Hotel Laleh Yazd

... in the sun (where we seemed to spend most of our daylight hours). I was finding that any time there was a breeze I had to immediately put my sunglasses on, otherwise I would soon start to feel my eyeballs drying out. This had been especially bad on the non air-conditioned bus we had caught out of Kashan. We grabbed a Paykan from the bus station, and made our way to the Silk Road Hotel, another boutique B&B recommended by the Lonely Planet.

Southern Iran, and Yazd in ...

... Fire Temple (Ateshkadeh) with Dave and Nic, where the sacred flame has been burning since 470AD. Apparently, it’s a full time job keeping the fire stoked. The flame is protected behind glass and we behaved like typical tourists, trying to get a shot that made it look as though we were holding our hands over the flame. Heathens.


A short stop at the Amir Chaghmagh theatre provided a few shots of Yazd’s main ...

... the city in a well earned siesta and respite from the heat.

Had dinner at the hotel, tried to catch up on a few e-mails and upload photos, but since yesterday’s election internet access has become sporadic. This was a potent of things to come. Ninety fice percent of any websites were simply blocked and would remain so for the remainder of our time in Iran. I have no idea of why a travelblog site is a threat , but it was.

... or if they didn't think they could stand 2 weeks hard camping, but we decided to stick together as a group and trust Steve and Adam. (After all, they only get paid a fiver a day, not enough to justify risking their lives.) Unfortunately, Kim had to leave us and travel back to South Africa as she received some bad family news.

We left Esfahan early the next morning and drove across the vast, flat, greay desert, heading for Yazd, where we had one more ...

... get a dog for his girls"? Hysterical, and he says that this was a headline that was all over the news in Iran a few months ago. Generally speaking everyone that we've talked to wants the US and Iran to get back on better footing and are very happy that Obama is in office. Though they've all said that he's saying the right things but they want to see what he actually does. Most of them also think that Ahmadinejad (their conservative ...

... Toudeshq c'est sympa et qu'y passer la nuit est une bonne idée ; arrivé dès la fin de matinée (lever très tôt), je n'eus pas besoin d'un long temps pour réaliser qu'il n'y avait pas masse à faire dans ce petit bled sympathique. Une petite ballade avec un "local" qui a monté une auberge d'accueil - hôtel desert-style, le déjeuner avec la ...

... were being led around by an Iranian speaking what sounded to me like fluent German! Alexander's Prison was next. Was it used by the big lad to imprison people, or famous because of its inclusion in a Hafez poem? Sometimes the reality can be just too boring, so I didn't ask!! Our final tourist stop today was the Jameh Mosque. Yet more friendly Iranians, including Reza who wanted a photograph taken (by his friends) of him ...

... A hefty stone wheel was grinding henna, with the power being supplied by a small engine. No need for a donkey in these parts! Bags of dried lemons also awaited a good ole grinding and milling. A simple operation but fascinating to watch. Off again and soon a stop to view (and no doubt photograph) a water reservoir. My interest was immediately captured by a roofer and two young boys mixing mud and straw. The man was shovelling and ...

I got up early in the morning and sauntered through the maze of the old city, visiting the Alexander Prison, the Hosseini and Khan e Lari. Legend has it that Alexander the Great built a dungeon in this complex to house prisoners. Apocryphal as it may be, Yazd is sure ancient enough to afford this kind of legend. No longer caring whether I got lost or not, I enjoyed wandering through the brown mud-brick maze. At times the street is completely abandoned and eerily silent, like a ghost ...

The city was deserted, as it usually is on Friday. Through the hotel manager, I hired a car and driver to take me to Chak Chak, the Zoroastrian pilgrimage site. He arrived in no time, waiting in his silver Peugeot in the blinding sun. Mohammed Reza was just 22. And being as young as he is, he was more interested about cell phones, cars and money. We drove through the simmering desert listening to Modern Talking, his favourite band. In ...