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There is this saying that I hear quite often when I get off buses, leave a shop or just when I am strolling down a street in Iran. It sounded to me like the Russian 'dasvidanya' and so I asked my host, Vali, about it.
Ah, he said, that means 'Power to your elbow' and you use it to thank somebody after he has done something for you. It is a way of wishing them strength and good fortune.
And so I say unto you my readers
'Power to your elbows!' because quite frankly that is just a very cool expression.
Now as you might have understood I am back in Iran, after three and a half years and many adventures. More precisely I am back in Mashhad, north-eastern Iran, and to pin-point it exactly I am back with Vali whom I stayed with the last time I passed through. Then I was on my way to Afghanistan, a rather frightened and nervous individual not at all certain about the wisdom of traversing such a country. But Vali helped me out, built up my confidence and set me on my way, and I have always been grateful for the kindness and hospitality he showed me at that time. It was also the time that I had the rather extraordinary experience of digging a grave, Vali's no less, and together with him.
Sharjah to Bandar-e-Abbas ferry
Oil tanker in the Persian Gulf
It wasn't something I was likely to ever forget.
And so we return to the present, and it so happened that I was once again on my way towards a neighbouring country for which Mashhad was the logical stepping-stone. Turkmenistan this time, a lot less scary than Afghanistan, but in another way quite as difficult. You see getting any kind of visa for this country is a hassle. Now I had counted on being in Mashhad for 10 days just to sort out the transit visa and so I contacted Vali and informed him that I was yet again going to make use of his hospitality. He on his turned informed me that he had moved up in the world and was now mentioned in the latest Lonely Planet of Iran and that he would be happy to have me back so we could continue with the effort of digging his grave; which after three and a half years of neglect would have no doubt caved in again. More importantly he told me he could make my life a whole of a lot easier by starting the Turkmen transit visa application process, so it would be ready and waiting
for me when I arrived! Thus once again Vali came to my rescue and helped this poor bugger out. To put it in other words, he took the ass out of hassle.
In all, I spent less than half an hour at the Turkmen consulate, with Vali doing all the talking and me just being perplexed by the simplicity of it all. I never even saw the man who gave me the visa. After all the nightmare stories I had heard about this visa, you could say it was somewhat of an anti-climax, but one that I was very happy with. Vali's family was as hospitable as always and the food as good as I remember it. The only two differences were that now there were more beds than the last time I was staying and that they were occupied by other backpackers. If anyone deserved a mention in the good book it was Vali, so I was glad for him that after years of sowing, he was finally reaping the benefits.
Since I suddenly had time to spare, what with the visa process taking no time at all, I found myself with no real plan on what
Mashhad
View of Mashhad
to do. I was waiting for a friend to arrive, my date to enter Turkmenistan with him was set on the tenth of May and until that time I could do whatever I liked. It turned out, I liked to just stay in Mashhad and enjoy the hospitality of my host and eating delicious food. He has expanded his services somewhat since last time, apart from the visa service, he gives tours to what is referred to as the Masuleh of north-eastern Iran, a stepped village called Kang, on a steep mountain slope. The grave-digging tour has sadly been discontinued.
Together with several other backpackers I decided to take his Kang tour, and I can now say that it is much more authentic and beautiful than Masuleh and I dare say I can recommend it to anybody heading this way. I am sure Ferdosi, the great Iranian poet of ages past, would have had something nice to say about it. As it is, he is enjoying an eternal rest in Tus, not far from Mashhad, and as I gazed upon his tomb I had to listen to a young man reciting some of his work to me instead of
Mashhad
Vali in his shop!
the great man himself; certainly this was the next best thing. He in his turn got me into the mood to visit Kalat, a mountain redoubt which has never been conquered by any foreign enemy. In itself it isn't anything special, but the scenery is spectacular and the bus trip to it takes you through one breathtaking vista after another. Combine this with a busload full of curious and hospitable Iranians and you have a day-trip to dream of. At least we thought so, the
we being, Fabian and Dominique a Swiss-German couple, and I.
I think perhaps as I look back at it, that Iran's beauty lies not in its scenery and its historical cities and architecture, incredible though they are, but in the hospitality of its people, and believe me that is saying something. Next time you think of Iran, think not of the rethoric of its leaders, think not of the politics that surround it and on which we base our views, but think of the ordinary citizens of a country where poets are quoted by even the lowliest farmer, where a weary traveller will be invited into a home and made to feel like a
Tus
Ferdosi in his tomb!
king and where everybody asks you what you think of their country, knowing full well the reputation it has. Than you can perhaps look at them and say, your country is great and beautiful! And mean it.
And so I would like to end this with wishing the gracious and always friendly citizens of Iran much
'Power to their elbows', and to Vali of course a million thanks once again!
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arona
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back on it ralf
Good works brother super curious of the next leg of ur journey well...well... ill jsut wait for ur blog blessed be, u have not been back to nagaland since 2007 ya?? always dreaming of a return