Day 19 November 5th - Kerman area (Rayen and Mahan)

If you’re gate crashing the party you can’t set the rules... The ‘Spanish’ tour is leaving at 8 am and, much to my chagrin, I have to get up at 7amL

First stop Rayen, about 100 km away from Kerman. Some of you may well have heard about Bam, the 2000 year old desert mud-brick citadel oasis, once ‘the’ tourist highlight of a trip to Iran. An earthquake in 2003 raised it almost completely to the ground. Only a part of it has been reconstructed. Given the 3 hours necessary to get there, most tourists (such as myself) nowadays opt to visit Rayen, closer to Kerman, and also a remarkable ancient adobe citadel ringed by ramparts and towers built by the Sassanians over 1000 years ago. We relish the fantastic views of the surrounding desert and mountains from the roofs and ramparts and have fun wandering through the nooks and crannies of the ‘shahrestan’, the area within the citadel where the dwellings of the ‘common people’ were to be found. The governor’s palace has been restored and gives an idea of the luxury he lived in compared with his neighbours.

After a quick lunch stop, we visit Mahan and the tree-lined fountain terraces, palace and hammam of the Bagh-e Shahzde gardens built by the Quajars in the late 19^th century... A refreshing break from the heat of the surrounding desert.
Mahan is also famous for the mausoleum of the famous Sufi, dervish mystic Shah Ne’matollah Vali, built in 1436. The highlights of this stop are witnessing the spiral calligraphy of the walls and ceiling of Shah Ne’matollah’s tiny prayer room and crawling up the narrow, old minaret to command a view of the mausoleum’s beautiful turquoise tiled dome against the mountain backdrop. I almost got stuck with my backpack whilst climbing down...

Enrique and Antonio carry on with our taxi to the Kaluts and I return to Kerman with Oscar, where we head for the Kerman bazaar and the Vakil Chaykhaneh (teahouse) in the old hammam. Check out the photos, it’s a very atmospheric place... Arches, vaulted ceiling, beautiful lamps... I’m really getting into this form of Iranian ‘hanging out’... Spend the afternoon in a beautiful hammam, sitting/lying on a ‘takht’ (daybed), sipping my tea and nibbling away at date biscuits. If I hadn’t stopped smoking years ago I’d have also gone for the apple ‘qalyan’ (water pipe)...
Oscar catches his bus to Mashhad in the North West of the country to visit the shrine of the 8^th Imam, Reza, Iran’s holiest site (one for my next visit!) and I spend a relaxing evening at the hotel.