Fleeing from catapulted melons (X)

By coincedence, Japanese and Persian have identical phrases which are completely different in meaning. Hence, a little Japanese dialogue with a fellow JP tourist could result to disaster. Two Japanese women ran up to me, freaking out when a bunch of curious Iranian locals pointed at them shouting 'Shinei! Shinei!' - they were merely saying 'Chinese?' but in Japanese, this is an imperative command meaning 'Die!'.

In the marketplace, some Japanese tourists and I noticed the bizarre form of watermelons on display. to this, we said the phrase 'Hendawane~' (meaning 'how odd!'). Hearing our conversation, the fruit vendor smiled and gave us three watermelons for free. we were puzzled, but accepted them anyway. Other fruit vendors nearby did the same, and some of them decided to just throw them at us like bloody hotcakes. One barely missed my head as I ducked.

It turns out that 'hendawane' translates to 'watermelon' in persian, and patriotic Iranians are always over-thrilled to hear foreigners speak their language.

I left Tabriz and continued onto Ardabil, a city established in the late 5th century. Furthermore, it's a prominent city due to the fact that Shah Ismail of the famous Safavid dynasty came from here. The Sheikh Safi-edin Ardabily Mausoleum is the highlight here with its glorious 'Allah Allah tower' (named so because of the kufic tile-work stating 'Allah' all over the tower in repetition). Ismail is buried here alongside many of his family members. This is a 13th century architectural gem full of generous tilework and history.

The library is quite a spectacle. Like the Ali Qapu palace in Isfahan, the walls have beautiful niched walls decorated in gold. The vast room definitely made my jaw drop as I saw the beehive-like walls surrounding me. The main dome of the mausoleum is intricately decorated and extremely high up in the air that I marvelled at its greatness.

Later on, I proceeded onto my long bus ride to the Azerbaijani border town of Astara. Astara is a little town without much to savor historically, but provides a glimpse of traditional farming and rural way of life. Here, I bugged my guide constantly as we looked out into the distance asking 'Is THAT Azerbaijan?' 'No? What about that house over there?'
And at the river acting as the border between the nations, 'Is that plastic bottle in the river in Azerbaijan?'

On the way to Astara, there are several huts along the road selling honey. This region is famous for its delicious honey, and I did have fun sampling them while stopping on steep hills beside the highway.

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