bed instead of water for large parts of the year. It still is a gathering point for young people, especially in the evening, when hundreds of light bulbs light up the city landmark.
The second must-see location is the huge Naqsh-e Jahan Square. Covering 160 x 560 meters, the square belongs to the largest on earth, and is surrounded by a arcades. Built in the 16th century, the square is naturally part of the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites - and rightfully so. We spent the afternoon visiting the Mosque and other historical buildings around the square, and had chats with numerous Iranian students who were sitting in groups on the grass in the middle of the square. All of them were very eager to learn more about what we thought about their country and welcomed us over and over again.
Thanks to an Iranian woman we met there and who guided us through the somewhat confusing street system of the city, we had dinner in a beautiful Persian restaurant, which she had pointed out for us. It featured indoor lakes and streams of water running through the rooms. The food was delicious, too. It is actually harder than one would think to find a great Persian restaurant in Iran. Not because there are none, mind. The Persian cuisine is rightfully ranked highly - a great variety of ingredients, delicate spices, influences from all around the region, you name it. But as we found, you have to actually search for the local cuisine - for some reason, young Iranians seem to have embraced fast food as a sort of culinary escape in recent years. Whole streets in the cities we visited are characterized by a seemingly endless lineup of burger, kebab, and fried chicken stores. To emphasize this somewhat bleak display, all these stores seem to use the exact same burger, kebab, and fried chicken stock photos. I made a mental note to revolutionize the appearance of Iran's city centers by bringing a USB stick with new fast food photos with me for my next visit. Given what we had seen so far, we were all the more grateful for the magical dinner place we had been guided to.
Since we were four guys in a country in which alcohol is (officially) not available, we gathered in shisha bars from time to time in the evening to sip on small sweet teas and have manly contests like "who can produce the biggest smoke clouds." We were obviously put to shame by just about everybody around us - even the youngest teenagers were clouding the room with smoke clouds on an industrial scale, casually produced while in deep conversation. The water-pipes go by the name "Ghelyoon" (pronounced: qalyan) in Iran, while apparently the term "shisha", which we were more familiar with, is reserved for weed, the consumption/ownership of which can lead to capital punishment. It took us a few slightly awkward conversations to find out.
Living like princes
Kashan was our final stop before we took the bus North to Tehran again. Maybe we had picked a particularly quiet day, but from all the cities we had seen on the way, it seemed like the place least visited by tourists from outside Iran. The beautiful Agha Bozorg mosque is definitely a highlight of the city, and we explored a number of historical houses, which feature very detailed ornamental shapes and decorations.
Iran has a great deal of bazaars, but the Bazaar of Kashan was one of the best we saw in the country. There were less stores selling spongebob and other plastic stuff, and we got happily lost in the maze of seemingly endless paths and arcades. For our mandatory cup of tea we found a café in a former caravansary. It is not hard to imagine the yard to be filled with plenty of camels, goods and shouting men and you can feel the past still echoing in the walls around you. We also had our scariest cab ride in Iran in Kashan: The car was basically falling apart as we were driving. We could see the concrete through the many large holes in the car floor and heard the gasoline swashing around in what I doubt was the original tank - a semi-transparent plastic box right at our feet. Cheap ride, though.
Hotel-wise Kashan offered the probably most stylish accommodation of our trip. To reach our room we had to cross a little yard with flowers and a fountain in the middle. The whole area offered the perfect balance of sun and shade and we spent happy afternoon hours outside, sipping on some sweet tea, reading, talking and flicking through photos on each others cameras. Inside our room, we felt like we had entered a story straight from One Thousand and One Nights, with just the right amount of kitsch and splendor to make us feel like four Persian princes cruising the country.
Our next and last stop was where we had started: Tehran. Arriving by bus, we could actually see the smog cloud from the distance, but we enjoyed the return to the capital, its vibrant culture and the creative chaos apparent in every corner. The flight back was a further example of the issue of "public life versus private life", which I mentioned earlier. The minute we were off the ground, the Islamic dress code went out the window and all those scarfs and sleeves of the local women disappeared. The flight attendants also quickly ran out of wine and beer, as everybody on the plane seemed to be particularly thirsty for alcohol, having just left a country where it is officially forbidden. We happily joined the locals with our drink order and were soon dozing away with a happy red wine buzz, the mental images of our trip through Persia still vividly swirling in our mind.
Things to add
Embrace the tea culture. It is fun and you feel twice as Persian when you sip the hot tea through the sugar cube you hold with your front teeth.
The Persian cuisine is superb. Ask locals for recommendations and they will be more than happy to show you some splendid places you would never have found on your own.
Careful with certain gestures. The "thumbs up" is basically equivalent to showing someone the finger in the Western world. This might lead to some awkward situations when in fact you wanted to compliment someone.
photos Many Iranians happily pose for or even actively ask you to take some snaps. In other places it could become more complicated - should you accidentally get military personnel/equipment/buildings on your photos, it might lead to less welcoming reactions.
If you decide to get a haircut at a barber shop in Iran and the guy asks you if you want a shave as well, make sure beforehand whether he meant to remove your beard or to shave your entire head. Chris learned this the hard way.
