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| The areas we visited around Kerman |
Most of our hosts so far in Iran had been males- it was just the way it turned out. We
consciously looked for a female Couchsurfing host in Kerman, and were very lucky to come across her and her daughter. The quiet and thoughtful host and her energetic daughter are long time
Couchsurfing hosts, but have been scared off in recent years by police checks.
Couchsurfing is officially illegal in Iran,
some say, others profess its fine, but the police are often suspicious of
foreigners staying with Iranians. They have a beautiful apartment in Kerman with our first Western toilet of
Iran! Most homes and restaurants
have the squat variety.
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| Lovely apartment, Kerman |
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| Sal with our hosts |
Our first sight of the towering snow capped mountains around
the town had us a little worried, but the temperature was not too cold.
Actually, cold weather in Iran is
not such a big deal. Unlike India,
they are well set up for it, with all homes and hotels having hot water showers
and heating in cooler months. Very civilized! We also saw and met our first
non-Iranian tourist in Iran in Kerman!
Our first task in Kerman
was to get a visa extension. All the trouble we had in Delhi getting our Iranian visa was only for a one month
stay, and unbelievably that month was up. We’d heard negative stories about
obtaining an extension here, so we were very relieved when the English speaking
policeman at the headquarters gave us another month’s stay in exchange for
US$10, although it did take 5 hours due to a “system failure”.
Happy we had more time in this amazing country, we set out
to see the sights around Kerman
town. It’s a big, desert town, which in some ways seems to be quite modern with
many young trendies around town, but also more black chadors than we've seen
before. Apparently people who work for the Government have a strict dress code,
with a full head scarf with no hair showing, black or brown colours, and
usually a chador for women all being compulsory. Hopefully these people get to
dress down during their time off. We loved seeing our host transform from her dark
tent-like work clothes to a colourful Indian dress when she arrived home.
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| Local woman, Kerman |
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| Large door knocker, Kerman |
The Grand Bazaar is a
beautiful design, unfortunately full of Chinese imports, but the traditional
tea house was a real treat. We’d never seen such a place- an old haman, with paintings, vaulted ceilings,
tiles and carpets everywhere. We had tea and kelyun (water pipe) and lingered for hours enjoying the atmosphere.
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| Enjoying kelyun, teahouse, Kerman |
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| Old teahouse, Kerman |
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| Interesting Sufi man, Kerman |
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| Bazar roof, Kerman |
Another highlight was an abandoned fort on the outskirts of
town. We enjoyed the views and clambering around the ruins- actually it’s one
of our favourite things to do, and there are so many opportunities in Iran!
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| Rock castle, Kerman |
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| Remain of old castle,Kerman |
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| Old mud castle, Kerman |
Other things of
interest around Kerman were the
Jamed Masjid (Friday Mosque- every town has one), lovely library building,
beehive shaped ice storage house, the Contemporary Arts Gallery (we found it
hard to get around the gallery because of the friendly people who constantly
approached us to chat), various tombs, and the Zoroastrian Fire Temple (sounds
more exciting than it actually was!)
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| The stunning Masjid Jameh, Kerman |
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| Sufu shrine, Kerman |
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| Tiles in a mosque, Kerman |
Our host took us to Mahan
one afternoon, a small town about half an hour from Kerman, and we were able to take advantage of her local knowledge
at the beautiful Sufi mausoleum there. She found the sleeping guard, we paid
him a little something, and he let us in the special payer room of the Sufi
saint, and best of all, out onto the roof and up into the minarets- it was such
a gorgeous view with the snow-capped mountains in the background.
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| Mahan Gardens |
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| Inside the Sufi shrine, Mahan |
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| Sufi shrine rooftop with snowy mountains, Mahan |
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| On the roof of the Sufi shrine, Mahan |
Despite working in the morning, then taking us to
Mahan, Ati insisted on making us
fessen jun that evening, a famous Iranian dish with chicken in a
pomegranate and walnut sauce. We repeatedly offered to help but she insisted,
in a typically Iranian way, for us to relax, and although we felt bad, we were
very happy to eat the delicious meal!
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| The famous fessen jun |
We knew the famous citadel at Bam had been severely damaged in the 2003 earthquake, that killed
more than 30,000 people in the town, but we love old ruined forts so much, we
decided to take the trip from Kerman
to see it. We were very disappointed by the whole experience. There was nothing
at all left of the arg (fort), and
the one section had been rebuilt lacked any ambience what-so-ever. There were
strict paths that couldn’t be left, supposedly because of the danger, and
guards with whistles to enforce this. Many areas were off-limits, and even
reconstructed buildings such a little shops were closed. Add to this a dark and
drizzly day, a lifeless and shut down town because of the last day of the No Ruz
holiday, and a very average guesthouse (our first in a month!), and we were
happy to return to Kerman the next
day.
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| Bam citadel pre earthquake (picture from internet) |
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Bam citadel post earthquake (picture from internet)
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| Pile of rubble, Bam citadel |
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| Restored part of Bam Citadel |
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| Bam citadel |
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| Partially restored part of Bam citadel |
Our next adventure was the Kaluts, an area in the desert north of Kerman with amazing rock formations. Our first attempt to see this
area involved a suicidal shared taxi driver (texting and driving at 140 kms per
hours on hairpin bends); an exploration of Shahdad,
the gateway town to the area; an invitation to lunch followed by a lift to the Kaluts by two local men; an interesting
time at their house eating a very nice lunch that for them, included copious
amounts of opium; a nap; a change of plan due to them being off their heads,
and us returning to Kerman with
another maniac taxi driver!!
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| Old mud brick village near Shahdad |
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| Scenery around Shahdad |
Luckily, our lovely host very
generously took a day off work and drove us, her daughter and another
Couchsurfer one hour or so on the stunningly beautiful road back to Shahdad, and into the Kaluts area. The rock formations are interesting
in that from a distance they appear to be buildings-an old city or a fort, but
on a closer look, they are all natural. We were so lucky to be able to stop and
walk around the desolate, deserted area and take pictures, and stare in awe.
It’s one of the hottest places on earth, and even at this time of year (Spring)
the temperature soared. It must be unbearable in Summer.
The day included two other wonderful stops- one at an
ancient underground water well (
qanat
in Persian), and an atmospheric old
caravanserai
(a stop for traders and their livestock travelling on the Silk Route), which
were as great as the
Kaluts
themselves.
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| Old caravanserai, Kaluts |
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| A stop for traders in ancient times |
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| Caravanserai, Kaluts |
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| Ancient underground qanat (water system) , Kaluts |
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| Being silly in the road, Kaluts |
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| Scenery driving back from Kaluts |
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| Kaluts village |
A sojourn through what appears to me as is often suggested 'the authentic orient', with sacred cultural motifs of empire, that draw a viewer into a sense of the 'mysterious tremendous' of place. Though as you remarked there are the platitudes of existence as ordinary folk continue to etch out their existence with dignity and valor. Their ability to extend to the traveler seems to be a beloved duty, as an act of giving returns happiness.
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