Overland to London - Isfahan to Dogubayazit

 

Stork's nest on a mudbrick village on the road to Tehran

Wed 24 March                  ISFAHAN – TEHRAN                                                                                                                                                          442 kms                        

    We left Isfahan around 8 am and headed back towards Tehran, this time without mishap,  following the same route  as the outward journey. This time we stopped, in a small mudbrick building to  photograph a stork’s nest and, later, at the site of an old village which had apparently been abandoned because of lack of water. The desert is slowly eliminating all traces of the village - perhaps it was due to the failure of an underground qanat system. While we were there another dust storm blew on which emphasized the ephemeral nature of these desert villages and their reliance on a permanent source of fresh water. . We arrived  in Tehran at a respectable hour and are staying at Goh-i-Sahra camping ground once again. 

Thu 25 March                          TEHRAN

        Tehran in the largest city and capital of modern Iran, having been the capital since 1786. Although the town has been known from antiquity, being a stop on the Silk Road between Europe and Samarkand, it had always been overshadowed by the nearby ancient city of Rayy, now absorbed in the urban sprawl of Tehran. After the Qajar Shah, Agha Mohammed Khan, selected Tehran as his capital, the city began to grow in size, especially in the 1920s and 30s when Reza Shah essentially rebuilt the city from scratch, systematically demolishing a number of old buildings and replacing them with modern buildings, influenced by classical Iranian architecture. Tehran is close to the Elburz Mountains, which lie between  the city and the Caspian Sea.

USSR & Iranian flags adorn Ferdowsy Square, Tehran

As our Iranian visas have to be extended, it seems that we will be here for a number of days. This morning, after some initial trouble with language, a group of us reached the city centre around Ferdowsy Square. There were several Iranian and Soviet flags fluttering around the Square and the surrounding streets. It appeared we had just missed a procession in honour of the Shah and Nikolai Podgorny, then Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, who was on a state visit to Iran.  Getting a bus back to the camping ground proved to be a mission! Nobody spoke English and we were directed to several different places before, finally, after three buses and a couple of hours, we reached our destination. Decided we would have a party tonight at the camping ground.

Fri 26 March                           TEHRAN

         A lazy day today at the camping ground. Several of the group are making arrangements to hire a mini-bus for a ski-trip to the Elburz Mountains tomorrow.

Sat 27 March                      

  

Shemshak skifield in the Elburz Mountains

 Today we set off in a hired mini-bus for the ski resort of Shemshak in the Elburz Mountains It was a two hour drive through spectacular and beautiful scenery to our alpine destination.

Icicles at Shemshak

I was pleasantly surprised at the facilities at Shemshak – there are two hotels, both modern, a chairlift and a T-bar tow, but no slopes for beginners, as I was to find out later. Not many people were here and there was no queue for the chairlift. After being deposited at the top of the ski run I, with an Australian girl, started the descent, which took us all of two hours compared with 2 or 3 minutes for the experts. Parts of the slope were close to perpendicular, much too steep for me to ski and I was soaking wet by the time I reached the bottom. I found out later that ‘Shemshak has classically catered to more advanced skiers. The slopes are quite steep and many of the runs are mogul runs.’  Despite this, it was  a good day, capped off by impromptu table-dancing, by an Armenian and a Jew, much to the delight of their families and, of course, us.

 Sun 28 – Mon 29 March               TEHRAN

Two more days at the camp site waiting for visa extensions to come through.

 Tue 30 March                   TEHRAN – TABRIZ                                                                                                                                                      624kms

        We left Tehran  at about 8.00am and  headed into Qazvin. Alamut Castle, in Qazvin Province, was the  home of Rashid al-Din Sinan, the legendary 12^th century Moslem leader known as the  ‘Old Man of the Mountains’. He  purportedly exploited his followers while they were under the influence of hashish, hence his sect were known as the Assassins, later to become the branch of Shia known as Ismailism. His main protagonist in the 12^th century was Saladin, ruler of Egypt and Syria.   Remains of his fort can still be seen in the Elburz Mountains.

We stopped for a chelow kebab lunch in the small town of Zanjan.  The afternoon drive was through featureless semi-desert countryside broken only by a chain of small mountains and the Qizil Üzen River where we came upon the ruins of the 17^th century Kiz Bridge. The damage to the central arch of this bridge is recent; in 1946, in the aftermath of World War 2, Communist separatists of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, blew up the central arch in a futile attempt to stop the advance of the Iranian Army who were re-occupying this area of Iran which had been occupied by Soviet troops since 1941.  

Ruined 17th century Kiz Bridge over the Qizil Üzen River

19th century depiction of the same bridge by French traveller Eugène Flandin

Tabriz is the 5^th largest city and one of the former capitals of Iran. It is now the capital of the Eastern Azerbaijan Province.  We arrived just after dark and are staying at the newly constructed camping ground, on a rather attractive artificial lake.    

Wed 31 March                  TABRIZ – DOĞUBAYAZİT                                                                                                                                              304kms      

        We left Tabriz at about 8.30am and headed to the border with Turkey. The drive was again through semi-barren countryside surrounded by snow-covered hills. A  stop was made in Marand where I bought some tasty cakes. Just before the border we arrived in the town of Maku, a peculiar little town, a section of which sits under  rocky overhang in the surrounding cliffs. In one place what appears to be a relatively recent rock fall had ploughed into a group of dwellings and in other places large, scattered rocks had dropped from the crumbling cliff face  among the mudbrick houses.

The precarious rock overhang in the town of Maku, Iran

It is just a short drive to the border post at Bazargan. The border here is in a courtyard enclosed by buildings with a brick wall running across the centre, a chain and two guards, one Iranian & one Turkish, let vehicles through when each side has finished their formalities. The Iranians took two to three hours, but the Turks were relatively quick, with the result that there were many cars and trucks on the Iranian side, but hardly anything on the Turkish side.

The twin peaks of Greater & Little Ararat from the Turkish border

 Biblical Mt. Ararat dominates this section of the Iranian-Turkish border. This mountain is a compound volcano with two major peaks, Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey with an elevation of 5,137m (16,854ft) and Little Ararat has an elevation of 3,896m (12782ft). According to Biblical tradition it is on one of these peaks that Noah's Ark ran aground after the Biblical flood. See Genesis 8:4: ‘and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.’  But if the passage is scrutinised closely, it says the 'mountains of Ararat'. From the mid-9th century BC, all the area of Eastern Turkey, centred around Lake Van and including the two volcanic peaks, was part of the Kingdom of Urartu which existed until the early 6th century BC. The name Ararat has its origins as Urartu.

Greater Ararat from Doğubayazıt

Tonight we are camping in the grounds of the Kent Hotel in the town of Doğubayazıt, which is known to the Overlanders as ‘Doggy Biscuit’. Another Penn Overland group, eastbound, is also staying here, as a party was in order. 

Later in the evening we had some trouble with some of the locals. A number of men, mainly Kurds, had turned up at the Hotel when they knew a large group of foreigners were staying the night. One of the locals got drunk, began  molesting a girl from the other Penn tour and was subsequently hit by the Hotel manager. This Kurd threatened get his mates and we were told that a bunch of Kurds, fuelled with alcohol and intent on revenge, can be nasty customers. The party was at full swing when suddenly the hotel manager sent all the Penn Overland females upstairs, leaving we menfolk to defend the fort. After a tense 30 minutes or so nothing had happened, although a few stones were thrown at some tents, but the party was stopped. Things did not end there however. The manager hired a local to act as a nightwatchman and to keep an eye on the tents, but during the night a young lady from the tent next to mine, had to answer the call of nature.  First, she went by herself to find the loo but was grabbed by the guard. It was a frightening experience for her and my tent mate, who was still out,  heard her crying. He then escorted her to the toilet, but had to chase off the guard. In the morning the manager was told what had happened. To the young lady's shock the manager, after confronting the miscreant,  then asked her if she would like the man to be flogged publicly or privately! She declined to oversee either punishment, so the erstwhile nightwatchman was let off with a warning.

text & photographs ©Neil Rawlins 

Instagram accounts  @dustonmyfeet     and    @antipodeanneil

My paperbacks and ebooks on my Overland travels in Asia, Europe & Africa in the early 1970s and the experiences of a tour guide on the Asian Overland routes & leading Camel Safaris in Rajasthan in the 1980s are available from Amazon.

Overland to London - Isfahan, Shiraz & Persepolis

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Isfahan

Fri 19 March                           ISFAHAN

        A Persian proverb says: “Isfahan is half of the world”  and it certainly is one of the most architectually beautiful cities in Asia. Although it is an ancient city, it reached its apogee during the rule of the Shah Abbas the Great in the early 17^th century, after he moved the capital of Safavid Empire to Isfahan, making it an important stop on the Silk Road.

Brassware in Naqsh-e Jahan Square, outisde the entrance to the Grand Bazaar, Isfahan

        When the Arab traveller, Ibn Batuta, visited Isfahan in the 14^th century he described the city thus: “Isfahan is one of the largest and fairest of cities, but the greater part of it is now in ruins, as a result of the feud between Sunnis and Shiites, which is still raging there.” In 1387 Isfahan surrendered to Tamerlane who imposed punitive taxes on the population. After the city revolted and killed some of Tamerlane’s tax collectors and soldiers, Tamerlane reacted by ordering a massacre of the city’s population and it is believed around 70,000 were killed.  With the arrival of Shah Abbas, in 1598,  Isfahan’s golden age began and the city was rebuilt in the style we now see today. The population of the city also increased and Shah Abbas resettled as many as 300,000 Armenians from the border areas of the Ottoman Empire, giving them a trading roads monopoly to develop Safavid involvement in the Silk Road trade. The New Jolfa district of Isfahan still remains a largely Armenian populated district. Isfahan was sacked by Afghan invaders in 1722 which saw a decline in the city’s fortunes and importance. 

Ali Qapu Palace from Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Isfahan

        The city has been built around Naqsh-e Jahan ‘Image of the World’ Square, once called Shah Square and now Imam Square. This is one of the largest squares in the world. At the south end of the square is the royal blue Shah Mosque, now known as the Imam Mosque. The Sheikh Lotfollah a smaller, but equally beautiful mosque, faces the Ali Qapu, or Imperial Palace of the Safavids. The Grand Bazaar of Isfahan is situated at the northern end of the Square and is a fascinating place to purchase brassware, silverware, gold jewellery, precious and semi-precious stones, carpets and kilims.  There are fine Islamic miniature paintings which are also pricey.

Enamel plates & vases & brassware in the Grand Bazaar, Isfahan

Sat 20 March                          ISFAHAN 

This morning I walked over Seeyosepol Bridge over the Zayandeh Rud, (this bridge is one of the oldest in Isfahan, built by direction of Shah Abbas the Great in 16^th century) to the Armenian Quarter to visit the Vank Cathedral. This Armenian church is officially the Holy Saviour Cathedral, also known as the Church of the Saintly Sisters, and dates from the early 17^th century when Shah Abbas forcibly resettled thousands of Armenians during the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1603-1618. The popular name, Vank, means monastery in Armenian. The Cathedral has  a dome not unlike a mosque, and the interior is covered with frescoes depicting various  Biblical scenes, from the creation of the world and Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden to the martyrdom of Saints such as John, Boniface, Stephen, George, Andrew, Catherine. Some of these martyrdom scenes are rather gory with  saints being dragged over nails, beaten with sticks, castrated, flayed, boiling oil poured on them etc. The light in the Cathedral was not  good and the  higher frescoes were not clear. Over the door is a huge mural depicting the horrors of hell, perhaps to remind an uneducated congregation what could be in store for them if they failed to follow the righteous ways as decreed by the clergy!  

Dome of the Shah (now Imam) Mosque, Isfahan Dome interior, Shah (Imam) Mosque

         Later this afternoon I visited the Masjid-e Shah, or the Shah Mosque. The building is the most beautiful I have seen, being completely covered inside and out with delicately painted  tiles. This mosque was built on the orders of Shah Abbas the Great between 1606 – 1637, being designed by the architect Aliakbar Isfahani. The tilework, a riot of yellows, blues and greens, is detailed and although light was fading inside the dome, the blue tiles on the outside of the dome were accentuated in the afternoon sun.

Elaborate tilework, Shah (Imam) Mosque, Isfahan

From the Maidan-e Naqsh-e Jahan the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque was resplendent in the afternoon sun, framed by the fountains of the Square. I walked around to the nearby Chahar Bagh Madrassa, or Theological College, built a little later than the Masjid-e Shah, but also having exceptionally fine tilework.  An Iranian ‘student’ took me to see a camel oil press in a mudbrick building in the old city which, unfortunately, was closed and also to a cloth printing factory. The cloth is dyed with traditional vegetable dyes which are said to be fast.  In the evening I went with a number of the tour group to the American Advisory HQ, the Americans having a large presence in Isfahan in 1970, to see the film Ice Station Zebra before having a few beers in their bar. 

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque & 'stalactite' tilework over the entrance

Sun 21 March               ISFAHAN – SHIRAZ                                                                                                                                                                             480kms

We left Isfahan for Shiraz at 8.30. Most of today’s drive is through desert inhabited by the nomadic Baktiari tribes, famous for their hand-woven rugs. The previous Shah tried, by force, to settle them down as oil had been found on their tribal lands, and within  a year most of their cattle had died and a major revolution broke out. The revolution was bloody with many arrested and executed.

Remains of the castle at Izadkast, on the road to Shiraz

        A stop was made this morning at the small village of Izadkast which had had to be moved some 5 years ago owing to a bad erosion problem. The remains of the old ruined castle stands high above the road. After a lunch stop in the  small town of Abadeh, we drove on to the tombs of the Persian kings at Naqsh-i Rustam. The tombs are believed to be those of Darius I the Great, Darius II, Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I; the earliest dating from 486 BC. Below the tombs are rock reliefs, the oldest of which dates to around 1000 BC and is of a Elamite priest and Persian deities. The most famous rock relief, cut into the rock in the 3^rd century AD is of the Roman Emperor Valerian surrendering to the Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa in 260. This was one of the worst defeats suffered by a Roman army and the first time a Roman emperor had been taken prisoner in battle. A Zoroastrian fire temple and fire altars are also found here.  We arrived in Shiraz after dark and after eating, drove to Shiraz Camping for the night.

The rock-cut tomb of Darius the Great, Naqsh-i Rustam

Rock relief of Roman Emperor Valerian surrendering to Shapur I

Mon 22 March            SHIRAZ – PERSEPOLIS - ISFAHAN                                                                                                                                                                          482kms

Shiraz, the city of poets, literature, wine, flowers and gardens, was home to Saadi and Hafez, two of Iran’s greatest poets. Hafez, enamoured with Shiraz, waxed lyrical about his hometown:

Tomb of the poet Hafiz, Shiraz

For a mole on the cheek of my darling

  Which the breezes of Shiraz have fanned,

I would gladly surrender Bukhara,

  Or give back to its Khan Samarkand.

 

After visiting the 15^th century tomb of Hafez, we left the city by the Koran Gate are drove the short distance to Persepolis. 

Koran Gate, Shiraz

Persepolis, literally ‘City of the Persians’, was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, founded by Darius the Great in 518 BC. The ancient Persians called the city Parsa which was also this region of Iran, and the origin of the word Persia. Technically, the name Persia just referred to this area of the country, now known as Fars, and in 1935 the country was renamed Iran, land of the Aryans, which was deemed more appropriate for the entire country.

General view of the ruins of Persepolis in 1970

 

Reliefs on stairs leading to the Apadana Palace, Persepolis

 The complex is raised on a walled platform and most of the buildings were of packed mud  with roofs supported by cedar columns. The Apadana Palace was the largest building at Persepolis, having an area of 1000m² and the roof was supported by 72 columns, each 24m tall. Unfortunately the Palace was destroyed by Alexander the Great and his men in 331 BC, during what was said to have been a drunken orgy. Restoration  work has been ongoing, but the reliefs, particularly the ones  leeward of the prevailing wind and on the great stairway to the Apadana Place, are in near perfect condition. These reliefs consist of images of the Persian kings and subject peoples bringing tributes as well as the symbolic combat between the lion and the bull. Most impressive is the Gate of All Nations, where some columns have been re-erected. On the hill overlooking the city are the tombs of Artaxerxes II and III and Darius III (unfinished). The tomb of Artaxerxes II consisted of a grotto and a coffin hewn out of solid rock. This king lived between 404-358 BC. The last King, Darius III, was killed by a Persian  governor who hoped to please Alexander the Great  but, in fact, angered the Greek to such at extent that he had the governor put to death and accorded Darius a royal funeral at Persepolis. 

Columns & a horsehead capital, Persepolis

From Persepolis, we now backtracked to Isfahan. 

Tue 23 March                          ISFAHAN

    This morning I went down to the bazaar to visit the camel oil press. This is the King’s oil extraction plant, the Assarkhaneh Shahi, which is in a 16^th-century building constructed on the orders of Shah Abbas. This centuries-old operation involves a camel (blindfolded) walking  around in a circle pulling a long wooden beam which is placed in a hole in a vertical stone  grinding wheel which crushes the oilseeds placed under it.

Tile-work in the Chahar Bagh Theological College, Isfahan 

        Later today I revisited the Shah Mosque, the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque and the Chahar Bagh Theological College (Madrassa), spending sometime in this beautiful building  photographing the mosque and tile-work.

text & photographs ©Neil Rawlins 

Instagram accounts  @dustonmyfeet     and    @antipodeanneil

My paperbacks and ebooks on my Overland travels in Asia, Europe & Africa in the early 1970s and the experiences of a tour guide on the Asian Overland routes & leading Camel Safaris in Rajasthan in the 1980s are available from Amazon.