There is always one at the border and this time it was me! Leaving Armenia was fine, we met our Iranian guide in between the borders so she could help us across. Us women donned our head scarves and everyone else went through passport control apart from me
I had to step back and wait, after a while our guide managed to ask what the problem was apparently my passport didn’t scan and we’d have to wait another 10 minutes. Eventually a second man came out to the booth, logged in and scanned my passport. He didn’t seem very impressed that his colleague hadn’t managed it, but I was through. And that was it all done.
It’s funny what you notice, as we drove off it was the car colours most cars are white with the some tan, grey or silver with the occasional black car. Also lots of street stalls.
Our stays in Iran were all in hotels no camping is allowed so a bit of a treat here.
One of the things we noticed was pictures of men in Military uniform displayed along the road. This we found was memorials to those killed in the Iran, Iraq war. A reminder of yet another war (1980 -88) in the relatively recent past and how fortunate we are to be an island.
Our first stop was at Tabriz and we had our first trip to a mosque
Our introduction to the architecture and ceramic workshop of Iran.
We noticed a lot of women without head scarves on the streets.
After this we had a long drive day to Maduleh in North Iran. The scenery gradually changed through the day in a surprising way as the sandstone and desert disappeared to be replaced by greenery. The roads got smaller the day got darker and we squeezed past lit up stalls as we got close to our hotel.
We were amazed at the countryside, paddy fields and tea plantations. So different from the dry country previously and I was surprised to hear that Iran ranks no 7 in the world for crop production
Our main trip here was to walk up to Rudkhan castle, 247m up a steep path, and now a ruin. The walk was a bit of a shock. 72 storeys over around 2 miles and the time alloted was 1 hour. I eventually made it after 2 hours! The bottom of the walk was lined with stalls selling souvenirs and food and drink.
I have never had so many young men trying to hold my hand!! They established that I was a grandmother and then wanted to keep me safe on difficult bits. We discovered that we were a novelty, everyone wanted to say hello. One young girl was so excited to get a response that she screamed in delight and ran off.
I abandoned keeping my headscarf up part way up. Plenty of other women were bare headed.
This area we found is the fun capital of Iran. It much more liberal than the rest of the country and people can get away with more there. I even saw some suspicious looking unlabelled bottles.
Our next location was Tehran, and the sights there. We had a minibus trip around the city to see the place, museum the tower and a drive past the old American embassy now a museum.
In the museum we were introduced to the Persian empire the biggest the world has ever known and to Cyrus the Great who was the father of the empire. More on him later.
We couldn’t stop at the old embassy so just had a quick drive past
The place was designed as a blend of Persian and European styles, an official building designed to impress
The tower was a monument to 2,500 years of Iran.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,500-year_celebration_of_the_Persian_Empire
We were kept on a tight rein in Tehran and only allowed out with our guide. It was a relief to move on to less built up areas.
After
Next stop was Kashan, this should have be via Qom, however it was a religious holiday and would have been too crowded.
The area is also known for its rosewater distilled here and used for beauty preparations and flavouring for food and drinks.
This is also where we had a fantastic hotel with outside courtyards and a glamorous restaurant.
We went on the red village so called because of the clay it is made from. This is very much a tourist attraction. very busy although you have to pay to go in.
Here is a chance to see Ashley with a fellow traveller from Bridgwater- its small world!
We carried on to Isfahan which has been the capital of Iran three times, the last time in the 17th century.
The first night we walked down the main boulevard to the bridge all beautifully lit up.. The town was busy as night fell and the day got cool. The river is dry currently due to the water needs along it’s route.
We again visited mosques all very beautiful and intricately tiled.
The surprise was the Armenian church. Lavishly decorated and in use. The decorations were very Lavish with an old testament wall a new testament one and one depicting heaven and hell. Not one to show the children!
There was also a memorial and display about the Armenian genocide. I didn’t get to see the genocide museum in Armenia, so this was my introduction. The genocide was carried out by the Turks in 1915 – 17, but has not been admitted to. The Armenians were moved further from the border for their protection. Which is why the church is here.
We did find that there was an Anglican church in Isfahan, but this was now Saturday, too late to organise for us to visit
We also went to see the 40 column palace. 40 means abundancey rather than a particular number. This was an official palace for receiving guests built in the 17th century. Paintings inside depict historic events battles and also the relationship with India where the crown jewels were sent to protect them from th Ottomans.
There is a central square in Isfahan. It is surrounded by the bazaar and the royal mosque the grand mosque and a palace. It is also where the game polo started. It is the second largest square in the world after Tiananmen Square in China .
the next mosque we saw was the most beautiful one. The royal one for the family.
In the geand .mosque we saw a women’s exhibition about how women are well off under the revolution and had a chance to talk to the friendly cleric. I missed most of the conversation, however a local advised a fellow traveller that the cleric wanted to “wash brain “us .This is the oldest mosque in the world built in the 11th century and the first Shia mosque.
The place off the square was intricately decorated but with wood rather than tiled
The local cafe is copper work decorate with paint and fired
And of course we had to take the opportunity to have a full scrub and massage at the local hamman.
