Sanandaj
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Sanandaj,
Iran
Sunday, August 3, 2008
We are now in Kurdistan. The other day we arrived in Hamadan, and checked into the worst hotel we've been at yet. Because it is a national holiday, the large park and square across from the hotel was filled with thousands of people "picnicking". Now, Iranians take the concept of a picnic to a whole new level. They arrive in cars laden with supplies. First come the coolers full of food. Then come the gas stoves - one for cooking, another for the tea. Off comes the carpet - yes, they put real Persian rugs right on to the ground; talk about one hell of a picnic blanket. And to top off this very civilized picnic set up, they put up a tent and stay the night! On any weekend or holiday, you can find Iranians "camping" or picnicking in every patch of green space there is - including the road sides. Anyway, our hotel was across from this giant picnic, meaning we were already bracing for a loud night. But the hotel itself was worse. The Lonely Planet described it as knock-off Vegas kitsch style décor, and clearly the opulent mirrors and mosaics and chandeliers in the lobby used up most of their money, because the rooms are dilapidated, dirty and flat-out uncomfortable. In fact, we were given a key to a room only to open the door and find someone else's clothing and luggage scattered on the bed. Note to self; security is not good! After the blandest kebab meal yet, we settled in for a long night of listening to Iranian pop blasting from the wedding party beneath us, car alarms going off, and traffic. It has been a low point on the trip, which is sad in that apparently Hamadan is quite a pretty little city. We wouldn't know. Our only two stops included a rather sad looking waterfall, and a visit to the supposed tomb of Esther and Mordecai around which is built a shrine and a tiny synagogue that supports Hamadan's dwindling Jewish community of 13. Sadly, the tombs are widely believed to be not those of Esther and Mordecai, but rather of a later Hebrew queen and king known only metaphorically as Esther and Mordecai. Of course you would never dream of saying this to the sweet man that proudly brought us through the tiny vestige of Jewish civilization in this part of Iran.
Sanandaj is the largest city in Kurdistan, and is not too far from the Iraqi border. Nestled in a valley between mountains, it is the centre of the copper mining industry, and apparently a pretty sophisticated little place. Our trip through the bazaar was anything but sophisticated. A Thursday night, the place was elbow to elbow with shoppers vying to complete their work before the bazaar closes for the holy day (Friday). Very few foreigners venture to Sanandaj, so the staring is paramount here. After a long, hot drive, we were feeling pretty exhausted, not to mention frustrated with the elusive and ambivalent attitude of our guide. I guess it was my frustration with the in sane pace of our tour, the fact that I have not had a good night's sleep in days, the sadistic heat of the sun that really just got to me, but I concluded that I was NOT in the mood to be stared at. We did a blitz of the bazaar during which our big purchase was laundry detergent to do a hand wash. The funny thing about the detergent is that it is called 'Barf'! In Farsi, Barf means snow, but Michael and I found it hilarious that a cleaning agent was called 'Barf.' What we then learned is that apparently 'barf' is a Canadian expression, as neither the Aussies nor the Englishwoman in our group had any idea what we were laughing about. When we told them that barf means vomit, they had a good laugh.
From Sanandaj, we set out on a long drive to Tahkt-e-Suleiman, or Soloman's Throne, one of the highlights of northern Iran. The centre of Zoroastrian faith, it actually has nothing to do with Solomon. During the Arab invasion, the Zoroastrians saved it from imminent demise by saying that Solomon had stayed there at one point - knowing that the Arabs would not destroy anything with a link to the Qu-ran. Nice work, Zoroastrians! Tahkt-e-Suleiman is beautiful. You might laugh, but it reminded me of Scotland. In the centre of the temple complex is an aqua blue lake that would have fed the temple aquifers. It is surrounded in mystical, barren mountains and rolling hills of tall grass and reeds. The sky was very atmospheric when we arrived - the sun was partially obscured by clouds, creating a very supernatural hue. It's pretty high in altitude, too, according to my trusted water bottle test that we developed years ago, in Peru; when you go up in altitude, a half full water bottle will become concave as the edges are sucked in. After descending, you screw off the lid and you should hear a long fizzing sound of the air pressure changing. Wow, that was abysmally unscientific, but for someone who has not studied science since grade 10, that's as good as it gets.
We carried on to Zanjan for the night and got up in the morning to visit another Kurdish museum, which was an old laundry house. I have not mentioned it before, but Iran really seems to have an obsession with wax figures. Michael and I find it down right creepy. We have come to prepare ourselves that whenever you enter a 'museum' you will find life sized wax figurines with very disturbing features. Andrew believes they are cast-offs from Madame Toussauds; "hhhmmm, this one looks too sadistic to be in our collection, let's send it to one of those little museums in Iran." Some of them are so hauntingly creepy that Michael runs away in terror, insisting the wax people will revisit him in his dreams. But Iranians love them. Everywhere you go, they gather 'round the wax figures and take a plethora of photos.
I have spent the better part of the night on the phone with mom, back and forth. We heard the other night that Lufthansa was on strike. We are due to depart tomorrow from Tehran, and after four days of trying to find out information with little to no help from our fearless leader, Pezhman (if it's not a mosque or historical site, he seems pretty disinterested in helping), we finally called Canada. Our travel agent had already confirmed the cancellation of our flight, but we have been unable to get anyone at the Lufthansa office in Tehran. When I tried to call the Lufthansa office in Toronto, it was a 1-800 number and thus would not work from Iran. I called their marketing department because it was a 416 number, and the woman on the phone was rude and useless. She was yelling and saying "Ma'am, why haven't you gone to the airport?" to which I replied, "Because I am in Kurdistan, 800 km away from Tehran, in the mountains, on the Iraqi border (okay, not exactly, but you throw that in for effect; it sounds good). I closed the conversation with the words "piss off" and hung up.
In the end, who saved the day but mom? She called the toll free Lufthansa number in Toronto for us. It was tense for a while, as it looked like they weren't going to get us out of there until August 12 - ten days from now - and we don't have enough money to last that long (Iran does not take foreign credit cards or bank cards; it's a cash only destination for foreigners). Then they were going to get us out on the 7th via Russian Aeroflot, which I vow not to fly. But alas, we are booked on an Emirates flight on the 5th, to Dubai then Frankfurt then home to Toronto on Lufthansa. Thanks mom! It remains to be answered as to why two Lufthansa offices, a travel agency in Toronto, a local travel agency in Tehran and a tour guide could not help me, but my mom, in Mississauga could?
