Blogs from Esfahan, West, Iran, Middle East - page 7

Woke up around 7:30am, went across the street bought some Barbari (one of the four types of bread in Iran) came back to my dorm and ate it with cheese and Nutella. Afterwards checked my email at the hostel and called Beyruse. He said he will come at about 11am. I checked out of the hotel and put my luggage in Beyruse’s car and went roaming around the city centre. Afterwards Beyruse took me to the Soffeh bus terminal and I took the 1pm bus to Tehran. Once in the bus I continued to read Pet Semetary and then I suddenly realised that I had left my passport at Amir Kabir guest house. Generally no guest house keeps the passport but these guys decided to keep it and I forgot to take it from them. Quickly ... read more

I woke up around 7:30am and the rest of the people were fast asleep. I tried to go into one of the rooms to get my stuff and to shave and have a shower but the room was locked and I didn’t know where the keys were. I spent the next two hours with my mobile deleting text messages and updating my contacts list as I couldn’t do anything else till these guys woke up. They finally woke up at 9:30am and we had breakfast. I love this Iranian breakfast of cheese, walnuts, butter, honey and Lavash (one of the 4 types of bread in Iran). Oh yeah they also have yogurt as well but I ate yogurt with sugar while they ate with lavash. These Iranians drink so much tea it’s not funny; three cups ... read more

Zahedan Bus Terminal The Zahedan bus terminal is away from the city. No one speaks English and it is a bit of a pain. Fortunately two guys who came with me from the border to Zahedan helped me buy the ticket to Esfahan. It cost Iranian Riyals 65,000/= or they also call it Tumans 6,500/=. Obviously One Tuman is equal to 10 Riyals. There was a dodgy looking guy who came and started asking questions in Farsi. Then another friend I had made while being there came up to me and started talking. Then the dodgy guy went up to him and started asking questions about me. Questions like where I am going, who is funding me etc. Anyway the dodgy Zahedanian went his way the moment the guy I knew took his bus and I ... read more

Last day in Esfahan and the schedule is padded with lots of air. We start out at the Esfahan Jame Mosque and the nearby bazaar. The mosque itself is full of pigeons and has some damage from an Iraqi air raid. Farzaneh describes her own memories of similar attacks. We have a quick glance through the bazaar along the way. I am always on the lookout for more portraits of the Ayatollahs and the president, having acquired a small collection already. One interesting and unusal type of shops are the ones that specialize in wedding equipment. What catches the eye is a number of big ornamented table stand mirrors in white, silver or golden colour. Another oddity is the mosque with the shaking minarets which is our next stop. Having wandered around Naqsh-e-Jahan Square the other ... read more

A morning IranAir flight brought us down from Tehran to Esfahan (or Isfahan). There were indeed wonders to behold in this city. The principal destination was the Maidan, or Naqsh-e-Jahan Square (called Shah Square then). The central structure is the imposing Masjed-e Shah or Shah Mosque (now known as the Imam Mosque). The mosque was begun in 1611 during the reign of Shah Abbas I (1571-1629), who rebuilt Esfahan as his capital. It was simply stunning with its mosaic tile ornamentation and the elegant blue tiled dome was especially memorable. The mosque is considered to represent the high point of Persian architecture in the period of the Safavid Dynasty (16th-17th centuries). Along with Naqsh-e Jahan Square, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Most of the famous historic structures in the city date ... read more