The question of which was the first monotheist religion would probably stun anyone, and it’s not strange, even the possibility that Zoroastrism is the first, it seems that not all the experts agree.

The question of which was the first monotheist religion would probably stun anyone, and it’s not strange, even the possibility that Zoroastrism is the first, it seems that not all the experts agree. The step to monotheism was a revolution, an advance in the settling of mystical thinking, a better explanation of the world, the human being, and of course, of God. Now there were not many deities, only one, a God that is an all powerful being, creator of the universe. The idea has stayed for over 3000 years and is reflected in the most strong religions that have lasted until today such as Islam and Christianity. After the zoroastrism was created, no other new religion was ¨¨polytheistic¨¨.

It was founded in ancient Persia where it was the official religion. Currently it has 2.6 million followers in Iran, India, Afghanistan, some other Central Asia countries and small comunities all around the world. Christianity has 2.1 billion and Islam has over 1.8 billion.

I go by car through the desert, I enjoy it, nearly all my moves in Iran are by night bus because Iran is very big but this time I want to see the landscape, it’s a new thing for me.

I see sand, a lot of sand, mountains of greyish colours and little tornados that rise before disappearing. I go to Chak Chak; the most important pilgrimage Zoroastrian place in Iran. During the annual festival from 14 to 18 June thousands of Zoroastrians come here.

The interior of this little fire temple of Pier-eSabz with a the non-stop flames at the back. The Zoroastrians pray towards light, this was the first light source know by civilization.

Zoroastrism is full of surprising things, it’s influence in later religions, it’s current state, it’s symbolisms, the relation with the elements and that even they’ve lost their scripts, the doctrine is still alive. It’s no doubt a set of solid ideas, and maybe that’s why it’s lasted so many centuries, it’s surprising that in Iran there are still followers even with the domination of Islam. Possibly it lasts for that reason, for being a truly advanced religion; monotheistic.

Zoroastrism is a dualist religion, this means that it understands there is an eternal fight between the good and the evil. I like the image that this shapes in my mind. Some of the teachings that I’ve liked the most are this:

– Happiness is a by product of a way of living. And happiness is for those who work for the happiness of others

– Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.

– Who fears God, does not know God.

– God is Wisdom Love and Logic.

– Man is not sinful, fallen or depraved. No comparison with the Greek gods I talked about a few months ago.

Zarathustra was the founder of the religion. The majority of his writing has been lost, same as the language in which it was written, the Avestan.

Ehh… I hope they don’t check.

Back to Yazd we stop to see two more things. The first is a pigeon tower, this had to be one of the most disgusting places on earth. They built this towers for pigeons to live in. there were 4000. The objective was collecting the manure to fertilize fields… How bad would the smell be!

The second we see is an ice hose. Outside there are two small pools where ice was created during winter. The ice was stored here in a way that it was sold during summer. It was a luxurious possession.

Mybod city built with mud bricks.

Pomegranates, a symbol from the country.

A caravansary with small rooms that were rented by merchants. In the middle a place to unload the camels so they could rest.

The caravanseray has a carpet museum. This man is weaving one.

In the centre of the square there is a quanat that brings water from the mountains. Yazd is other of place that claim to be the longest living settlement on earth just like Damascus and Erbil. Marco Polo described it as a splendid city. Years later it became famous for its silk. I go to see the water museum, explains all imaginable about quanats that were underground chanels built to collect water from the mountains and take it to villages and cities. The quanats could be hundreds of kilometres long and more than 100 meters deep.

This is a badg-ir from the inside. The tower is divided in two, one to collect the fresh water and the other to take out the warm one. To demonstrate that it works, a guy threw a piece of paper that flew up pushed by the air.

In Yazd city and desert are the same colour. When I was in Iraq I had no time to see a temple in which Yazidsm religion was practised, a religion I didn’t know about that believes in reincarnation, archangels and other things. I regretted having lost the opportunity so this time I didn’t want to loose anything Zoroastrian near by. The first time I heard consciously about the religion was in Mumbai two years ago. Apart from the doctrine, what is more surprising for us that don’t know about the religion are the towers of silence. In Mumbai they are closed to non believers but here I have been able to visit them.

In the outskirts of Yazd, on top of two mounts are built these towers of silence. The Zoroastrians could not burn their dead as they’d contaminate the air. The could neither bury them as they’d contaminate the earth, sacred elements for them.

So they would leave the bodies here in the heights so the vultures would clean the bones. In Iran which is the opposite to Mumbai they don’t use the towers any more and they bury them in concrete coffins so the earth does not get dirty.

Without realizing my site seeing time in Iran is coming to an end. I need to go to Tehran to get Uzbekistan visa and I have no more days as the time to get to Turkmenistan is fixed.

I try to get a taxi to the bus station but I end up in a car that tries to sell me any kind of alcoholic drink. He takes me to the bus station for free.

In the bus station a guy comes to talk to me, by now this does not surprise me. While we chat I see another young guy come around but as I’m talking with the first guy he’s waiting. A bit later I see another more guy waiting around. This is too much! There is a queue!. I end up talking with all of them separately until I get to the bus. My seat buddy plays in the waterpolo team and has meet the Spanish team in competitions.

The bus starts moving.

Will Tehran be as chaotic as I imagine?

I’ll tell you soon.

Fernando

The name is suggestive. You feel like going to see what was the great Persian empire at its peak that’s why I put it in my itinerary for the trip.

Before going to Persepolis we stop to see these tombs carved in rock.

And finally we arrive.

The winged lions welcoming us.

Construction started in 518 and lasted 150 years.

Persepolis is near Shiraz(the same name as an Australian grape) so the best thing is to find a tour here so they take you to the ruins, in that way you go with more people and they tell you stories. I met an Italian guy that gave me a lot of info for Uzbekistan and an English guy that likes flying in different planes, one of the reasons for him to be in Iran was that there was a flight from Tehran-Beijing in a mini jumbo, this plane does not operate in Europe any more. Another one for his collection.

I like the lion.

The features are very detailed and everywhere you can see sculpted figures of the different tribes that the Persian empire dominated.

Persepolis is interesting for its meaning , what you see, is beautiful but once there it’s not very impressive, the centuries that have past since it was built and the remsacking of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane have left little standing.

But not all Persepolis is an ancient story. In 1971 Shah Mohammad Reza Phalavi(the last Shah) held a sumptuous party in the Persepolis ruins to commemorate the 2500 anniversary of the Persian empire. It’s said to be the beginning of the end, many people became infuriated with the waste of money(it’s estimated he spent over 100 millionEuro). Some other people say that put Iran on the map as government leaders from all around the world were invited and it brought amazing revenues in tourism for the next few years.

In Shiraz I met this guy in the market. He was a nice guy a bit of a renegade of life, he didn’t stop complaining about absolutely everything, took me around and showed me a few things. He also proposed to show me around next day but I had no time.

I eat a camel stew, it’s cooked with spices and I dip until the last drop of sauce. May have given give me a hump?

The other Persepolis is the comic. In 2001 the Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi created an autobiographic comic. It tells the recent history of Iran based on her life with the revolution and Iran-Iraq war as the time frame. If you have not read it, you want to have some fun, learn and review Iran history, I’d tell you go and buy it right now, it’s easy to find it in bookshops or comic shops. I’ve read it all non stop.

I put here some of the pictures so you get and idea on how it is.

It starts when she was a little girl, the revolution was starting that is when the Shah was removed and the religious power was imposed. It is funny that by this time Marjane wants to be a prophet when it’s something only possible for men. Transcript: – We didn’t like too much wearing the scarf, specially not understanding why. It’s too warm. Execution for freedom. I’m the shadow monster. Return my scarf. You’ll have to convince me. Soooo.

A revolution was needed because the Shah was not doing things well, however not everybody agreed on transferring the power to a religious power.

– Stop there. Are you saying we don’t know how to educate our kids?

– Mrs, we are in war. There are a lot of kids that don’t go to school. Your’s are fortunate! So you should obey!

– Obey to hit themselves twice a day? – To go covered from head to feet? – So they can’t play with boys their age? – Oh!

– Anyway that’s what it is. They obey the rules or we’ll expel them.

– An they have to wear the scarf properly…

– If the hairs are as exciting as you say, why don’t you shave your moustache? My father said that.

To get into the art faculty, apart from the tests, there was am art test. I was sure one of the points would be an army drawing. For sure! So I got ready copying Michel Angelos’s “Pietat”. That day I reproduced it adding a black chador to Virgin Mary, an army dress to Jesus and adding two tulips to the sides so there would be no confusion. – I was very satisfied with the drawing. – It’s said that the blood of martyrs grows red tulips.

The dead were converted into martyrs and used as propaganda.

The war with Iraq was a massacre, 19 year old kids were sent to the front line knowing that they would die.

– Do you see this? – Yes, it’s a plastic golden key.

– My son has been given it in school. They have been told that if they are lucky to die fighting, they’ll find paradise with this key.

– My god! – Come, cry, vent your frustration. – I go to prepare a tea.

What was wondering in peoples heads during the day to day life.

The regime had understood that if a person left home thinking… Are my pants long enough? – Do I have the scarf properly set? – Is my make up seen? – Will they whip me? – They didn’t ask themselves any more. – Where are my thoughts on freedom? – Where is my expression of freedom? – Is my life bearable? – What happens in the political prisons? – Normal. When you are scared you loose the capacity to analyse and reflect. Our fear blocks us. That’s why fear has always been the engine of repression and dictatorships. – Show the hair or having make up became the logic in rebellious acts.

Rivers always tell stories, on it’s s banks there’s people living, things happen. Kayaking you can see the villages, then hanging bridges, the women washing clothes in the banks, people with their dresses and the day to day life.

We were based in Maadan, a little village, it had three little food shops, a school, a mosque and… and… a river… There is no gas station so you have to fill up the tank with a can to continue.

The kids play in the river, it seems they spend all day here, and it’s how it is during summer. These kids are lucky, at least they have this entertainment, a village that small in the middle of the desert with no river has to be the most boring thing for a kid. The floating system is just great.

One afternoon we went to see the sulphurous waters from a spring, the water was so clear that you cannot really see it in the picture. We were near a National Park.

The green of the paddy is what I’ve found specially captivating, they were growing with a strong red that seemed like they were growing just at the same time we were kayaking, I took hundreds of pictures of them. When the wind blows it is a show in itself seeing how the wind moves from field to field.

Yes, I know, this is the same image as in the video, but as I’ve liked that mountain I put it anyway.

A panoramic of Heidar going down the river. We had just been helping two men to recover a net they had trapped in the middle of the river.

One afternoon I played some Spanish music for Heidar, I wanted to show him that the Spanish music was more than Enrique Iglesias so I played a lot of different stuff for him, to complete the thematic Spanish evening we finish watching the film Vicky Christina Barcelona in where you can see the Barcelona city very well so I can tell Heidar some more stuff about Spain with some context.

In this area women do not wear black chador, They go covered, but with a traditional dress with very lively colours. Picture is very bad, I know, but it was impossible for me to get a better picture, I didn’t wanted to offend them taking the picture.

Kids with black colour as only Iranians have.

There are no kids having a swim, there are also men fishing with nets and men working on the paddy fields, as the one that invited us to have fish yesterday. They called us initially because it was a surprise for them to see us in a kayak, then their surprise got bigger to see that someone from that far had come here, for them I was as exotic as them for me.

The most talkative man asked me how waould his village compare with the ones in Spain. I explained to him as much as possible some differences without offending his humble village, he told me he wanted to compare how his government treat them.

The second question was more direct: “Why does your governments dislike our government?”. Me innocent, after having been several days in the city hearing constant complaints about the government answered sincerely(and in a simplified way): “Because your government does not give you freedom”. All this with the help of Heidar that was a neutral translator.

They told me that they had complete freedom, that, in fact they were one of the most free countries. I’ve met a follower of the regime! Those votes have to come somewhere. For him that women have to wear a scarf is not a lack of freedom, it is good for her, the religion says so and they are Muslims. That a guy wants to meet a friend(girl) is not bad, it means she’s a whore and it’s not good. Like this there were some other explanations.

For me his way to see things is not bad itself, he seemed to think it all genuinely, and that’s how religion is, you believe in it with the faith and you follow the set rules.

It was Ramadan and the man had been eating grilled fish. I don’t blame him, it was really good and working in the paddy fields must make you hungry. Also he was smoking, it was not tobacco, it was something that was not banned but I was told that made you stoned and it was addictive and not well seen, it may be an opium type of thing. I don’t know if it was related but he had a shaking fit in his hand that would have scared Catherine Hepburn. He was smoking it burning it with a hot metal stick and inhaling the smoke by a wood tube that he put near the “tobacco“.

Islam prohibits drinking because its bad for your body: “don’t hurt your body”. In the west smoke it is seen as worse than drinking(kind of it’s like that in society, isn’t it?). I guess this man was skipping this part because he liked smoking, you don’t need much to know that smoking also harms your body.

The man was incongruous for me, there were things where Islam had to be followed and others that were not. As a coincidence, the ones that didn’t have to be followed were the ones that were nice for him. He seemed to be indoctrinated, he knew the answers to my arguments, he was impermeable to any influence.  I guess the prohibition of foreign TV(satellite is banned) works, they can only see state tv in which they are half of the time praying or sermoning.

The upper section we kayak had a canyon with a totally flat wall.

In the quiet canyon.

Before coming back to Esfaha, we wen’t to visig Heidar’s cousin, that invited us to a chicken kebab marinated in yogurt mmmmmmmm. In the picture hot water with sugar, the colour comes form the saffron that the sugar has. After all day fastening it’s good for the stomach.

In the picture some ramadam sweets that are eaten after the water and before dinner. To my surprise they do normal dinners. I had in my mind the idea from school times that after all day without eating they had a real feast all night eating a lot.

We came back to Esfahan, once again Heidar’s family hospitality gave me a place to sleep and a home made dinner. Before going to the night bus I went for a famous saffron ice-cream with Heidar. The new taste made me feel good, lucky, I had one of those “travel moments” where you say….fffffffffffffffff, how great it is being here!

The bus was great, Heidar took me to a super VIP bus with just three seets per row, like business class in a plane. I was equipped with my pullover and a scarf for my mouth to beat the glacier cold. Didn’t want to awake my cold.

Soon from Persepolis.

Fernando

Paddling has always taken me to marvellous and remote places. This time it’s a lost corner of Iran that does not appear in travel books. I’ve come here because a few years ago I saw some pictures of Iranian rivers and since then those images had got stuck into my mind, with the absolute intention of coming one day, so here I am, in the Armand river. may be the best white-water river in Iran.

Even it’s an ideal river, it’s so remote that no many kayakers come, it’s a river where rafting is done but that kayak is not very popular yet, in fact in all the country there are less than ten white-water kayaks so some of the rapids have not been kayak before by anyone. Yes, that’s it a first descent, one of the things that a kayaker can wish more, being the first person running a rapid.

In the countries that there are more kayakers, the first descent are simply or are so difficult that nobody has dare running them, or so lost that nobody has found then. For example, this spring some kayakers in Spain has done the first descent of the Aurín river Pyrenees, which is quite rare as there are not many rivers to discover.

In our case it’s simply such a far away place from the big cities and as there is not many people kayaking that nobody has kayak it all leaving it to Heidar and mi.

For not boring the non kayakers, the video is more a video about the river, it’s landscape and people. I hope you like it. don’t expect difficult rapids it’s just grade IV. Here you have the video, tomorrow I’ll publish some pictures.

The music is Iranian, this time I haven’t used traditional music and I’ve used rap music. For a long time I wanted to get some Persian rap and for the video it’s great. The first song is from Hichkas, one of the best rappers. The second, when Heidar is going by the long rapid in high speed, is from Cheshma roo mam(at least that’s what the name of the song says).

If  anyone wants, the river can be done in raft, and in spring with more water it has to be great for it. The company Iran Rafting prepare trips, they are the people that has provided my the kayak and guiding and are real professionals.

Uploading this video has been a total pain, I’ve gone internet café by internet café(here called CafeNet) to try and upload the 170 megabits. Between the blocked pages and the speed it constantly cut and after three days trying you finally have it available in YouTube.

More tomorrow.

Fernando

I won’t get the next bus that has this banner.

Sleeping nine hours in a night bus may not be good. I was frozen and got a cold because the artic cold of the bus was like a NASA designed test to check the human resistance to cold. I have a running nose and my thigh is sore, but I’m in Esfahan. And it’s ramadam.

It’s not a surprise, I knew that my three weeks in Iran, were on ramadam, but due to days It was unavoidable, moreover, I was curious to live during ramadam in a Muslim country. During half a second I thought on following it, during the other half of the second it insulted me. It’s summer and it’s way too warm for not drinking water.

Esfaham is a lot more touristic than Jolfa and Tabriz were so people look at me less, or at least, with a less of a surprised face. Even thought they also stop to say hello, ask me if I need something or welcome to their country. Eight people stop me during they day and I don’t count the ones that just say “Hi”.

I go around the Imam square where you can see more of the buildings that make the city a masterpiece of Iran, what was the jewel of ancient Persia.

In 1047 the Seljuk made Isfahan the capital. If you remember about Erzurum, the Seljuk were the ones that constructed most of the monuments there. The empire covered from the west of current turkey to the very west of china. so you can see how big their empire was. After the Seljuk the Monguls completed decorating Esfahan as it is today.

Inside Imam mosque.

The palace of Chehel Sotu. Byron said; “Isfahan among those rarer places, like Athens or Rome, which are the common refreshment for humanity”

In the Imam square you can rent a bicycle for free to see the city, even with the way Iranians drive, riding a bicycle is an extreme sport.

When they pray they put these stones between the ground and the forehead.

In the Imam mosque, the most wonderful of Isfahan. The are several days in ramadam where the congretagion go to pray all night. The patio is usually empty but it’s full of rugs and sun stoppers, the picture of a perfect mosque get’s spoilt.

Can’t be clearer. “Down with USA”.

From top of the palace.

A guy sitting on the grass says hello. He’s got an unusual face and awakes my curiosity, I sit next to him. He’s got a Spanish book in his crossed legs and we talk in Spanish a little bit., he’s been studying for a short time and he manages well. We change into English to talk more comfortably. He turns out to be Afghan. In Irán there are a lot of them, they are the cheap labourers and the ones that do the more mundane jobs, the ones that the Iranians don’t want, they mainly work in construction.

He tells me that it doesn’t matter if you are an engineer, they don’t let you work in anything else. He tried to work as tailor but got caught and he got a fine, I guess he was whiped but I don’t ask. He makes a synopsis of what happens in his country, he’s 21 and knows the story of his country perfectly, he talks with a matureness and clearness that impresses. He says that his people are tired, that nobody was able to invade them before but now they are tired of fighting, that if they wouldn’t be tired the story would be different and they would not be invaded. He says it’s the first time that the etnics are divided. He’d like to go back to his country but there is no job, there is war.

We go back to the language thing as it’s less tragic. As it’s difficult for him to find books in Spanish I give him my e-mail, I tell him to send me his mail and I’ll send him some books. I haven’t received it yet, but I’d love to send them to him.

The buildings are great, seems to be taken from Aladdin, but the light was horrible so I’ve edited the colour so the pictures look a bit more like what it was.

Coram verse that was hanging from the fences of many government buildings.

I’m hungry but everything is closed, so I go to a hotel. The restaurants in hotels, bus stations, airports and others are open. Travellers are excused from ramadam as well as kids, sick people and pregnant women. On the way a man that looks like Javier Bardem says hello.

– Hello, Where are you from?

– Spain.

Rest of string of common questions. What are you doing here? Where have you been?…

– Where are you going?

– [In low volume voice] I’m looking for a place to eat. [Nobody understands but I find it funny talking like this.]

– You can talk in a normal voice, In Iran it’s no problem. You are a foreigner, you are travelling and you can eat. If you want I can take you to a place were you can buy food and the you come to my workshop and eat there and relax.

-….OK!

– It is nearby, it’s a typical food, aubergine paste with curry.

– Sounds good [I thought curry was only indian]

– The bazaar is quiet now being ramadam. My job is to restore an old nomad rugs. My father restores furniture and my mother paints. I’m told I look like Javier Bardem.

– Yes I had already realized [wow, he knows!]

– And like a French comedian that is already dead.

– I’m not very into French comedians, sorry, but they are normally kind of a bit tasteless…

We continue like that for a while until we buy the food in an open place in a main street, they only serve food to take away. He takes me to the workshop, brings out a spoon from somewhere that I use to eat not looking too much into it. He goes to do something and lets me there between the rugs. I make a video as the situation is peculiar.

The curry paste is very good but a bit heavy, takes me a while to eat it. When I finish he takes me for a tour around the Bazar-e Bozorg that is over a mile long.

He shows me this man that paints the fabrics with a printing technique, after painting them he washes them in the river so the colour is permanent. He’s got a certificate indicating that his traditional way to do it is cultural world heritage.

We stop in a workshop where different herbs and other things are grinded for tints.

This pink colour is achieved boiling pomegranate powder in milk.

After a while we say goodbye, I tell him thanks for helping me eating something good and I continue my way. I go a mosque that is closed because it’s ramadam and the schedules change in a way that there is no way to know. I chat with a guy that sells rugs. He’s nice, we talk about sex, women, Spain, Islam and he invites me for a tea. I tell him that there is no absolute way he’s going to sell me a rug and he tells me that it doesn’t matter.

It’s hot outside and in the shop it’s cooler. Two other Spaniards are inside talking with the other seller that has very good Spanish. We have the tea, the seller teases us as much as he wants, he’s got a girlfriend in Barcelona and he doesn’t stop joking. He tells us that Esfahan people have the fame of being mean and that it’s said that they don’t buy eggs because you through away the shell(and they don’t like throwing things away). I think he finds it funnier than us, maybe because we are all from Spain and we understabnd the stingy thing.

I promises to buy a carpet from him if he’s got one with a Pokemon, he laughs and offers me a nomad one.

Iranians are the picnic kings. Give them two square meters of grass and they’ll bring out the mat, some food an the teapot. This women invite us to have something but we had to wait a few minutes for the sunset, we are in ramadam.

From the distance this looks quite like south east Asia.

Getting dark.

It looks perfect from the distance, doesn’t it?

Esfahan was known for the teahouses in the river and in the bridges, it was a place to meet people and to relax. Many have closed now, it doesn’t seem to be a very proper place, young people can look to each other and smoke a water pipe. There are less and less and as it’s ramadam they are closed until the night. I miss some of Isfahan.

On the bus coming back to the hostel I talk with an Iranian man that lives in Scotland. He’s been living there a few years. He studied there and got married to a Scottish woman, they lived in Iran for a few years but they came back to Inverness. He thinks his sons will have more opportunities in Europe. I ask him I he practices ramadam. He tells me that it’s stupid, that he of course doesn’t do it, that not eating and drinking for 15 hours in summer doesn’t make sense.

Apparently after ramadam there are a lot of liver and kidney illnesses coming up and that its  not drinking under 40 degrees has no medical logic. He tells me that many people do not do it(which I had already realized) that people are bored of politics saying one thing making no sense and doing another. It’s the bad thing of joining religion and politics, when politics go wrong, religions suffer. He pays my bus and we say goodbye.

The day finished, I met so many people that I didn’t even see half of what I wanted so I had to come back to do the same route the next day.

Next day when it was mearing lunch time I bought some bread in another bakery with an irresistible smell. Even tourists can eat, it’s not very nice to eat in front of people that are fasting so I hid in an alley to eat. The can and I eat the bread on the sly.

Later on, I met Heydar, my new Iranian kayak buddy. We had dinner and I slept in his house as next day we were going to the river.  Yuuuupiiiiii!

I spend the last day of Isfahan with Heydar’s family. A total pleasure being with such a charming family.

The next post will be a video about the Armand river.

Fernando

Radical Islamists and dangerous killer terrorists. We travel with our prejudices. And the Iranians one as “the badies” is one of them. But Iranians are famous for something else, the one they have had for centuries, of being the most hospitable people ever on the earth s’surface. Because of their nomad past, part due to their merchant past, or for being cosmopolitan before New York existed. Iran is a country that during generations they’ve taken foreigners as a treasure brought from Allah.

Even last few years, maybe 20, or even lees, 10 years, have not changed this rooted tradition or changed the soul of Iranians in a sudden way. The outside policies of the government, doesn’t necessary have to match with the psyche of the normal people. I hope to find kind people, honest, generous, and over all, hospitable. I want to talk with the people to see if my image of Iran coincides with  the truth.

After crossing the border, with nothing special to highlight, I take a taxi to Jolfa. It costs me 10 dollars, a bit expensive, but I want to stop on the way to see something so its worth it for me. The Iranian phone company wishes me “A memorable stay”. I’m in the Aras river valley and I like the landscape.

The pictures doesn’t show the truth of the landscape.

The taxi driver tells me his name, it sounds like “Cerda”(Spanish for female pig), it’s easy to remember, I repeat his name often, I find it funny. He likes takewando and he talks really good English, he’s got a Peugeot similar to the 407, he’s paid 1000 dollars for it, I’d wish he had only had 500, because he takes me at 140 kilometres per hour in the bends and I’m not very comfortable with it. To complete my sickness Cerda asks me about what music I want to listen to, Iranian or European. I tell Cerda that he should play what he prefers. He tells me he likes European and after hitting “play” horrible electronic music that would have been prohibited in the “bakalo route“(early 90’s drug oriented route of discos with repetitive music) for being too repetitive.

We stop in a village with adobe houses, on the ground you can find ceramic pieces. My ears and stomach rests.

In case any time you have wondered how they know where Mecca is when they are not in their places, here is the answer.

I meet three Turkish in the hotel and we go for dinner together. As it’s early we go for a walk around the little village. An army pick up stops next to us, we continue with our conversation and our jokes. The guy in the right seat, which is the man with a higher rank talks to us, I understand no word, but the Turks get to talk with him. Seems that the guy wants to know if we are illegal, it has all the logic in the world, I must be the only blond person in the world, I have a blue backpack and a camera hanging from my shoulder, the ideal way to be unnoticed if you cross the border.

We are told to go to the pick-up. He goes to the headquarters. They ask for our passport that is in the hotel, I realize immediately it’s the first time in all my trip I’ve left the passport in a hotel. They talk with my new Turkish friends for a good while. The guy that drove the pick-up laughs a lot when the colonel, or whatever he is, is not looking. He realizes how absurd the situation is. The colonel get’s in the headquarters and we wait outside talking with the rest of the soldiers, they are doing compulsory army time and they are bored as hell so to talk with a foreigner is the best thing they’ve done in weeks.

A border policeman sees us thought the gate door. He stops to talk with the idiot general. He goes to get our passports and takes us out of there, he excuses us and takes us to the restaurant we wanted to go to. All the of this has taken over an hour, it has not given me any nervousness as I was seeing it so absolutely absurd that I knew it was a matter of time, one of the Turks says he’s suffered a bit, he’s a judies and Ahmadineyad(believe it or not I’ve spelled it properly at the first time) doesn’t like them too much.

The chicken kebab taste is good and my idea of Iranians still has not changed.

I stop in the Khajanazar caravanseray, here there’s a view from the outside with the Aras river mountains in the sides. I try to see some wild goats, but I see none all the way. The next canyon is more red than the Colorado canyon.

Inside you can see the different compartments that used to be rented to the travellers and the holes where the horses or camels were held.

Before continuing I come back to the Aras river valley. I stop in the 10th century St Stephanous church, it became part of UNESCO in 2008. In Iran there’s quite a community of Armenian Christians and there is a cathedral in Tehran.

Plant with kind of meaty fruits, I found it curious.

I get a shared taxi in the direction of Tabriz, as there’s a seat left we go around the center a few times to see if we find another passenger to leave. The driver shouts “Tabriz, Tabriz” from the window. I, to his total surprise, help him shouting “Tabriz, Tabriz”. Neither of us is lucky for a while.

Tabriz has given me an instant rejection, another middle east city, that noise, that chaotic traffic that doesn’t let you cross the roads, the monotonous colour of the construction, so many people… Georgia and Armenia were more organized, cleaner. I need to adapt again to this, but bit by bit. I don’t feel like staying here, and decide to stay here to see the two things I want to see of the city and go to a small village to sleep. I leave my backpack in the tourist information office and go to the Kabud mosque.

In the street three different people stop me to say hello and welcome me to their country. One of them tells me that his government doesn’t let them have the freedom that if we have in my country.

I’m surprised, girls have the scarf, all, it’s compulsory by law, but they have it more in the back than normal. You can see they have a head,  some even have their hair loose on the back and it shows out under the the scarf. In Syria and Jordan you don’t see this.

I go to see the Kabud(blue) mosque, an earthquake destroyed the work of 25 years that it took to decorate this in an intricate type with blue tiles. At the exit a young says hello. He talks fantastic English, he tells me that tomorrow he’s nothing to do, that we can meet and he’ll show me the city. It’s summer, he’s bored and in that way he practices English. Unfortunately this time I can’t change my plans I have to meet people in Esfahan to go paddling.

I see the Azeri museum, it has not much but in the ground floor there are some modern bronze statues, somehow tragic but cool.

I go to the bakery, the smell of bread has been in the air for 100 meters. I try to buy bread done here, but they don’t let me. The man gives it to me, also some sweets. He asks me to send him the picture so I’m going to do it as soon as I finish the post or I’ll forget it.

Tabriz bazaar has come to be part of UNESCO this last year, so I go around.

It’s quite an old one and very well preserved. It’s lunch time and there’s not many people.

I go to Kandovan, a place similar to Cappadocia. By the time I left Tabriz I was adjusted to it, but continue with the plan of sleeping in a village anyway

Some chimeis are still used as houses.

This is my room of the day. The carpet and that’s it. I’m going to sleep on a Persian carpet!

I eat in a restaurant with a half Iranian, Azeri family but that they live in Tbilisi, I didn’t have it very clear. The father is Iranian, but he tells me he can’t leave here (because he doesn’t like it). I talk with them for two hours, the older girl has good English, she tells me that she doesn’t like wearing the scarf, the mother is resigned, but doesn’t like it too much. They ask me tons of things and they invite me for dinner.

In Kandovan they have a basic life.

Seems people don’t like tourists too much here, I think they are bored of people coming to take pictures of them. I’m as discreet as I can and I leave early. When I was already leaving this man offered to get into his house.

Some spices.

Donkeys and non-black chadors.

With this I go to the centre of the country, to Esfahan, the city that promises being the most beautiful of Iran. The city of the sunset colours and I get ready to sleep. It’s been a long day.

See you soon.
Fernando