Iran Hotel Esfahan

... te stavili v Esfahánské Arménské ctvrti Jolfa a
navštívili místní katedrálu. Byla to taková smes islámské architektury a krestanské výzdoby,
ale hodne zdobná a hezká. Hodne pusobivé bylo obzvlášt vyobrazení pekla
vcetne vytrhaných strev a ukousnutých hlav.
Do práce za Mohammadem jsme se vydali taxíkem, ale ten i poté co dvakrát
projel cílovou ulici nebyl schopný najít naše císlo popisné. Tak nás
vyhodil a zkusili jsme se hledat sami (iránské císlice u ...

... The final touches were made with shaving the carpet to ensure it was even. Following this we went to Hamid's little shop and went through the carpet selling process. Again prices seemed reasonable but there was nothing that really grabbed us. The carpets we were after were the nomadic carpets, made (and often used for 40 or 50 years) by various Iranian nomads. We were quite specific on colour, style and size and Hamid promised he would search for what we wanted and we'd come back ...

... for Mecca and build a cleverly angled corridor leading from the entrance.


This was the first of the major mosques, with many more mosques to follow. Indeed, some of the smaller ones turned out to be the most delightful. The honeycomb or stalactite features seen in the domed recesses are not only visually stunning, but also provide strength and earthquake stability.

We then wandered off to the Sheiekh ...

... ze skoraj dve noci nisva spala. Sedezi v Turkisu so kriminalno natlaceni... Torej po aldrenalinski voznji sva prisla v hotel s super prijaznim sefom, ki nama je rihtal vse rezervacije za nadaljevanje poti v Esfehan. Teheran je drugace smrdece, natrpano mesto zato upam da prav veliko noci ne bova vec prezivela tam. Naslednji dan sva se torej usedla na avtobus proti Esfehanu za 8 evrov po osebi za 7 ur voznje in usla ven. Ko sva prisla v hotel, nama takoj ...

... chemin, c'était surtout histoire de faire le tour de la ville avant de retrouver la place en fin de journée. Du coup, quel plaisir ! Une eau sans trouble traversée par quelques sublimes ponts et ces iraniens tellement nombreux sur les rivages, ŕ discuter parfois, ŕ se perdre ...

... maybe like Dougal from Father Ted I was misled by distance and perspective and they were actually quite tall close up!), and to my right the desert met the sky on the far distant horizon. How the caravans of old made their way through this murderous country on foot or camelback, travelling hundreds of miles is beyond me. In time we arrived at our chai-stop. We pulled up at an ancient, and now abandoned ...

... ate some ice cream. Delicious. Shiraz is beautiful, but it's another city. It's modern and fashionable for it's age, although I wasn't able to spend much time there. The next day was to be my day in Shiraz to see all the other sights besides Persepolis, but instead I spent the whole day looking to buy a new camera. I just wanted to cheapest one I could get to last me the next couple of weeks, throught the rest of Iran, then to Italy and London. I found one for ...

... being able to get temporarily married in Iran. Basically, I learned that hotel owners wont rent out a room to a couple who aren't married to each other. They normally ask for a marriage certificate and if they cant present one they wont be able to stay in a room together. SO they went through this process of getting a temporary marriage certificate that allows them to travel together and stay in the same hotel room. The certificate even comes with an expiry date with several ...

... then got re-directed to a man in a military uniform who told me that it was too early for me to ask for an extension. True enough, but can't I get an extension if I paid for my fees and applied for one? No, no, no, no, no..... Okay, back I went to Imam Square, with an extensive detour of the other old bridges spanning the river.

I had a full lunch at a fancy restaurant on the open terrace with a view of the Sheik Lotfollah Mosque. By this time I had learnt ...

... a vibrancy and optimism. I strolled through the riverside park by the Zayandeh River at dusk, crossing the old Si-o-Seh Bridge with its 33 arches lit up at night. Reaching the other side of the river, I continued toward the busy Armenian quarter, where it seemed to be a wealthy enclave filled with fancy shops and endless streams of shoppers. I wanted to see the Armenian churches nearby, but they were closed already. So I ended up wandering aimlessly through the ...