We
are so keen to return to Yazd that our ride from Esfahan is completed a day
earlier than planned. The city seems bigger than before. We cycle 10
kilometres from the outskirts to reach the Silk Road Hotel next to the
fabulous old Friday Mosque in the old city. We stayed quite a while
here last time so we know the owner, Ali, and have another friend,
Khoroush, to look up. Ali very generously offers us a free bed in the
dormitory, but we really want a private room. Unfortunately high season
has just begun and the place is busy. Does he have that old room on
the roof at his sister hotel, the Orient? Are we being cheeky? Ali is a
consummate hotelier, and will always try to please his guests, even
freeloading ones. He gives us a very nice room for the night and in the
morning he arranges for an out-of-use room on the roof to be spruced up
for us. It's very basic - but we want nothing more. He is as generous
and kind as we remember him.
One question we are often asked in Iran is which is our favourite place. When we reply Yazd, most Iranians look surprised. The city has been in existence for over 4000 years, and the old city is a half-preserved warren of adobe courtyard houses. Much has been renovated and much is crumbling to dust. Most Iranians live in the new part of the low-rise city, while Afghan and Iraqi refugee families settled in the old part in the 1980's. The Silk Road Hotel is just one of several renovated old houses converted into hotels. There is nothing quite like them outside of central Iran. We love the old city and bazaar and the city feels relaxed and peaceful by Iranian standards. There are some wonderful old buildings, one or two good ice cream shops, and if you can close your eyes and ears to the tour groups that troll through each day you can pretend you have stepped into a time warp. It's not untypical to meet a visitor who has planned to stay only one night here deciding to stay on a few more days.
There's
always a danger returning to somewhere you have great memories of.
Will it still be as special? One thing we remembered was meeting lots
of great overland travellers on their way to Pakistan and India.
Nowadays you can only get a Pakistan visa at home, so we're not
expecting this. But a nice surprise is finding three other cyclists
here. Gabor is from Hungary and Franzi and Jona are from Germany. We
are especially happy to learn that we are all heading to the Stans. In
Tehran we had met cyclist Raimon from Barcelona and somewhere else in
Iran is Dan and Ollie, the young English guys we met in Istanbul. The
'Tour de Central Asia' peloton is growing fast.
Another thing we remember about Yazd is how time here plays tricks with you. Blink and another day has passed. Ali's buffet breakfasts seem endless. The afternoon siesta lasts all day. The sun sets and the moon rises in seconds. We arrived yesterday but we've been here five days already. Tourists lounge in the hotel patio checking smartphones for e-mails. Step out into the twisting narrow lanes of the old bazaar and watch old men sawing wood in a workshop, baking bread, sewing shirts whilst women in black chadors waddle past with their shopping.
This city is one of the most conservative in Iran. We have already been told that it's not possible to Couch Surf here, because the local authorities frown on fraternising with foreigners. We didn't realise this was such a big issue last time we came here, but when we meet Khoroush and he takes us out for dinner with his fiance, he tells us that he has texted the local police to notify them of our dinner date. He's had problems in the past with the police, so we can't blame him. But it certainly spooks us, and we wonder are we compromising him by wanting to see him again. Happily he is preoccupied with his business, slightly stressed about new openings and stock flow and showing all the signs of a young entrepeneur about to take a risk with a new venture. He looks very happy with his girlfriend Roxanna. When we first met he was a young guy who wasn't really settled - we felt worried for his future. Now he looks like a man with a plan.
Last time we visited Yazd in 2008 we left our hearts here. This time I leave a molar. I've just enjoyed my nth chicken curry and the tooth next to the one that's just had root canal work feels sore. The ache becomes pronounced. There's nothing for it but a trip to the dentist. An hour later the dentist is showing me the decayed tooth on an x-ray. Too bad for root canal treatment. It wobbles when he pokes it. I get an injection and then he puts something resembling a pedal spanner in my mouth and after a tug left and right pulls out the poor molar. I am relieved that the pain is over. Gayle is relieved that the cost is low. But how will I be able to chew all that mutton that beckons in The Stans???
 |
| 10,000 miles - let's have a beer!!!! Okay, let's have a nice cup of tea then |
One question we are often asked in Iran is which is our favourite place. When we reply Yazd, most Iranians look surprised. The city has been in existence for over 4000 years, and the old city is a half-preserved warren of adobe courtyard houses. Much has been renovated and much is crumbling to dust. Most Iranians live in the new part of the low-rise city, while Afghan and Iraqi refugee families settled in the old part in the 1980's. The Silk Road Hotel is just one of several renovated old houses converted into hotels. There is nothing quite like them outside of central Iran. We love the old city and bazaar and the city feels relaxed and peaceful by Iranian standards. There are some wonderful old buildings, one or two good ice cream shops, and if you can close your eyes and ears to the tour groups that troll through each day you can pretend you have stepped into a time warp. It's not untypical to meet a visitor who has planned to stay only one night here deciding to stay on a few more days.
 |
| air-conditioning the old-fashioned way |
 |
| we'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when |
Another thing we remember about Yazd is how time here plays tricks with you. Blink and another day has passed. Ali's buffet breakfasts seem endless. The afternoon siesta lasts all day. The sun sets and the moon rises in seconds. We arrived yesterday but we've been here five days already. Tourists lounge in the hotel patio checking smartphones for e-mails. Step out into the twisting narrow lanes of the old bazaar and watch old men sawing wood in a workshop, baking bread, sewing shirts whilst women in black chadors waddle past with their shopping.
This city is one of the most conservative in Iran. We have already been told that it's not possible to Couch Surf here, because the local authorities frown on fraternising with foreigners. We didn't realise this was such a big issue last time we came here, but when we meet Khoroush and he takes us out for dinner with his fiance, he tells us that he has texted the local police to notify them of our dinner date. He's had problems in the past with the police, so we can't blame him. But it certainly spooks us, and we wonder are we compromising him by wanting to see him again. Happily he is preoccupied with his business, slightly stressed about new openings and stock flow and showing all the signs of a young entrepeneur about to take a risk with a new venture. He looks very happy with his girlfriend Roxanna. When we first met he was a young guy who wasn't really settled - we felt worried for his future. Now he looks like a man with a plan.
 |
| usual story: one man working and two giving encouragement |
Last time we visited Yazd in 2008 we left our hearts here. This time I leave a molar. I've just enjoyed my nth chicken curry and the tooth next to the one that's just had root canal work feels sore. The ache becomes pronounced. There's nothing for it but a trip to the dentist. An hour later the dentist is showing me the decayed tooth on an x-ray. Too bad for root canal treatment. It wobbles when he pokes it. I get an injection and then he puts something resembling a pedal spanner in my mouth and after a tug left and right pulls out the poor molar. I am relieved that the pain is over. Gayle is relieved that the cost is low. But how will I be able to chew all that mutton that beckons in The Stans???
 |
| fancy tilework at the Friday Mosque |
No comments:
Post a Comment