We are staying at the Fahadan Traditional Guesthouse and Museum, a very atmospheric place with rooms along the central courtyard and teahouse. The hotel has its own underground water air cooling system (through small water channels called ‘qanats’) and ‘badgirs’, cooling wind towers, which are typical of the Yazd landscape (watch out for them in the photos!). A bit of luxury after over a week of 2 star hotels;-)
We meet up with Maud and Nils again, the Belgian couple who travelled into the desert with us to spend a day discovering Yazd, a desert town and a commercial node since Marco Polo’s days, heartland of ancient Zoroastrian culture and renowned for its mud-brick buildings with dome-shaped roofs . Our co-travellers appear accompanied by the 18-year old daughter of their host, who has decided to act as our tour guide for the day for her ‘farangi’ (foreign) guests.
The Tomb of the Twelve Imams (actually not a tomb, but a mausoleum dedicated to the 12 Imams of the Shia tradition) is unfortunately closed for renovation. We visit the nearby Khan-e Lari, a 150 year old Qajar era grand house, characterised by its ‘talar’ (terrace) overlooking the central pool, by its alcoves and stained glass windows. An old ‘taziya’ is resting at the front of the ‘talar’. A group of men parade the ‘taziya’, a smaller replica of Hossein’s mausoleum, by carrying it on their shoulders as a part of the Moharram procession in honour of Imam Hossein.
The Masjed-e Jameh of Yazd is a beautiful mosque, a smaller version of its namesake in Esfahan. At close to 50 meters its minarets are amongst the tallest in the country. Impressive tile artistry both on the dome, in the impressive entrance portal and in the main prayer hall inside.
Lunch awaits us at the Silk Road restaurant, where our Iranian teenage host and Nils give us a demo of their breakdancing skills.
We reach the Amir Chakhmaq Square and spend a few minutes admiring the alcove facade of this Hosseinieh structure, a congregation point to commemorate Shia religious celebrations such as Moharram, before we head for the Bagh-e Dolat Abad. On the way there we meet two young Quran scholars from Argentina (!!!) spending a year in Qom, the most religious of Iranian cities. One had converted to Islam as an adult and was planning to stay in Qom for a few years, the other was the son of Neapolitan immigrants to Buenos Aires who had converted to Islam when he was seven. An unusual conversion... They were comforted by the fact that we were enjoying our travels and were appreciative of Iranian hospitality.
Bagh-e Dolat Abad was built by the regent Karim Khan Zand in the 18th century. The gardens are a UNESCO protected site. We visit the giant pavilion and ‘badgir’, fascinated by the engineering genius behind the wind cooling concept and admiring the stunning stained glass and latticework interior. Walking along the water fountains we relish the cooler air and breeze. Before we head back to the hotel we stop at the Zoroastrian Ateshkadeh Sacred Eternal Flame, a site that impresses not for the relatively modern building that houses the flame, but for the history behind the flame itself, said to have been burning since 470 AD and moved to its present site in 1940 after passing through Ardakan and Yazd.
Next stop the Saheb A Zaman Club Zurkhaneh in a 16th century ‘ab anbar’ (water reservoir). Zurkhaneh stands for a particular type of Iranian body building. 5-6 men stand in a circular pit and in turn perform a series of exercises of strength accompanied by a frenetic drumbeat and verses by Iranian poets such as Hafez. At one point we were simultaneously looking at a man juggling, one lying on his back lifting 2 heavy doors and one praying... Interesting, but a one-off experience for me I think...
On the way home we pass a Moharram congregation point and pause to observe the goings-on.
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