Tabriz, Jolfa and back to Tehran

---

We set off the next day after a wonderful breakfast of bread, cheese and homemade -jam to Jolfa on the border with Azerbaijan. I had just finished the book by Kurban Said called Ali and Nino, about the romance between a Muslim boy and Christian girl growing up in Baku at the beginning of the First World War. Apparently this is seen as the national book of Azerbaijan. Fantastic story, romance and history interwoven…

After a long drive through Tabriz we arrived in Jolfa, where we had lunch in a great restaurant (sorry don’t know the name) we set off the last few km to St Stephanos along the Aras river, the border with Azerbaijan. On the Iranian side all is calm, road is there and there is nothing wrong with a tour bus going for a drive. Only 50 metres away on the further river bank are the watch towers and barbed wire of the border. On our return we did see two children there, but I cannot imagine many people get to see the Aras from the northern bank.

The ancient and isolated Armenian church of St Stephanos is set in a spectacular bowl of mountains; the original foundation of the church dates back to AD 62, though the visible remains are 14th century. Everyone felt the power of the place because of its natural setting, it made no difference to the Iranian Muslims that it was a Christian church. Inside and outside the church are decorated with carvings, I was much in demand in the group as the only Christian there, to interpret the carvings. One on the left hand side of the church exterior was clear; the adoration of the shepherds of the baby Jesus. There was another relief carving high up on the back of the church exterior, behind the altar, which I had no idea what was going on… it looked like people dancing more than anything else…

AS asked the caretaker whether we could light a candle in the church? I lit one for my dad and was surprised to find myself in floods of tears. Dad would have loved this ancient Christian church, founded only a generation after Christ.

Later we were taken by two local friends of the students to a group of waterfalls where many Iranians were at play, most were completely soaked, as if it were a wet manteau competition for the women, again trousers were rolled up, and children were laughing and practically falling down the slippery rocks where the water ran. We ate watermelon and joined in the fun… hilarious seeing the University guy completely soaked at the top of the mountain, he had seemed so serious!

When we got back to the bus some of the guys were dancing Kurdish style. A woman friend and I were told to join in the clapping, but it made me sad that we could not participate any more than that. Dancing with the men, or even dancing just with women in public was completely forbidden.

As one woman said, the men always seem to have more fun dancing. And certainly they had some wicked moves!

Getting back to Tabriz late in the evening we found a grotty restaurant to eat another chelo kebab. Toilet was foul, flies were everywhere and most of the students were disgusted, some to the point where they wouldn’t eat. I was not in the best of moods because of the long drive and just wanted to sleep, having no control over what I did when was beginning to wear thin!

However worse was to come, the women were to stay in some women’s student halls in Tabriz. They were beyond rough, so depressing and the other women were quick to tell me that they had never seen anything like it. We were shown a room that was filthy and had not been cleaned or tidied after the former occupant. We baulked at this, and would rather have slept on the bus. Eventually however we found a room that was slightly better, still with no mattresses, which involved another search. The toilets and showers were dirty, with leaking taps; they would not have looked out of place in a bus station in some flyblown town.

After only a few hours sleep we were off again, I was still knackered from the night before, and could not really appreciate some of what we were seeing.

Blue Mosque - this was a chef d’ouevre of its time - mid 15th century, however sadly it was mostly destroyed in an earthquake in 1773. It is only now being restored. The tiles are quite stunning, and you get an impression from the back wall which survived of what the mosque used to look like.

However for me the real surprise was the Azerbaijan museum. This is not to be missed if you are in Tabriz. Although the museum isn’t large, it has a great deal of spectacular pieces, especially from the pre-Islamic periods.

After the museum we visited the bazaar which was fascinating, you had to jump out the way of the men pulling hand carts at high speed, shouting Ya Ali, and the hoards of shoppers and sellers hurrying around the mazy alleys with great intent. Many of the female students liked this market of everywhere they had been on the trip, seeing it as much more than a shopping experience but a window onto the soul of Tabriz. I bought my brother an astrakhan Azeri hat in grey wool and brightly coloured thick wool socks for some of my friends.

A final lunch of chelo kebab and we were on our way back to Tehran. We arrived at midnight and after many goodbyes I finally got back to F’s apartment for some much needed sleep in a comfortable bed.

Before I left for Istanbul I went to have lunch with the dentist’s family I had met in Esfahan. They lived in a beautiful apartment in north Tehran, full of antiques and sofas galore! It was really interesting to see them at home. The 17year old daughter was dressed to the nines for lunch with her family and me, in a black and yellow 80s style off the shoulder minidress and black mules with four inch heels!

I understood how trapped she was at home compared to her younger brother who was able to go out and enjoy himself with friends. M like many teenagers loved being stuck in the fierce Tehrani traffic jams as this was a time she wasn’t at home and could flirt with people in the other cars. JG Ballard would have a field day at this linking of cars and sex!

---

Comments

[DreamMaker]

traveling in Iran
These have been wonderful posts--thanks! I leave in just a little more than 24 hours for my own Iranian adventure. Your detailed information makes it all come alive--probably better than all the hours I've spent trying to digest out-of-date guidebooks! Hopefully, I will be able to do some of my own postings. Donna Zabel [e-mail] www.dreammaker.org