A night in Egypt
Location: Mr Mohammads House, Mesr, Iran
Date: 29th April, 2008
After briefly stopping to admire the Khaju Bridge in Esfahan, we made our way to Na’in.
First stop was the millennium old Jameh Mosque. Complete with cool underground tunnels (much appreciated now we’re in the desert), the mosque was in use as we arrived ahead of 2 coach-loads of German tourists.
Next stop in Na’in was a place a bit off the beaten track. Hard to find without a guide, there are some old workshops carved into the hillside in the old center of Na’in. Cool and dry and also about a thousand years old, one was occupied by two gents well into their eighties. Weaving rugs on old-fashioned looms from sheep and camel wool, we couldn’t resist buying one to support them.
Nearby, we scrambled up the hill to the Mohammadiyeh castle, perched in an ideal defensive position with a 360 degree vista. Unfortunately, the castle’s door was bricked up, so we couldn’t get inside.
Driving into the deep Lut Desert, we continued onto the town of Jandaq where we were invited into another house, drank a very sweet cherry juice and ate more wonderfully succulent Iranian fruit (what do we do to it back home)?
After a short while, we headed up the dusty dirt track to the town to Mesr, a town named by Joseph (not sure which one), as it reminded him of Egypt. Mesr is Farsi for Egypt.
Hasham and his sons, Hussein and Ali, made sure we were looked after. After some welcoming drinks served in the alcove in the north side of the courtyard of this traditionally shaped desert house, we heard much low rumbling from outside – a flock of camels, including some very cute babies. Pick of the bunch was the crazy camel that was raised by a cow, man, I’ve never seen a camel jump so much!
And tomorrow we ride them…
A house and gardens
Location: Amir Kabir Hotel, Kashan, Iran
Date: 26th April, 2008
Happy Birthday Kristy! I, of course, got her a book about travel!
Man, it got hot today. We drove about 400 km from Hamedan to Kashan, dropped a couple of thousand feet (to 3500) and dropped a couple of degrees of latitude. We also got closer to the Lout desert, so that all meant it got hot.
We arrived in Kashan in the middle of the afternoon, and drove straight to the Tabatabei house. The 3500sqm house was the house of an obviously wealthy merchant who made his money in carpets (what else!?!) in the mid-19th Century. Wonderful courtyards, with fountains and flowers, with cool underground areas and wind-towers to catch the breeze direct it to various parts of the house (think 19thC a/c), made it a pleasant place to spend some time.
Also extremely pleasant were the Fin Gardens, Bagh-e-Tarikhi-ye Fin. With a natural spring, rivulets, pools, old Cypress trees and all kinds of plants – as well as being several degrees cooler than the outside, made me want to stay all day. It was also full of giggling schoolgirls who wanted to take a photo of themselves with Kristy and I. Famous for a few minutes – remind me *never* to win an Oscar…
Fin Gardens also has its share of stories, from the stream that was discovered by Soloman (maybe the King, or maybe someone else), to the murder of a Caliph. Checkout the Wikipedia entry for more.
