Blogs from North, Iran, Middle East - page 8

After 2 weeks of travelling in the coast of Caspian sea and north of Iran, now i am here with new photos. first of all, i start with the historical town of Masouleh: an attractive nature and a wonderful architecture with an antiquity of more than 1000 years, is situated at a distance of 35 km from Fouman and 60 km from Rasht. You can take a taxi from Fouman to go to Masooleh which will cost around 3 euro! he buildings have been built into the mountain and are interconnected. Courtyards and roofs both serve as pedestrian areas similar to streets. Masouleh does not allow any motor vehicles to enter, due to its unique layout. It is the only village in Iran with such a prohibition. Besides, There are waterfalls, small rivers and springs, that ... read more

23rd May The train came to a shuddering halt at a station around 05:30 which pulled me from my sleep. Dozing until each station wasn't a viable option and I gave up around 8am. Looking across to Steph and Quinn, they had found the bizarre but inventive 'cappuccino in a can' which was self heating. They followed the instructions while everyone else stood around, fascinated. It was definitely hot and for the price, I think they wished they'd bought more. We arrived in Astana not long before 9am and were met by taxi drivers ready to whisk our luggage into their cars and be on their way. But Suse needed to get across that we wanted to go to Customs, not the border and to do that she rang the apartment owner in Baku to translate. ... read more

Sialk Hill (Tappeh-e-Sialk) Kashan, the city of contrast between the parched immensities of the deserts and the greenery of the well-tended oasis. There are many old beautiful houses and also Fin garden there. You need at least 2 days to visit Kashan. Sialk hills are located in the Kashan. it is almost inside the city and you can take a taxi for 1-2 euro to go there. Sialk Hill, is the remains of an ancient city, with the world's oldest zigurat in the world from 7500 year ago belonging to the Elamite civilization. The site is still under excavation. Based on archeological investigations carried out by both the French and Iranian teams, 6 cultural periods were differentiated in ancient hills of Sialk. The remains of people who used to live there can be seen. In the ... read more

Today was all about houses. Visiting old mountain houses in the city of Abayaneh, touring rich merchant houses in Kashan, and reclining with a belly-filling plate of Kebab in house-turned-restaurant. The home is an important part of Iranian culture, and today we hoped to get an insight into what those homes looked like ... well, what they used to look like, since we were visiting historic homes. Abayaneh is a Zoroastrian village up in the mountains that is fast dwindling into a retirement home. The young folks have long left the red-mud village and headed into the city, leaving behind ailing parents who eke out a living entertaining tourists with their quaint old village. Folks still dress in traditional Zoroastrian garb (or at least they do when the tourists are watching) and live in traditional red ... read more

I had been wanting to visit Iran for a very long time. Last year as I set out on my cycle trip around the world, Iran featured at the top of my 'must visit countries' list. I had met a few Iranians on my way through Europe and had made some tentative enquiries about what their country really was like. In the early stages, my limited knowledge of Iran was that portrayed in the media. On reaching Istanbul in Turkey, I tried to seek advice from the British consulate on whether everything in the media was being blown out of proportion. The consulate stuck with the party line telling me that they did not advise me to visit Iran. I had read an article on the internet produced by HM Border Agency, which I have to ... read more