Yazd to the Caravanserai

A range of styles of dress. Yazd is super conservative, so there were lots of chadors. But also, it is Ramadan (until Thursday, woot!) so women have to dress more conservatively than the rest of the year anyway.

The eternal flame at the Zoroastrian temple in Yazd.

Walking up the hill to the silent tower thing where zoroastrians used to be sky buried.

Looking up from the atrium of the caravanserai.

A fox(?) head at the bottom of the stairs up to the roof.

Sunset.

And again.

Looking away from sunset back to the caravanserai.

The door to the caravanserai (it even has the little two-sectioned door).

Our 'rooms'.

The gymnasium in Yazd

We went to a gymnasium in Yazd and it felt most peculiar. You paid 20,000 rial to get in, but it felt very much like going in to watch my pilates class at home, or maybe dance class.

It inspired a post about healthy body image and having real-life examples of super fit bodies of all shapes/sizes/ages and not watching television or reading magazines that are trying to sell you things. But then it was too hot and I didn't write it.

At any rate. If you are feeling bad about your body, you should lay off the advertising and get yourself to a pilates class where you will see a whole bunch of people (mainly women) who are all lovely and using their bodies and are all shapes/sizes/ages and, even if you feel a bit awkward for the start, you will soon start to feel inspired about yourself (and healthy and strong). If you are in Melbourne I can recommend an excellent one.

Zeinoddin caravanserai - 29th August

We stayed last night in a caravanserai that was restored by hand. A real live caravanserai where traders on the silkroad stayed 500 years ago. We nearly drowned in the romance of it all. Not only that, but we were allowed to take our hijabs off. The wicked freedom of it was as intoxicating as beer (so, I'm a cheap drunk). We could also wear a tshirt if we wanted, but I found that if my shoulders had to be covered, I was actually more comfortable in the new Iranian dress/tunic thing I had on. Jess felt the same way, which I was super glad about because the other two girls went with the hair straightener and tight clothes and it is nice not to be the odd one out.

We go today to Shiraz, with a stop at Persepolis on the way.

Persepolis.

Shingles

One of the drivers has shingles, poor bugger is itchy and miserable.

Tonight we are staing in the Zeinoddin caravanserai. All in together with only curtains separating the beds.

Iran itself is still delighting me in every way. People go out of their way to help you. You get lots of encouragement when you test out your Farsi. The food is delicious. And everything is old or romantic or both. We are heading for Shiraz after the caravanserai.

The photos of others.

There is another fabulous photographer on this leg of the trip and he keeps all his photos online. 

You can see Uzbekistan.

And Turkmenistan. After our shopping trip in Ashgabat, looking for clothes for Iran.

And in Iran.

Keep checking back there, because he is amazing.

Yazd

Some of the wind catcher things (they have a proper name) that funnel cool wind down into the houses and then there is something else that funnels the warm air back out again. Genius.

Three pictures of the big thingamy complex. Looks like a giant building, is actually a facade. Do you notice a similarity to patterns elsewhere? (Samarkand? I can't remember myself now, I think Samarkand).

Some spice.

The perfect lamp/clock/boat/dolphin for my mantel piece. Now if only I would work out how to get it back in one piece.

Sunrise of the salt flats near Khoor then off to Yazd in a minibus

All salt flats, and then a camel on the way.

some more of the Damghan city tour, then the drive to Khoor.

The first couple are of, I think, an old mosque that is not in use any more. The original part is 1300-1400 years old, that is the bit with the rounded arch. The bit that has peaked arches was restored about 800 years ago.

Have I done a shot of me in my outfit yet? I have been wearing this since we left Ashgabat. I am still wearing it today. Yesterday (Friday) was 'the weekend' so everything was shut. In Yazd in the summer people don't open their shops during the day much because it is so hot that people don't tend to go out. So we are going to go this evening to find another outfit to wear.

A door.

Then we have three shots of the oasis where we stopped for lunch on our way to Khoor.

And two shots of the desert. They sure can put on a good desert in Iran.

some more of the Damghan city tour, then the drive to Khoor. 26th August.

The first couple are of, I think, an old mosque that is not in use any more. The original part is 1300-1400 years old, that is the bit with the rounded arch. The bit that has peaked arches was restored about 800 years ago.

Have I done a shot of me in my outfit yet? I have been wearing this since we left Ashgabat. I am still wearing it today. Yesterday (Friday) was 'the weekend' so everything was shut. In Yazd in the summer people don't open their shops during the day much because it is so hot that people don't tend to go out. So we are going to go this evening to find another outfit to wear.

A door.

Then we have three shots of the oasis where we stopped for lunch on our way to Khoor.

And two shots of the desert. They sure can put on a good desert in Iran.

Damghan city tour, 25th August

The doorway to a cobbler's shop.

A thingy in a doorway.

A doorway in the street.

A woman walking.

A tower.

The inside of a dome where they had only two windows in the roof that lined up with sunrise and sunset and let in enough light to read with no other illumination. Ingenious.

A bit of the Koran written around the wall of the same building.

A minaret (I know, another one!)

In the Damghan Jameh Mosque. This is an underground room and the measurements of the arches are so precise that if you stand with your ear next to one arch, you can hear someone standing by the other arch whisper something. But no one else can hear!

By the same token, the arches are also set up so that if you stand at one end of the room and speak normally, people at the other end of the room can hear you clearly.

First full day in Iran, part two (Shirvan to Damghan) 24th August

More scenery.

People taking pictures of scenery.

Scenery.

A self shot of the hijab to make sure I am not exposing too much hair cleavage (with a little help from my friends).

Looking at Asima's engine.

The man who came to save us.

And his tractor.

Another hijab check.

Where we sheltered from the rain until Jamie pointed out the cobwebs festooned in the rafters.