We catch up with a couple of the sites we were too late to get into the day before, starting with the shrine of Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin, where today only women are allowed in. The mausoleum houses the tomb of a local Islamic notable and was built in the 14th century. We borrow a white chador and join the women and children paying their tribute to Imam Hossein inside the mosque. Some are lightly beating their chest, others are singing, others sobbing loudly. The ‘farangis’ i.e. us, the foreigners, are looked at with curiosity usually followed by a smile when we salute them with the customary Salam Alaikum. A fascinating scene... It’s time to join Zoroaster again and take a taxi to the Towers of Silence. Zoroastrians didn’t bury their dead, but left them exposed to the elements (better said, to the vultures) as they believed that burial or cremation would contaminate the earth and the air. The two towers stand in a dry plain on two hills just outside of Yazd. We climb to the top of one tower and take in the beautiful view of Yazd in the distance and the Zoroastrian buildings below us, a pleasant respite from the hustle and bustle of the Moharram crowds in Yazd...
We now head for Meybod expecting a second Karranaq and find an impressive 1800 year old mud brick Sassanian fortress. Even though not as picturesque and suggestive as Karranaq, as most of the old town dwellings have been absorbed into newer buildings, we are impressed by Narin castle and explore the ramparts and interior and take in the superb view of the town, mountains and desert.
We head back to our hotel to witness the sunset over the roofs of Yazd from our hotel roof, followed by a farewell dinner with our Belgian co-travellers who are taking the night train to Kerman, washed down with quantities of tea and yoghurt drink (‘ayran’ in Turkish, ‘dough’ in Farsi)...
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