The earthquake

Another event influenced our decision: the earthquake that hit the northern part of Iran while we were deciding where to go after Isfahan. Due to the earthquake damages, it was not sensible anymore to go to some rural areas in the north suggested by the guide. So, in the end, we chose to go to the Armenian border directly, only stopping in Tabriz for one night.

We change the trip

After Ishahan we went back to the capital city, and we enjoyed the company of our local friends. Our first idea was to fly back to Italy from Teheran. Instead, we flew back from Tbilisi, Georgia. Why? Because we had met Alessandro, Filippo and Lorenzo, three nice young men from Milano, who had told us that they had shifted their flight because they wanted to visit Armenia and Georgia too. We liked the idea and we did the same.

Isfahan

Isfahan is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in my life. It you need a reason to go to Iran, Isfahan is a good one.

The charm of the city was a surprise, after the general ugliness of the other cities. An amazing central square surrounded by old buildings, many huge wonderful mosques and luxorious palaces (with internal exhibitions), stunning parks and a lot of green everywhere, some ancient romantic bridges over the river, a nice bazar. Truly, a beauty that makes you hold your breath.

Internet and satellite television

Censorship of the web has been increasing a lot in the last years; yet, it is quite easy to avoid it. For example our friends living in Iran normally use Facebook, despite the access to it being prohibited. The choice between allowed websites and forbidden ones seemed random: I could open some Italian newspaper websites but some others not, I could open www.google.com but not www.google.it, and so on. After I came back, Iran announced the plan to replace the World Wide Web with an isolated domestic Internet network; this plan should be put in place in 2013.

Satellite television is prohibited too; yet, it is widely widespread, and our friends had it at home.

Couch surfing

If you go to the website Couchsurfing.org, you will find many Iranian couch surfers in every city. I did not expect so. We wrote to some of them on some occasions, but we did it too late (usually the day before our arrival), so we never managed to be hosted. Anyway, we know from other travellers that it works very well, if you plan it in advance.

Only once we had a partial experience. It was in Isfahan. We arrived from Yazd very early in the morning and from the bus station we took a taxy to the house of a couch surfer who had accepted our request to be hosted. The guy was friendly (he liked Pasolini) and lived in a nice detached house. We entered, went down a stair and ended up in a huge room with no furniture except from some carpets on the floor. And a lot of people sleeping on them! We asked who they were. Other couch surfers I am hosting, he said: some French, some Turkish, some from Asia, etcetera. The cellar looked like an international gathering point for low budget travellers. We joined the others and slept a bit. Afterwards, we decided that the accomodation was too basic and went looking for a hotel for the night. :)

Zoroastrian temple

In Yazd we bought a one day excursion to some nearby sites. At last, we had the chance to see some wild nature, travelling across beautiful mountains and desert lands.

The Chak Chak site is the religious centre of Zoroastrianism. It only consists of a small temple, in the middle of nowhere. Built around a cave where there is a sacred water source (and the only trees in the area), the temple is hidden between steep and rocky hills. The building itself is nothing special, but the place is very mystical: I could feel its deep sense of religiousness (also because we were the only visitors at that moment). I drank the water, it was fresh and good.

Meeting old friends, by chance

This is the most incredible thing of the trip: in Yazd I met two friends from my EVS work in Turkey, Paolo and Catarina. By chance!!! We had not spoken for months, so I had no idea where they were neither did they. Nevertheless, we bumped into each other in the middle of Iran! What an incredible and wonderful moment! Sure enough, I spent the next days with them wandering around Yazd.