| Isfahan’s main tourist area is the Imam Square. At one end it has the Imam Mosque (a UNESCO World Heritage site, together with the square). On the other 3 sides there is a huge bazaar with shops selling Persian carpets (the one pictured had an asking price of USD 200), handicrafts, antiques and sweets. |
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| In addition, there are several cafes and traditional restaurants. A special dish is called “dizy”: arrives at the table as a soup that has been boiled for hours. The server will separate the liquid (to be eaten with bread) and then mash the vegetables and meat until they become a puree. Eat it with raw onion and ayran. Delicious! |
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| A fun way to explore more is to rent a bicycle (free for up to 3 hours). There are several centuries-old bridges, as well as gardens and parks to be seen. Not too far is also the old Armenian quarter featuring churches and narrow alleys. |
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| At night most parks and gardens become picnic areas. The ground is cold but the people bring huge rugs and sit on them. |
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| Many tourist guides talk about what to do when you visit an Iranian home. Just when we were asking ourselves what would be the point for mentioning that, since foreigners rarely have friends in Iran, we found the answer: as we were asking for directions, a couple on the street started writing something in Farsi on our map. Another passer-by who knew some English explained that was the family’s address and they were inviting us for lunch the next day. It was such a warm welcome from complete strangers. We exchanged gifts and they prepared traditional Iranian food, absolutely amazing! They asked if we wanted to eat European style (at the table) but we preferred to experience the Iranian way. |
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Isfahan 1/2
The survivor
When you see the flotation device on the screen of the laptop you know something is not right. Finally, after 3 years and 5 months since last Windows install, it happened: our beloved computer got sick in India (like we also did). A few days ago I decided to attempt a disinfection. But the kernel was badly affected so it wouldn’t boot at all. Fortunately, the built-in recovery system helped me backup the data on removable media and then I restored the hard drive to the factory state. Mission accomplished!
What is unusual about this computer is its toughness. You can see the metal frame since the plastic is already ground at the corners. It got covered with mud in Argentina, in dust in Atacama, got wet and dropped on cement countles times! It accompanied us in more than 30 countries on 4 continents. Neither the extreme heat of Mexico, the humidity of Vietnam or the rough roads of Brazil managed to break it and it still works without fault, 9 years since the manufacturing and 6 years since we purchased it.
So after removing the viral infection I was truly happy our Thinkpad X40 didn’t go the way the rest of our electronics (camera, gps, intercom etc) went!
Shiraz
| The main boulevard in Shiraz is Zand. Most hotels and many attractions are situated nearby. |
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| This is the Arg of Karim Khan citadel and former prison, situated in the old part of the city. One of the towers developed a lean over centuries. |
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| Also in the old city we found the Vakil Bazaar, the Vakil Bath and the Vakil mosque. |
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| There are some Persian gardens in Shiraz. All of them have square shapes and a water canal system. Such gardens influenced the appearance of the mughal gardens in India. |
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| The main attraction near Shiraz is, of course, Persepolis. This city was built around 500 BC to serve as the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It was later destroyed by Alexander the Great so it is not so well preserved. Not too far is the Naqsh-e Rustam, a unusual grave site for the Achaemenid rulers.
One of my first accomplishments upon arriving in Iran was to lose the camera I acquired in Bhopal for USD 120. I was able to shoot ~1500 pictures with it, giving an average cost of USD 0.08 per picture. Since this incident happened while returning from Persepolis, all those pictures are lost. Therefore, I am posting some public domain pictures for reference. |
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Part 3: Iran
We managed to regroup in Shiraz, Iran.
The first impression is that this country is much cleaner and better organized than India, and it’s inhabitants enjoy improved living standards. Not having seen Pakistan will leave some doubt regarding where is the big gap: at the India-Pakistan border, at the Pakistan-Iran border, or maybe there is a gradual change?
At the beginning we got very confused by the dual currency used in Iran. We visited another country with such system before (Cuba) but here it’s totally different. All actual currency (paper/metal) and all written prices are denominated in Iranian Rial. However, all spoken prices are in a fictional and unofficial currency named “Toman”, where 1 Toman = 10 Rials.
So when the taxi driver asks for “10,000” for a ride he will expect 10,000 Toman, which is 100,000 Rial. Even more confusing is when shopping. You ask for two bottles of water, and one bottle has a price of 20,000 affixed. But the seller asks you for 4,000 (Toman is implied), and you are expected to give 40,000 Rials (since Tomans don’t really exist).
Other than that, we learned the shippers from Bombay didn’t do a proper job and Palomina departed on the 4th of May instead of 20th of April, due to some unforeseen delays. Given the past experience with the Indian services, I wasn’t expecting a timely delivery, so I am not that surprised.
The end of Part 2
While we were originally hoping that part 2 of this trip was going to be the last one, the Pakistani consulate personnel messed up our plan. While waiting more than two weeks for some answer regarding the visa application (positive or negative) we were also trying to find some shipping alternative. Unfortunately, all quotes we were getting were higher than the cost of the motorbike.
But one day, as we were riding in Delhi, suddenly the clutch cable broke. This was the last one, being replaced in Vietnam (later I discovered the clutch lever had some bushing problem that was causing premature metal fatigue). So, after pushing the bike for some time, I reached a bike shop. I learned they were in the business of restoring and selling abroad vintage vehicles such as Piaggio Vespa and Royan Enfield. So they hooked me up with their shipper, who gave us a really good deal on the price, not that good on the duration: 25+ days Delhi to Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Soon after, some unexpected issues came up in Los Angeles that determined me to take a vacation break to deal with them. The plan is to regroup with Laura in Shiraz, Iran, in about 10 days and then go to Bandar Abbas to pick up the bike after she arrives.
To conclude our Indian endeavor, I am posting this funny but accurate PowerPoint slide I just got in the mail. Enjoy!
