ISTANBUL: Staying and eating locally with friends!

When I was in Istanbul I didn't stay at any of the clever boutique guesthouses or hotels nor at one of the many hostels, but stayed locally with two different friends in two different locations around the city. I got an opportunity to experience a window of everyday life in Istanbul. One from the perspective of a Turkish chef who opened his kitchen to me where I would be an apprentice/ student of Turkish cuisine. The other perspective came from a South African/ Australian expat working at an International School in a more prestigious area of Istanbul. Visiting him brought back nostalgic feelings from my past life as an expat in  prestigious contracts with overseas jobs.

My generous South African/ Australian friend named Prags is also of Indian origin, so he shared a wonderful interpretation of South African-Indian curry, and invited some of his expat colleagues to join us in a small dinner party. He was very conscious about some facial blemishes and always avoided me when my camera came out. He is not shown among his expat colleagues in the photo below.

My very charming and wonderfully generous host in Istanbul, welcoming me to his kitchen and showing me how to make Mendi- a Turkish "ravioli".

I love to sample local pastry and sweets. The cleaver looked ominous but quaint in this window scene.

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Qom: A peek into Iran's Holy City

Qom: A peek into Iran's Holy City

Qom is a city which is considered holy in Shi'a beliefs. Around an hours drive from Tehran, it has a busy, somewhat chaotic feeling but not the hustle and bustle of Tehran. Pilgrims mix along with the mullahs in the crowds that move around in this city which I feel might have the mood and feeling of Mecca. The haunting sound of Koranic prayers bellowing constantly gives this place an eerie feel with the fervor felt in the air. 

There are famous "souhan" سوهان shops, which sell the local sweet made of cardamon, which line the major streets. 

The major landmark of this city is the Shrine of Fatema, who is a daughter to a famous Imam in Shi'a belief. Thousands of pilgrims come to pay homage to her shrine and ask for blessings. It is not legal for non Muslims to enter the shrine. ( Our guide managed to allow us entry into the shrine area)

Qom is also the largest centre for Shi'a scholarship  in the world, hence many mullahs are visible throughout the city, which made us jokingly nickname this city "Mullahville". There are Islamic seminaries and religious Universities throughout this city creating Mullahs as Rome is creating Catholic priests. When visiting Fatema's shrine flocks of pilgrims rest on the floors, and mullah led groups are seen throughout the area. 

The shrine is very beautiful and ornate suggesting memories somewhere between Wat PraKao in Bangkok and St. Peter's Basilica in the Vaticano. 

A beautiful and ornate shrine with a strong religious fervor feeling mixed with a party feeling in the atmosphere.

A lot of people taking photos of each other as well as the ornate surroundings.

Caught in my photo lens a hunky future mullah in training or perhaps a pilgrim?

I like the touchy feeling atmosphere of this group and if I were among them I suppose I would be joining in on it all!

One thing which I found interesting is a hand called" Hamsa" This is a hand perched a top a minaret. It is a hand with five fingers, each finger symbolising five Islamic people: Mohammed, Fatima, Ali, Hassan and Hossein. They are there to protect against  believers from any harm. A suppose their answer to "Father, Son and Holy Spirit"? 

This city is another one on my list in which I would like to explore better, especially the back roads and get a sense of everyday life here. It will be especially interesting to know which places I would be allowed to enter and which ones, according to customs, I would be barred from entering?

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A stroll through Kashan

Kashan is an interesting city. There are historic houses  which are decorated like palaces from the personal wealth made from selling Persian carpets throughout the years. 

There also is a famous garden called "Fin garden". The arrangement of plants and the reflecting pool were very beautiful. The hamam in the garden, where the famous politician Amir Kabir was executed, was beautiful and, sad in a way, was a beautiful hamam.

quiet honestly, if Kashan were one of the first places on our journey around Iran I probably would have appreciated them better. There were many very beautiful gardens and fascinating historical palaces and buildings throughout Iran.
The ancient burial grounds of the first prehistoric inhabitant in the Kashan area was of great interest, but we unfortunately arrived at closing time and we passed through the gates and quickly had a sneak preview.

                        Siyalk Hillocks

I suppose what impressed me most about my visit to Kashan was in the evening after everyone was comfortably settled in the hotel. We wandered off for something other than hotel food, and strolled down the street near our hotel. The hotel we stayed at was a four star and had a sterile feeling to it compared to the lovely traditional Persian places we stayed throughout our Iranian journey, so we wandered off together for some evening local flavour.

 It was the holiday of EID and the Sacrifice ( Qorban  قربان) beginning that evening. One could see young lads, and sometimes older lads having what looked like a tug or war, or tug of life with a camel. Pulling the camel down the road and leading it to be slaughtered for the festival.
Alongside the street were food stalls where people cooked and were selling local food for the festival. We approached an attractive man selling what appeared to be large boiled beet roots, 

 also large kettles of home made soup, stews, beans as well as some other unidentified but probably delicious substance.
After some gesturing and, later with the help of some kind females who met us along the way, translated for us the price we should pay. We enjoyed a tasty stew of vegetables and perhaps meat, as well as a bowl of beans and some soup. It was great fun!

Wandering some ways closer to our hotel, we found a gelatto shop, Iranian style! I could read Farsi, and some of the names are shared with Arabic so I was able to translate the menu of gelatto flavours for my two friends. Our choices were very delicious, perhaps home made with local ingredients and, most of all, very cheap!

I hope to return and experience more of local Kashan in the future and get to know its character better.

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Abyaneh: A visit to a living museum town in the mountains

Abyaneh is a living museum town near Natanz, is one of the oldest towns in Iran. Most of the remaining inhabitants of this town are mainly elderly people, who speak in a dialect (Parthanian) special to this region. Many of the buildings here are made from red clay, and the roofs made from straw and clay.

This village is supposedly on the tourist path but luckily we were there at a time when we were the only tourists in the village, making it like a private place for us to explore.

We had to pass through the sensitive region near Natanz where the controversial nuclear power production was located. This area was sensitive due to the sanctions and political friction and we were told not to take any photos along the way as we were being monitored. Anti missile machinery as well as military camps were along the long road. We had to pass through this sensitive region twice and I was certainly glad when we had left it.

Since there are many photos of this town on the internet which are of better calibre than mine, I will select only a few of mine which I had a personal touch with.

Exploring this town makes one feel as if they had stepped back in time to the "days gone by"

 I took this man's photo not only because he was one of the younger people I have encountered in this town but also quite hunky and the "construction worker" type! I wonder what he uses the blade on his necklace for?

The women in this village have a special clothing which they are famous for which is only in this particular area.

This is a section where a memorial is made for all the "shahidi" those who were martyred in the Iran-Iraq war. The scars are still very evident and the heavy cost of that war is still felt around the country today.

A market selling locally produced goodies- Sampling the natural honey was wonderful but I couldn't bring it with me on the airplane so everything sampled from here remains a memory.

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Yazd: Desert area and Chak Chak Zoroastrian water temple

I love the desert. When I was living in the Gulf states I would go to the desert with friends to feel the power and experience the silence as well as camping and other kinds of fun. Riding through the desert of central Iran gave a feeling similar to the desert in America's West.

We went to visit Chak Chak Temple near a place called Ardakan. This temple is one of the most sacred of shrines in Zoroastrian beliefs.

 After a sunny climb up the mountain by steps, and reaching the temple,  we saw pilgrims camping out and bringing with them food. Other areas had groups of playful young lads in their twenties enjoying together the hookah pipe. I greeted them and two of them after greeting me told me that they were from Afghanistan.
When climbing up to the temple, we witnessed a dark cave like entrance ( which would be a perfect place for making wine) and a constant "drip drip" of water coming from a holy spring. 

We had to wear a head covering before entering the temple.

The wet floor was soothing for my feet as I walked barefoot in the temple!

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Yazd: Dakhmeh-ye-Zartushtioon or Towers of Silence. Zoroastrian burial grounds

 Yazd: Dakhmeh-ye-Zartushtioon or Towers of Silence. Zoroastrian Burial Grounds

This place has spooky vibes and this feeling became intensified as we arrived at dusk. A mountain towered over us and blended in among the mist which made the feeling even more exotic.

As I understand the story, Zoroastrian believers would carry their deceased up the mountain, ( it took me about 15 or 20 minutes to climb the mountain carrying nothing) where there is a huge pit in the centre. The corpse would be left there for vultures to chew and consume the corpse's flesh. Later, some acid would be poured over the remains to fully assist in the disintegration process. There were small buildings near by the mountain where each village would have their own gathering place before the procession up the mountain. 

When we reached the top of the mountain, it was completely dark and I was feeling especially spooked and really had a sense that I felt "something" up there. I was relieved and felt better when we were back on the ground and away from that mountain.

Lights from the distant city of Yazd.

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YAZD: Exploring the streets of Yazd

YAZD: This is a dusty town in the desert with an exotic frontier feel, although far from any frontiers as Yazd is in central Iran. Life here seems to go slower, even the traffic was slow enough that I had no worries crossing the streets here on my own! There is a noticeable accent when people speak here, even a non Persian speaker can notice it. Like Esfahan, this area is more conservative and most of the women in public are clad in a more complete chador than their Teheran sisters.

A huge mosque proudly stands as a famous landmark and focal point of Yazd. Being told that it was built over 700 years ago and it never had any restoration done on it is purely amazing!

There are many small winding streets which conjure up Middle Eastern intrigue in my mind, and also some interesting bazaars. We paid a visit to a local bakery which had the best na'an bread ever, and there were different flavoured variations of na'an bread.

There was a whole wall with different signs with various Koranic verses posted on it.

A symbol from Karballa

 An interesting man at his own shoe repair station

 A weapon and ammunition shop in the bazaar. It makes me think of N. W. F. P. in Pakistan near Peshawar.

I spied a mullah conversation during my early morning stroll.

زورخانه  Zurkhane is a place where young and older men of different skill levels group together to exert and show off their strength in forms of dancing, spinning similar to Sufi dervish in Turkey, as well as lifting heavy weights and metal objects. They have a powerful and mesmerising chant which they simultaneously  chant in unison which strengthens the group power and cohesion together. The chants, sometimes frenzied, combined with the group effort energy can amount to a great force!

 From my observations, I could understand how, during the Iran and Iraq war how the dynamics of group "basij" and frenzied and mesmerising chants, coupled with the belief of instant entrance to heaven after martyrdom could set groups off for fighting in a war.
I was sitting among Iranian young guys. They were wearing fit athletic shirts and were very attentive to the men in the centre ring doing all the athletic action.
Two of them glanced at me a few times and I turned to look at them and we all smiled at each other simultaneously, followed by a giggle. Great fun!

The Zurkhane seems to be kept open easier due to tourist visits which supplements their costs of running the place.

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