Global Wanderer

7/7/2023 – 9/7/2023

Despite intending to get up early in order to get ourselves sorted, we both managed to sleep in! I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower at about 8am, feeling the effects of the heavy travel schedule. Dad took a little bit longer, his neck still playing up, but eventually we were both ready to head out for breakfast. Unfortunately, that meant saying goodbye to Ketrova Hotel, which was by far one of the nicest places we’d stayed on our trip. We met Khanoush outside the breakfast room, put in our egg orders (tomato omelette for me, please!), and stocked up on bread, tea, and fruit.

Once our eggs were polished off, we headed back to the room to collect our bags. I’ve got the start of a migraine, so I’m definitely not looking forward to this drive, but it has to be done. We stocked up on bottled water at the shop across the street, before getting in the car and setting off for our first destination of the day, the caravanserai of Meybod, about a 40 minute drive out of Yazd. This particular caravanserai is in immaculate condition, complete with a functioning well/qanat at the centre of the property. Here, it is incredibly easy to imagine yourself in the 16^th century, trekking across the Silk Road on your camel, stopping at the caravanserai for a rest along the way. What is amazing here in Iran is that you will very often see ruined caravanserais along the side of the road – showing that this particular route is quite literally hundreds of years old, and the road was just built where the original trail was! After a bit of a wander around the complex, we got back into the car and began our drive to destination number 2, the Jameh Mosque of Naein.

Before we got there though, we stopped for petrol (which weirdly enough in Iran is set at a fixed rate, and has been for several years), and I got to practice my Farsi skills with a few guys at the petrol station who were asking where we were from. Finally, we made it to Naein – the site of the ancient Jameh Mosque, parts of which date back over 1000 years. There were some impressive carvings on the wall, and an even more impressive deep water reservoir, which was impossibly cold. We spoke with the manager of the mosque site, who I found out had spent most of the pandemic learning to speak a variety of European languages, so we had a nice chat in French before heading off to Isfahan.

One more interesting event on the drive to Isfahan – a parade! As we were driving through a small town along the route to Isfahan, we came across a parade celebrating the recent Eid. There were camels, fancy outfits, and people handing out lollies to passing motorists (including us!). After a few minutes of driving at a snail’s pace, we finally broke through to the other side of the parade and were back on our way.

Oh my gosh, we’re finally here! This day has felt like it has gone on forever, and the heat was quite oppressive at times, but we finally pulled in at the Setarah Hotel in Isfahan, our beds for the next 2 nights. I was pretty eager to get out and finally stretch my legs though, so we headed out and began walking to the Armenian Quarter, about 4km to the south, to look for something to eat. We’d managed to coincide our arrival in Isfahan with an Eid festival, and so the streets were packed with people eating and drinking juice being handed out at the little religious stalls on the street.

A statue of an Armenian Orthodox priest stands proudly at the centre of the Armenian Quarter.

One of the sadder parts about such a beautiful city was the 33 Arch Bridge, which crosses over what used to be a wide river. Now, however, the river has entirely dried up as a result of water diversion. I can only imagine that it would have looked beautiful in its prime, the glowing arches reflected in the water of the river. Once we had crossed over the river, we headed towards Isfahan’s Armenian Quarter. Years ago, the Shah of Iran had granted land to the south of Isfahan for Armenians fleeing the Turks. They had set up their own little community (Julfa), built churches, and as Isfahan grew, had become part of the fabric of the city. Now, the area was more multicultural, but there were still some major giveaways – signs were often in Armenian and Farsi, the Vank Cathedral stood proudly in the centre of the district, and the area felt much more liberal, even compared to Isfahan itself, which was quite relaxed.

The beautifully-lit 33 Arch Bridge over the dry riverbed.

Whilst walking around the southern part of the neighbourhood, we found a street with a number of food vendors, and decided to stop there for dinner. I got myself a Turkish roll with chicken, tomato, and salad, and Dad and Kharoush got gigantic boxes of chicken, lavash, veggies and assorted picked, for what worked out at $5 AUD each. Before we headed back, we popped into a nearby coffeeshop, which seemed to be run by Isfahan’s hip young underground community. Rap music was playing in the background, and the barista we spoke to told us about her desire to leave Iran for greener pastures. Turns out young people are the same literally everywhere in the world!

A meal fit for a king!

An early start this morning, in order to beat the heat. We’ve been told that it isn’t as oppressive as in Yazd, but it’s still a good idea to get going earlier. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to the Imam Square, which we were conveniently staying close by to. Before getting there though, we stopped at a coffee-shop for a ‘real’ coffee (this turned out to be a mistake – all three of us spent the following 2 days racing back and forth between toilets – which we seem to have traced back to the coffeeshop…). Finally, we reached Imam Square. This is apparently the world’s third largest public square, after Tiananmen and Red Square, and it is easy to see why. The square is so big, you can barely see from one side to the other! At the centre was a deep pond with water features, complete with local kids swimming, which was surrounded by greenery right up to the edge of the square. Originally it was built as part of the nearby palace as a polo ground – you could actually see the goal post pillars still standing! Running inside the walls of the square was a gigantic bazaar, which we decided to explore later.

Some views of the square!

Our first port of call here was the Ali Qapu Palace, where the best views over the square could be had. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the palace was closed for renovations (that had apparently been going on for years!), but the large balcony was still open for visitors. It was certainly a spectacular view! Next up, we continued walking around the square until we reached the entrance to the enormous Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque. It’s located behind a set of wooden doors that were about 3 times my height (and I’m 185cm!), and consists of three big porticos covered in shimmery blue tiles. The mosque was one of those cavernous places where even a whisper seems to echo off the walls, and there was a dedicated spot in the centre where the imam would stand where the echo result in almost-perfect amplification. Once we had finished, but before heading out of the square, we took a walk to the local madrassah, where we’d been told there was an English and French speaking Imam who would be happy to talk about Iran and Islam. We jumped on the opportunity, and found ourselves in the imam’s office, being offered tea and sweets while we asked questions and had a bit of a chat. It was actually a really interesting experiences – up there as one of my favourites in Iran – as the imam was incredibly down to earth, very unbiased, and more than happy to talk about any and all issues with clear eyes. One particular topic I brought up was the Iran/Israel conflict. The imam was quite clear in his response – that the world is motivated by power, oil, and money, and that there are extremists on both sides of every conflict, including this one.

We headed out of the madrassah, and decided to head back towards the Armenian Quarter, so that we could visit the now-open Vank Cathedral (and accompanying museum). In lieu of walking back across the bridge, we decided to take a different route, and took the local metro instead! The metro in Isfahan was incredibly modern, and seemed to be quite efficient – and there fares worked out to about 16 cents each! Each train had 2 carriages, one at the front and the other at the back, which were dedicated to women, whilst the rest of the train was ‘mixed’. It was interesting to see that some women chose the women-only carriage, whilst others were quite happy to sit in the mixed cars. Again, much like Tehran, only around 50% of the women were wearing hijabs!

The pink women’s-only carriage on the right.

We surfaced on the other side of Isfahan, having crossed the dry river, and walked towards the cathedral, the entrance opposite the foreboding statue of the hooded Orthodox priest I had photographed the previous evening. Vank Cathedral and museum is honestly quite fascinating – the cathedral was obviously very similar in style to the ones we had seen in Armenia, but knowing you were in Iran was obviously strange! The museum highlighted the history of the Armenian people, and the part they played in Persian development, along with a great number of artefacts and paintings. There was also a large section dedicated to the Armenian genocide – Iran being one of the countries that has recognised it as a genocide. Again, I think the fascination stems mostly from the fact that within the Armenian Quarter, you can forget completely that you’re in Iran.

Inside the museum and cathedral.

Once we finished up in the cathedral, we decided to walk back across a different bridge, towards Imam Square. Sunset was fast approaching, and we wanted to see the square lit up – the bazaar was also open at night, and so we thought we’d take the opportunity to walk around whilst we could. Isfahan is a lot more cosmopolitan than Yazd or Shiraz, without the pollution or traffic that seems to plague Tehran – it seems like the perfect mix, to be honest! At night time, the city opens up and gets busy – but not with the kind of nightlife we see in Western countries – with families out and about eating ice-cream, old women shopping for fruit and vegetables, and people scanning the bazaar for fabric, copper, jewellery, and anything else you can imagine. In the bazaar, we stopped and watched in fascination as the proprietor of a copper store used his hammer to carefully shape a plate.

Our last stop of the day, and the last thing we’d do in Isfahan, was to stop for saffron ice-cream. There was a family sat near us on the wall of the square, with a young lad of about 6 playing with a toy gun. One thing led to another, and Dad is lying on the floor, pretending to die, after being shot in the chest by the kid’s cap gun! It brought a laugh from the people nearby and a grin to the kid’s face – just another one of those cool experiences where you get to be ‘part’ of life for a few moments!