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Published: October 8th 2009
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Yazd View
The view of Yazd from Amir Chagmargh Complex. Oh, the climb up the tower was scary!! Btw, this reminds me of the view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower. Yazd A city with deep Zoroastrian roots. Initially, before going to Iran, I've read that majority of the Iranian's are Shiite Muslims. Little did I know that I would actually go to a city where the number of Zoroastrians would outweigh the number of Muslims. A city deep in history, with much to offer. So let's begin our tour of Yazd, shall we?
First up, I went to the Amir Chagmagh Complex, where we had to climb winding, steep spiral staircases. Alright, did I mention that I have an extreme fear of heights? Plus, the fact that I get claustrophobic easily does not help either! Nevertheless, I had to psycho myself, saying that I made the decision to come to Iran to experience new things, so why waste the time and money in coming here when I was going to play on the safe side of the road, yes? So here I was, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, yet at the same time, raring to climb the staircases. Throw away the fact that my legs decided to have a life of its own and started becoming wobbly, the journey to the top of the Complex was actually
Turquoise Against Adobe
Dome of the Mosque. Stands out amidst the colour of adobe a very interesting one. I've come to conclude (though how much of it is unsupported, I really am not sure) that Iran has many ancient buildings with long and steep spiral staircases. You really gotta be brave to try them out, like me. 😱
After a hefty climb, I was greeted by the very magnificent aerial view of the entire city of Yazd. As I looked around, I realised that the buildings were the colour of adobe (sand colour). Domes of mosques plus other special buildings were turquoise in colour. That was the colour scheme of Yazd. It was designed to be a monochromatic city. The colour of adobe (to represent the desert) and turquoise (the colour of the sea). Very ingenious indeed! It was a visually stunning spectacle, one that would perhaps remain etched in my memory for a long time. Perhaps when I grow older and have my own house, I would have a colour scheme, something like adobe and turquoise. They look great side by side, you know.. Please do google it when you have the time and are interested in knowing more.
Next up, I paid a visit to the Zoroastrian crematorium. This crematorium
Zoroastrian Crematorium
The place where they shroud the dead body was used in the past (though I can't exactly recall how many years ago it was), where they would shroud the dead's body, and place it in a huge crater-like place on top of a mountain so that the bodies would disintegrate into dust. They call it the Tower of Silence. Honestly speaking, it's like entering into a graveyard. Something like the graveyard they have in the cartoon movie, The Lion King. I was really scared to enter the Tower of Silence because I was afraid of the sad souls that might not have had the chance to die peacefully. Though the Tower of Silence is no longer in use, however, you may be able to feel their presence, and trust me, that is not a very pleasurable thought, if you know what I mean. I had to say lots of prayers so that God would be able to protect me from the harmful. As it is, I don't frequent graveyards! :S
We checked into Moshir Al-Mamalek Garden Hotel and it was one heck of a hotel! The facilities are not exactly five-star facilities, but it is decent enough if you are looking into a good night's sleep. Speaking
Zoroastrian Crematorium
The place where the left the dead bodies to decompose of which, the time now is 2356h in Singapore, I really ought to be going to sleep already! Yes, moving on, each room is designed to look like the interior of a caravanseraye, where I was told that the migrants would sleep in. It had arch-like ceilings, and the walls are made of clay. The windows are stained glass, whereas the interior of the hotel is HUGE! Huge, I tell you. You can roll around the bed 10 times to and fro and never fall off. You can run around the room and not be too affected by the size. You can lay your clothes around haphazardly and still find space to walk. Heavenly. Well, at least it was for me, because I could somehow never be meticulous enough to fold my clothes and place them neatly in one corner. So, guys, the idea that girls are neater may not necessarily be true, hehhe.. It depends on who you're talking about, yo!
On a cold wintry night in Yazd, I took a walk around the city, just to see how it is like at night. Boy, was it difficult to get a partner brave enough to accompany me! Of
Moshir al-Mamalek Garden Hotel
Check out the ceiling, yo! Makes you feel like you are in a caravanseraye course, the initial idea was to have me going wandering all by myself, but mom wouldn't have any of it. FYI, my society's pretty much still conservative, so yeah, that explains things. I had to drag my sister along eventually. She was a little reluctant and claimed that she wanted to stay at home and watch the telly, but I told her, "How can you watch the telly when you don't understand a single word of Farsi?" She replied, "I watched the images." Doinks. I told her there's no sense in that, and in the end, she reluctantly agreed to go with me. Ah, hail the power of persuasion!
Yazd's night scene. Hmm, pretty vibrant. One thing I noticed about the roads was that they had flowers and plants (of course, it was nearing winter, so the plants were dead) they planted along almost anywhere. Especially the ones at the roundabouts. Absolutely stunning, because you really can see some colours as compared to when you see brown mountains and a pretty much barren landscape. I was told that in summer, everything will come in full bloom. Like duh, HAHA! 'Course I know that!
So yes, back to the
Yummy Yazd cookies
Yes, they have personalized cookies for every city! main topic. Vibrant night scene. You really see the youngsters dressed up (for the guys, it's the shirt and jeans combo with a camp or hoodie or whatever, and for the ladies, in their black scarves and trenchcoats and jeans and boots). Oh, did I mention that I am absolutely lovin' the trenchcoat-jeans-boots combo? Yeah, wear that in Singapore, and people would most likely stare at you, especially if you wear that on campus. But the hell who cares. When I look good, I feel good. Don't you? So the youngsters were all hanging out with their friends, chatting merrily and just letting the time pass by. Or they could be sitting on benches in front of Amir Chagmagh Complex, just talking and joking and perhaps eating baclavas (which, by the way, is FANTASTIC!). Or they are just hanging out in malls, doing some window-shopping. Very interesting, not that we don't have it here in Singapore, but you would think that given the situation in Iran, it is very nice to see that they are still carrying on life as per normal and not hide in their houses or something, you get what I'm saying?
But the thing is,
Hotel Heater
At Moshir al-Mamalek Garden Hotel, where we hung our socks over the heater we didn't stay out for long cos the weather's getting really cold and coming from a tropical island in Southeast Asia, that made us more resistant towards the cold. Maybe it's because we couldn't get used to extreme cold. Especially at night, yes.
Alright, further updates real soon! Watch this space, yo!
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anonymous
non-member comment
really cool my family is from yazd and i go there every summer and, well ya, i have been to most of the places you are talking about and, arent those cookies good =) i brought some back to cali with me with much diffuctly but it was worth it =) hahahah...