Travelogue 2019/4, Canopy walk and Khmer Temple (Thailand)

It took some effort to get up and start moving again. I had to return to Bangkok after all. The first stage was a short one: to Trang by bus. After that I would take some long, long train rides.

Trang & the Canopy walk 

Like the other relatively young cities Hat Yai and Phatthalung in the region (founded 100 years ago, with the construction of the railways), Trang has a large ethnic-Chinese population.

Trang is a transfer point for tourists on their way to the islands in the Andaman sea. They remain in town just one night and may miss some stunning sights.

Almost all of the original vegetation in Thailand has been cut down or burnt down. In the south for rubber plantations, in the center for rice paddies. The occasional plot has escaped. Outside Trang a 1x4km area of original jungle has been turned into a botanical garden. With a trail through it.

It felt as if I walked into the jungle instantly. Which was just what I did. Except for the trail and a few signs, in Thai, everything was original jungle. Most varied: denser and thinner, lighter and darker, higher and lower, drier and wetter. Palms, ferns, bamboo, tall trees, parasite plants, lianas, gigantic leaves - it was all there.

In the distance I could hear traffic noise, but closer by was the sound of birds, insects and the rustling of lizards through the leaves.

At one point, a red-colored construction rose up between the green: an iron watchtower. I  climbed it to about 9m. There was an iron suspension bridge to the next tower, about 40 meters further. There I could go up the stairs and on to the next, higher suspension bridge. Same again to the third and middle suspension bridge that rose to 18m. Then I really walked alongside the higher treetops, and looked down on the lower parts of forest. That was very special.

After the canopy walk the path continued through the wet part, the "swamp". Today it was not too wet, only the middle part was submerged.

From there the trail returned to the starting point. All in all, the walk had lasted an hour. Time for a break at the coffee shop. The ladies of the shop and the information boots had a kind of jungle camouflage blouse as a uniform. Most charming.

Kanchanaburi & the Khmer tempels

Kanchanaburi is best known for the "Bridge over the River Kwai" and the horrors of the Burma Railway. It is also a base for natural beauty further down the valley. One street in the town has become a mini tourist ghetto with a series of guesthouses, bars, restaurants and massage parlours.

If you want to have a drink in the evening, there are countless possibilities. There are bars with groups of beer-drinking men. There are large sports cafes with large TV screens. There are cocktail bars with a/c and fluorescent lighting. There are bars with musical instruments set up on stage (but no musicians yet). There are bars where ladies with deep necklines help you finish your beer fast and order another one. And then there is the bench in front of the supermarket, where a man drinks the can of beer he just bought inside. It was not so much the setting, but the blank expression in his face that gave it such a sad look.

There is a lesser-known sight. On my travels I visited many temples, often Khmer temples, satellite cities of the famous Angor Wat. Prasat Muang Singh is the westernmost Khmer site and far from the others in Cambodia and Isan. Also relatively far from Kanchanaburi, 40km, and the only public transport is the train. It only runs a few times a day and there is actually only one combination of return trains that can be done. If the trains are on time.

According to a sign in the station, the train would arrive 10 minutes late. That should leave me just enough time. Whole school groups were waiting. And already three special wagons for foreigners at tourist price (100b), because this ride also did the passage of The Bridge. When the train arrived from Thonburi, the locomotive was disconnected, it picked up our wagons, drove a lot forward, then backed up again to connect to the wagons from Thonburi. So we became an extra long train.

We drove over The Bridge very slowly. Funny to see that from the other side, just like the market of Samut Songkhram, which we have also seen from two sides - once from inside the train, once from outside the train. 


After The Bridge, the tracks followed the valley of the Kwae Noi. Lots of agriculture, rice fields, corn, bananas, crops that I did not know. Occasionally unexplored tracts of land with the bamboo bush that was so characteristic of the Hellfire Pass. Villages, Buddhist monasteries, schools, children and farm workers waved to the train. Sometimes we had a view of the river, which was quite wide despite its name.

With a fifteen minute delay we arrived at the Tha Kilen station. A few tourists got out, who were met by a waiting van. Most people continued to the end of the line. I was the only one who walked the 500m long road from the station to the village, between the fields. It was about noon, a scorching heat had stopped everything. It was beautiful!

The village was a T-junction with 8 shed-like buildings. One was a kind of shop with a very old lady. I was unable to communicate properly, she did not understand that I was asking for a cola. Fortunately I was able to get it myself. But when I forgot my walking stick, she came calling after me - and her gestures showed that she understood why I had it with me - and that I needed it to scare away the dogs.

The entrance to the historic site was another 500m away, just before the ancient city walls. The site was 9 centuries old and excavated from the jungle over 40 years ago and beautifully maintained. The areas between wall, moat and buildings were neatly raked. In historical monuments, these are often lawns, here it was an open forest.

A path through the trees led to the central part, the remains of a temple. Outer walls, a passage that was still partly covered, a middle building with a statue and a second, higher building whose roof was still intact, with a statue. The stones were weathered and mossy and hot in the sun. It radiated power and strength.

I was the only one here. I sat in the courtyard of the main building. Then I walked to the parking lot where there were toilets. And a stall with fried noodles. A real lunch was tempting.

When I finished it, I had only 45 minutes left until the train would leave. But I still wanted to see how the walled city touched the river, so I walked along the south wall. That was further than I thought and time was running out. I was about fifteen minutes short.

The strip between the city wall and the river was beautified, a kind of park with covered seating areas and something that might have been a restaurant and guest rooms. Here you could really have enjoyed the view. 

But I had to hurry to catch the train. And at 37 degrees, that's not what you want. Back through the gate, the access road, through the village, the station road. I did not suffer from overheating, but my legs hurt. With 5 minutes spare I arrived at the station. Time enough to buy a cup of coffee before the train arrived.

Travelogue 2019/3, Destination reached: Satun (Thailand)

Our final train ride southbound was to Hat Yai, the biggest Thai city south of Bangkok and an important transport hub. For Malaysia Hat Yai is what Amsterdam is for England: you go there for the weekend for everything that god and your own country have forbidden.

This time we only stayed for lunch. With a mini-van we crossed over to the west side of Thailand, the Andaman coast, where it is warmer and sunnier.

In Satun we received a warm welcome in our guesthouse / resort. 

Home sweet home

This was our fourth time in Satun in five years. And we still find it delightful. How come? It’s a combination of many things.

The resort where we stay is beautiful. The cottages are designed tastefully and maintained well. Comfortable bed and plenty of space. A private veranda overlooking the well-tended garden. The pool is great to cool down in the afternoon. 

Usually It’s not crowded. On weekdays but a few houses are occupied, during the weekend more. The visitors are a mix of Westerners living on Langkawi and Malaysian and Thai families. Almost always quiet people. The staff is always nice and helpful.

The resort is located on the outskirts of town, between cow pastures and tall palm and tamarind trees. When the sun rises, there's an incredible noise of birds and insects, accompanied by the call for prayer in the distance.

It’s a 15 minute walk down town. Satun is a small town, with several restaurants that we like. Rich, creamy Thai curry in one, spicy Malay noodles in another, English pizza at Bobby's, one of the few expats living here.

Almost every walk in town we experience something new or unexpected. We discover a new street of a new store, we have coffee in a new coffee shop, we see cats sleeping in the strangest places, we see a snake zigzagging across the road, we see a new construction project of a dilapidated corner.

Outside the city you can make the most beautiful walks. Alongside rubber plantations and fish ponds, or through the mangrove forests. In a rubber plantation we saw trees with the cups filled with fresh rubber. Normally they are emptied early in the morning, or you see old neglected trees.

Walking through the mangrove forest we came as close as 8½km to the Malaysian border. As the crow flies. With impenetrable mangrove, swamp, delta and jungle in between. It would be 80km by road.

We made two trips out of town. The young lady who made us an ice coffee 5 years ago, and who made an impression because of the mindfulness and love she applied to that, had moved a few times and now had a coffee stall 30km away. It was lovely to see her again.

Our receptionist invited us for a trip to a fishing village that until recently was only accessible by boat. Now you drive 10km through mangrove forests on a wide and winding road. The hamlet is a different side of Thailand: simple wooden houses on stilts, life here is hard and shabby.

We spoke two volunteers who worked for a year in a similar village. That’s tough: nobody speaks decent English, never eating good food, completely depending on yourself.

Meanwhile it got hotter every day. Especially the sun became increasingly fierceful.

Red Bull

The only thing that can give you a boost in this oppressive heat is an iced coffee. Specifically one with condensed milk ánd coffee milk ánd milk powder. It is refreshing and energizing at the same time. The combination of caffeine, sugar and milk fats apparently has this special effect - for hours you are wide awake.

The recipe for Red Bull is derived from this.

You may think that Red Bull comes from Austria. No, it is a Thai thing, but the inventor had an Austrian partner for the global marketing. That has proved successful, one might say. The Yoovidhya family is one of the richest in Thailand.

I’ll take the "original version" - sometimes with milk and sometimes black - but always with less sugar than the Thai do.

Chinese New Year

Some Thai cities, like Ayutthaya and Trang, have a prominent Chinese population and CNY eclipses public life for weeks. There are markets, fairs, stages with music and shows, parades with dragons and drums, everyone wears new red clothes, and meals are put on a table for their ancestors.

Much less so in Satun. Still, a lot of red lanterns dangle throughout the city. Many businesses are closed for a few days or a week, so the already quiet city seems almost extinct.

People are broad minded here, which is prooved by Muslima’s wearing red CNY dresses.

Cats and dogs

In general you can say that cities are feline territories, and the countryside is canine territory. That is why in Asia, when you take a walk out of town, you always need a stick. Cyclists tell me they go right for the calves. If you are going to cycle here, a rabies vaccination is recommended. Then you have 48 hours instead of 24 hours to find the life-saving serum, if you get bitten.

According to this classification Satun is a town - just. During the day, you see  cats walking around, or sleeping on the sidewalk in front of their house / shop. They push their head against your legs and let themselves be stroked under their chin and purr.

But after 8 o'clock at night, when it is dark and it gets quieter, the dogs take over the streets. Packs of dogs roam, and where you could easily pass a sleeping dog during the day, now they bark at you. The first gets the next started, and before you know it you have a whole bunch coming after you. They are not completely wild though: if they come too close, it is usually enough to raise a finger (literally) and then they back off.

The cats have withdrawn further, you can still see them sleeping here and there, but they keep still.

Travelogue 2019/2, Beaches and Lakes in South Thailand

We went further down south. We visted two beaches and two large lakes. We seldom go to beach destinations, now twice, on the northern part of the Gulf of Thailand.

In the central part of the long stretch that forms Southern Thailand, we visited a large reservoir in the mountains and a large natural lake near the sea.

Beach town Hua Hin

In Hue Hin we had a nice hotel in a rather Thai neighborhood. Thai people lived and worked in the alleys around us, and the local market was nearby. But other parts of the city were completely taken over by mainly Scandinavian tourists. Many families with children, many elderly couples, and older men with their Thai wife. Mostly people come to stay over for the winter or come for the beach. There must be literally tens of thousands of Scandinavians living here. And there were quite some Asian tourists around too.

This time of year it is normal for the water to be high in the Gulf of Thailand, but these days it was extra high. There was hardly any beach for much of the day. One morning none at all. We stood at a beach entrance watching people carrying their mats and towels, looking a bit alarmed, and turning away again. But in between we could swim and paddle in the surf and enjoy the sun.

Hat Thung Wua Lean (Chumphon)

With an express train and a songthaew (a pick-up truck with benches in the hold) we moved 260km further south. There is a small beach, one kilometer long, with one road alongside, where it is busy with Thai during the weekend. During the week it is very quiet, the few hotels and restaurants that are open hardly have any guests. Here too the beach is narrow because of the high tide, but you share it with just a handful of others. We had two quiet days.

Single track trains

We did all our longer transfers by train. Often there were just one or two trains a day that were useful to us (there are also many night trains). These are old tracks and diesel trains, with antique signaling systems that work with hoops, tokens and flags.

To prevent two trains running into each other on a single track, each track section has one token (a metal disc) that a driver múst have to be able to drive on that section. At stations where opposite trains pass each other, the token is given to a station employee. To make the transfer easier from a moving train, the token is clamped in a large hoop. The station employee brings the hoop with token to the other train. Sometimes the employee pulls a long sprint for that, once we saw him driving down the platform with a moped!

The express trains reached up to 120 km / h. And even the wooden (!) local train that we had, reached almost 90 km / h. After 4½ hours, wooden benches are very hard indeed…

Ratchaprapha Dam / Khao Sok NP

From the town of Phun Phin (Surat Thani) we made a day trip to the Ratchaprapha Dam, the largest reservoir in South Thailand. It is a popular destination for boat trips, both by backpackers and in the weekend also by Thai. Almost everyone comes with an organized tour, so it took some time to find our bearings in the chaos. But in the end we sailed on our own little boat inbetween the rock formations, mountain peaks and jungle. Magnificent!

(Find the details how to organise a day trip from Surat Thani to Khao Sok National Park here.)

Phatthalung & Thale Noi NP

We stayed in the small provincial capital of Phatthalung for a few days. It is situated pretty much in the middle of nowhere and there are hardly any tourists. Yet there are some beautiful limestone mountains with caves and it is located near the largest lake in Thailand: Lake Songkhla.

A remote corner of the lake, still 5x5km, is a bird sanctuary, Thale Noi. We could make a boat trip. We got in with a somewhat older man who turned out to be a fine boatman. The trip was fantastic. We passed a variety of "land" scapes, vegetation and animals. Large parts of the lake were covered with water plants, but the water was crystal clear.

The first part was the water lily zone. Up close there was plenty of space between the flowers, but if you looked into the distance, there was a purple-pink glow over the water. We saw moorhens, gulls, herons, storks, cormorants and many more birds, of which I do not know the name. Part of the trip went through reeds, and we saw a large herd of water buffalo. The shepherds sailed in two small boats to keep them together. A baby buffalo stayed behind. Every now and then we cut through pieces of water plants, which separated underneath us. But once in a while, our boatman had to turn around. 

Next we passed large moving fishing nets (Kochi type) that were strung along a kind of canal in the middle of the lake... 

Hidden in the reeds we saw three more water buffalo. We saw the huge animals swimming and clambering lazily. Finally we sailed along a long row of trees, where each tree root formed its own small island.

Further south, the Thai seem even more friendly. There is not only the proverbial “Thai smile”, but also radiant faces, happy eyes, helpful interventions, greetings and an overall feeling of being welcome. Unfortunately, hardly anyone speaks English, so we had no deep and meaningful conversations.

Travelogue 2019/1, Old and New in Bangkok (Thailand)

Including suggestions for excursions

New Year's Eve

We arrived in Bangkok on New Year's Eve. I thought over here New Year’s Eve would be a non-event like in many Asian countries. What a mistake.

A large part of Siam Square was closed for traffic - and that says something in this car city. Six-lane roads were transformed into pedestrian areas and party locations. The decoration and lighting was impressive: so cheerful and colorful. The amount of people already in the streets at 9 pm was even more overwhelming. Thick masses of people flocked to the plazas with music and show for the countdown, many wearing illuminated headgear. Despite the crowds and noise, the atmosphere was relaxed.

We passed a large temple with the sound of chanting. Rows of people, hundreds, prayed and sang. A group of monks led the chanting. Almost everyone was dressed in white and had a piece of string tied around their head, that came down from a network of strings that had been spun above the whole site. So everyone was connected to each other.

At midnight there were some big fireworks shows.

Walking from park to park

Every dark-gray autumn day, every ice-cold winter day I had been looking forward to this moment, after the night-flights and the long walks through air-conditioned terminals, after the train-ride and the station building: to feel the solid ground and to taste the warm air of Bangkok.

Bangkok is vibrant, lively, colorful and cheerful. But also busy and noisy. That's why it's so nice to discover the quiet, hidden corners.

New Year's Day Lumphini Park was lively but not crowded. There was walking, jogging, cycling and picnics going on. There was a light breeze, just perfect.

We sat down at one of the big ponds. A few crows were fighting over a fish.  When we looked sideways we saw a monitor lizard that was also busy with a large fish. At first the lizard seemed  smallish but it was still one meter long. It had a hard time with the fish. Tore it in half and then swallowed half of it. The fish got stuck and for a long time two tail fins stuck out of the lizard’s mouth. A pretty silly sight. Eventually it managed to swallow it. Then the other half of the fish was eaten, say shredded. It was a bloody scene. Later we saw an even bigger lizard more peacefully sitting in the sun on a bank.

There is an elevated bike path from Lamphini Park to Benchakiti Park, partly above, partly next to a canal. It is a beautiful walkway along the backs of old neighborhoods, far from busy roads. You see wooden houses, small gardens, banana trees. Birds whistling, cats sleeping in the sun. The village was messy, and only the new skyscrapers in the distance reminded you that you were in the big city.

Around Bangkok - The Erawan Museum 

We made two trips to suburbs of Bangkok that are officially located in another province. A big contrast in means of transport. To Samut Prakan we took the brand new, just opened extension of the hypermodern Skytrain. To Samut Songkhram we took a slow train over an ancient narrow gauge single track ...

We took the BTS to Royal Thai Naval Academy and had a look at the small Bang Nang Kreng joining the big Chao Praya river. Then we backtracked with a song thaew to a stop underneath a giant motorway flyover. Just one crossing to the museum.

The Erawan Museum in Samut Prakan is a bizarre collection of kitschy elephant statues and historical Buddha statues in and around a giant three-headed elephant. The elephant reaches 47 meters high and can be seen above everything from a great distance. Around it gardens and ponds and temples and elephant statues. Ínside the elephant is an overabundantly decorated stairwell, where Asian ladies like to be photographed in graceful poses. Upstairs, in the belly of the elephant, is a blue lit room with precious ancient Buddha statues. Very remarkable.

The Mae Klong railway market

Hidden behind a market is a small train station, Wong Wian Yai. It’s the starting point of  a slow train to the southwest. We walked there from the BTS station with the same name. We rode along small houses and the backs of buildings, past banana trees and market stalls. Slowly the urban development became less dense. After an hour, over 30 km, the terminal station was in a large fish market.

From there it was a few minutes walk to the river, that we crossed by ferry.

Then another ten minutes walk to the next train station, where a similar train ride took us to the next river. This strech was more rural, with large fish ponds and salt basins. Here too, the line ended in a market. When a train came in, the goods had to be removed from the tracks and the marquises folded back. This had become a true attraction in recent years, and was visited by thousands of tourists as a tour-bus day trip from Bangkok. So our train was welcomed by a huge crowd that was photographing and waving at us.

You can this as a return trip with careful planning of the train schedule. We stayed the night in Samut Songkhram.

The next morning we watched the scene from the other side. Some stall owners had put their crates of goods on a moving rack, which slid over small rails to make just enough space for the train. Others had stacked their vegetables so low that the train ran overhead the cabbage and mangoes. What struck us was how close the space between the market stalls and the train was. Really just 2a3 cm clearance. And a train is very big when it passes a few centimeters from you ...

Travelogue Summer 2018/4 Going underground in Kashan (Iran)

Our fourth and final destination was Kashan, another relatively small desert town. More of those winding alleys between mud walls, which soon became a maze. The final days of an incredibly beautiful and fascinating journey.

Kashan

Kashan historical house

Kashan is famous for its "historical houses", 19th-century houses of wealthy traders. You might say city palaces. Some are ghostly ruins. Most have been restored and become a landmark or hotel. We looked at some of them closely. Around several courtyards, over three floors, one of which is underground, were numerous dwellings. A winter cellar that caught the sun, a summer cellar in the shade, kitchens, water distribution rooms, reception halls, a mirror hall, there is no end to it. Some rooms have stained-glass windows, some have decorations and paintings and sculptures.

kashan bathhouse

Then there was the Sultan's bathhouse. Beautifully restored, with different rooms, corridors, domes, paintings, tiles. The boiler room, the hot water supply, the changing room, the shaving area and the blood outlet area ... It was like a fairytale, especially when we climbed the roof. It was a curved scape with upright domes, on top of which were small top-domes with tiny round windows, against the desert city backdrop. Because nothing was straight, it looked like a cross between a skateboard track and a collection of Martians.

On the map I saw a strange part of the city without alleys. On the satellite photo it looked like a circular wall with green in it. It was quite a search, because there seemed to be no way leading there. But through a mausoleum and a covered alley and a parking lot we reached a park that hit a high mud wall. You could climb up there easily. Indeed, from the top you looked down a circle of about 500 meters in diameter, it looked like a crater wall. And a lot of vegetable gardens, some just plowed, others green. Mind blowing.

With some effort we climbed down on the inside. We walked across a narrow footpath along a small irrigation canal to the other side, where there was a pointed dome that we now knew from cisterns and ice houses. Undoubtedly it had to do with the former water supply. Now it looked like it had been restored on the outside, but out of use. 

Later we read that the mud walls are the remnants of a 1,000-year-old city rampart. Discovering this hidden treasure was the kind of bonus that gives great satisfaction to a city walk.

Iran - past, present and future

Almost 40 years ago, the uprising against the Shah began, which led to the revolution that has shaped modern Iran. The clergy in power, in a complex interplay of influences - the president, the parliament, the spiritual leader, the revolutionary guard.

20 years ago I was in Iran, halfway the current age of the Islamic Republic. Has it changed a lot in those 20 years? In some ways yes, in some ways not.

The Western media still paint a totally distorted picture of Iran. We are thinking of a primitive country full of terrorists and extreme Ayatollahs - while this century has unmistakably seen greater support for terrorism by Western ally Saudi Arabia.

Still it is probably the most friendly, sweetest and most calm people I know. People like to have a chat with us, are interested without being intrusive. The public space is clean and feels calm and safe. Despite  it being a strict Islamic country, mosques are not prominent and there is no loud call to prayer five times a day. The streets are cozy, mixed, young and old, modern and traditional. There are many small shops that are open to the street, busy old bazaars, and also large modern shopping malls.

Because of the boycott and wrong decisions, the country has ended up in a permanent economic crisis. As a result, it has developed less than was potentially possible, but you would still compare it with Southern Europe rather than with an Asian country.

Although much equipment is out of date, there is a reasonably working infrastructure; there are no power cuts; the level of education is high; telephone and internet are used extensively. As a result, the average Iranian has a better view of the outside world than 20 years ago; on Instagram there is de facto freedom of speech; tourism has increased.

The future of Iran depends both on world politics and on domestic politics. Economic despair could well be the biggest destabilizing factor. Will the country remain isolated or will it be connected?

Finally/more

Do you want to read more about what we ate in Iran? Take a look at Lily's travel guide

Travelogue Summer 2018/3 Fairytales in Isfahan (Iran)

With a comfortable VIP bus we drove from Yazd to Isfahan. A taxi to the hotel. A cheerful young girl without a headscarf (until she hit the street later) welcomed us. It was a kind of hostel around a beautiful courtyard. And for us it was the base to view one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Isfahan

Isfahan Nagh-e-Jahan square 

The Nagh-e-Jahan square is immense. With 150 by 500m it is the second largest in the world. Surrounded by double arcades, two fabulous mosques and a palace. With footpaths and lawns. And in the evening hundreds, thousands of people gather. The stone benches and the lawns were almost completely full. With the darkness in the sultry evening, it was wonderfully relaxed. Groups of women and children formed the majority. They took out rugs, thermos jugs and gas stoves - having a picnic was taken to a higher art here. Under the full moon, surrounded by the façades where each arch was lit, it was Arabian Nights live. The weekend mood made the people even more open to greetings, waving, laughing and welcoming us.

Isfahan Great Abbassi Mosque

The Great Abbassi Mosque, the largest of the two on the square, stood out because of the overwhelming amount of blue tiles and blue mosaic. Halfway through the construction they switched from mosaic to painted tiles, because it went faster. Not only the large alcoves are blue, but also the entire span of the courtyard and a number of niches. Abstract, geometric and fantasy figures interspersed with Koran texts and the occasional scene with animals. A lot of marble has also been used. Several parts of the mosque were being renovated, including the largest niche and the dome which were scaffolded. In a workshop we could see how with a real size mold of 1 / 16th "part" of the dome, the tiles were re-drawn and copied before they were replaced.

Isfahan Khajou bridge 

The Khajou bridge again was incredibly beautiful. 350 years old. The lower base was a dam, then granite pillars and waterways with stairs, then brick pillars under which people were standing in the shade. A man was singing. The upper part of the bridge had raised sides that again formed gates where people were sitting in the shade. Everyone was cheerful and friendly. The only dissonant was that the river was dry, which is almost always the case in recent years. The water is diverted to elsewhere.

Paterns and dimensions

The mosques could be overwhelmingly large, but never pompous. Because of the perfect proportions in the dimensions they always seemed serene and soothing. The surfaces consisted of abstract patterns that overlapped, intertwined, repeated themselves, varied, coalesced with the arches and domes, expanding or shrinking where necessary. Breathtaking mosaic that you could look at endlessly.

If only Escher or Gaudí had seen this ... In fact, Escher did see this in Andalucía, and then became the draftsman we know today. Gaudí studied Persian architecture and Islamic art mainly from books, during his training.

Ladies and dress codes

In recent years there has been a wave of relaxation of the dress code. Especially in fashionable Isfahan you could tell. The long overcoat was by no means always over the knee, was by no means always black, was sometimes open or fitted, and sometimes even almost transparent. Also blouses were sometimes tight, colorful and playful. The headscarves were often worn way back and there was a lot of hair showing. Usually straight black, but also bleached and wavy.  Occasionally it hung loose down the back. Jeans were sometimes pretty tight, but always to the ankle. Some women were exuberant with rouge all over their face, bright red lipstick, and especially the eyes, eyelashes and jet-black eyebrows received a lot of attention.

Not only the more modern dressed ladies were keen to flirt a bit. My blue eyes, long hair and radiant smile :) attracted the ladies' interest, and they showed that openly.

If you do not know that women in Iran are legally disadvantaged, you may get the impression that they are equal. They are fully present in the streets and behave in a self-confident and self-assured manner. They are on average higher educated than men and sometimes they are the main breadwinner in a family. In any case their position is better than in any of the surrounding countries.

Travelogue Summer 2018/2 Fire, water, air and mud in Yazd (Iran)

We rented a taxi for the day to take us from Shiraz to Yazd (430km) so we could stop en route in Persepolis. 2500 years ago this was an important capital, and you could still see beautiful remains.

In Yazd we found a lovely hostel with nice rooms on a roof terrace. There we could sit together, eat, drink tea with a view of the city. Yazd is smaller than Shiraz and has a more provincial feel.

Yazd 

We wanted to take a walk through the mud alleys to the Friday Mosque. As the crow flies no more than 500 meters. The houses are turned inwards, so towards the street you mainly see walls with some small windows and doors. Because everything was muddy-brown, it seemed like one design. Some alleys were covered, then there were turns and squares, domes and arches. It was very quiet, every now and then a lady covered in black passed in the distance.

Yazd mud buildings

Because of the twisting and turning of the alleys we totally lost our sense of direction. The maps in the guidebook and even google did not show many alleys, so we did not know which way to go. We asked a few men which way to the Friday Mosque, and they all pointed in different directions. Eventually we saw the tall minarets and managed to keep our course. In the bazaar and in the street towards the mosque, which had been very busy last night, it was very quiet now. After all, Friday morning is a kind of Sunday morning. A few domestic tourists wanted to take a picture with us, with the impressive entrance in the background.

Yazd water supply

The Friday Mosque is decorated with a particularly beautiful mosaic of tiles, many abstract lines, lots of blue. There were some people around making phone calls or sleeping, otherwise it was quiet. A man told us about the qanats, underground channels that used to supply water from the mountains. Now the system is polluted and closed, and the water comes from Isfahan.

We visited the water museum. Actually an old mansion, but suitable as the water museum because there are not one but two old qanats underneath, from which can be tapped. Through narrow tunnels that had been excavated underground, the water ran out of the mountains to the city. Rich families could get water in their cellar. The bottom channel is so deep that there is a cool space where you could store food and the family could sit during sweltering afternoons.

We took a taxi to the Zoroastrian fire temple just outside the city center. Zoroastrianism has its origins in this region and is one of the oldest surviving religions in the world. In a garden stood a couple of buildings, above the door the symbol with two long wings and all kinds of details that had a specific meaning. With themes like "good thinking, doing good" and "karma" there were many concepts recognizable from Buddhism. The "eternal flame" burned behind glass. This particular specimen has been burning for 1,500 years, another one outside the city for 6,000 years. In another building was a large photo exhibition with images of daily life of Zoroastrians from the area of ​​Yazd.

Yazd fire temple

Air coolers en wind towers

The first time I saw one was in Rajasthan in 2001. My hotel room had a pack of straw in front of the window with a fan behind it. If you wet the straw and the air flows through it (wind or fan) you get a cool airflow. Meanwhile, there are more modern versions with a grid instead of straw, and a few years ago I even bought one to use at home. For those few warm days a year.

In Iran we saw plenty of air coolers. Ideal because, unlike an air conditioner, they work in an open space, so you can leave your shop door open. And they use much less power, although that does not seem to matter much in Iran. We saw them in shops, in workshops, in restaurants and even on top of a city bus!

Yazd wind towers

Also, in the desert cities Yazd and Kashan you have the ancient wind towers. High towers that protrude above the buildings, and catch the slightest hint of wind in the air in some kind of reverberation holes. That air then falls down the hollow tower, where it flows through the living room like a cool breeze.

We knew it would be warm, in June, in central Iran. But it was "hot for the time of year" and afternoon temperatures varied from 37 to 42 degrees Celsius. "Close to forty" is a totally different temperature zone than "low thirties", which we have a couple of days a year in the Netherlands. All objects are warmer than you are, everything radiates heat and feels warmer than your skin when you touch it. You dehydrate instantly. In the afternoon the sun is almost straight above you and burns mercilessly.

Still, it was dry air, so at least you were not crushed by a pressing sweaty mass of humidity. Hiding in the cool hotel room for a couple of hours in the afternoon was enough to keep all systems going. Emerging from your A/C room, five minutes in the sun was a breeze.

A bonus of the hot weather was that there were very few tourists around and all hotels had vacancies.

Travelogue Summer 2018/1 Shiraz - the Andalucía of Iran

Short connection

We had just half an hour to change planes in Vienna. We had deliberately selected seats as far in the front as possible. When the door opened, an employee asked if we were going to Shiraz? If so, please deboard first. There was a man in the gangway with a notepad. I thought for a moment that he was our guy, but he did not look up when we walked by. Maybe our guy was waiting further down the corridor?

Just as we were walking through a sliding door 30 meters away, he called out: Shiraz? He came after us and opened a side door with an ID card. Normally no passengers were allowed here. We walked down a corridor, down a flight of stairs, and much to my surprise we went outside. Suddenly we were standing between the airplanes. And to my even greater surprise, we stepped into a van. We were driving airside. Our companion was half Persian, and his job was to put people on flights to Shiraz, Isfahan and Tehran. We stopped at a door of a large building. Another ID card to open it.

There were a couple of immigration counters in an empty hall. He explained to the lady behind the desk that we were exiting, normally this was the desk for passengers arriving in Schengen. With the five of us on a trot up some stairs and down a corridor. There was a very long line, but he gestured we could walk past it to reach our gate, which seemed completely abandoned. Quickly through security. And then it turned out boarding had only just started, so we had five minutes to spare.

Arrival

Five hours later, in the middle of the night, we landed at the small regional airport of Shiraz in the south of Iran. An announcement was made that all ladies had to put on their headscarves. A little less than half of the passengers got off, the rest continued to Isfahan. We had a bus to the terminal building, basic and old. Just a few people got in the lane for foreign passports, and at the counter all went very smooth. Our luggage arrived within five minutes. We were considering changing money at a bank counter, but a guy said we'd better do that somewhere else. All in all, we had entered this country in record time. A big contrast with the preparations beforehand: the visa and many other documents that had to be delivered. That had been quite a hassle, especially because of the unclear and contradictory and ever changing information that was available.

In the arrival hall stood a guy with a piece of paper with the name of our hotel and a lot of text in Farsi. On his phone he also had a lot of Farsi with in between my first name. That was enough to trust him. We followed him outside, where it was pleasantly cool. Put the luggage in the back of an old car in the parking lot. A ride into town on a wide boulevard with lots of trees and lights and on every lamppost a big picture of a "martyr" from the Iran-Iraq war. It was very quiet on the street, big neon signs were on, but everything was closed, so we had no idea what all those Farsi texts were promoting.

Cash, lots of cash

Due to the boycott, Iran is not connected to the international money transfer systems. Even though there are ATMs everywhere, and almost everyone pays with a tap-and-go card, foreigners are dependent on hard cash. Euros or dollars. That you swap for very soft rial. There's the official buying rate, the official selling rate, the street rate, the euro exchange rate and the dollar exchange rate.

Our hotel reception could change money, but, as the receptionist said, the exchange rate depends on how much we want to change. How much we want to change, I said, depends on the exchange rate. We agreed on € 200 for 60,000 rial / euro. Well above the official rate, but in the bazaar we should be able to do better. We got a big pile of money - and then another one, she had already divided it in two for us.

The huge amount of zeros was rather confusing. And even more so because you pronounce 60,000 Rial as 6,000. Then they mean toman but don't say that. On some banknotes it says 500,000 Rial, on older ones with the same value it says 50. That means 50,000 toman, or 500,000 rial. For example, if something costs 300,000 rial, it can be said as 300,000, 30,000 or 30 ... It is not helpful either that 100,000 and 10,000 rial notes have the same color.

Later we would change in the street a couple of times. Every city has a strip where some guys are standing, who ask if you want to change money. In Shiraz an old man was sitting in a folding chair on the side walk, with piles of cash on a small carpet in front of him. You choose a guy and step aside. You negotiate about the exchange rate and how much you want to change. The guy counts a pile of notes. Then you say that is not enough and he will add one or two. Then you count the pile again and give him two euro bills.

Shiraz 

Next morning we walked to the Pink Mosque. More a sight than a sanctuary, and it was already quite busy when we went inside. The main attraction was the prayer hall with stained-glass windows. The morning sun shone through it and cast a colorful pattern on the floor. Everyone wanted to pose in the color spectrum, and especially on draped white robes it was a stunning sight.

Shiraz Pink Mosquee

The prayer niches at both ends of the courtyard were decorated with beautiful tile work, with pink being the prevailing color. Remarkably, sometimes a miniature landscape was incorporated in the floral patterns. There was a well with blue light, to symbolize that there had been water until 10 years ago. There was a small side courtyard, where we had a photo session with a mother and her daughters from Mashhad. Mom made all the pictures of the daughters with us. When I insisted that I wanted a picture of her too, her black headscarf went off, and a more colorful one appeared from underneath.

A bit further away was a museum in the gardens of an old mansion. Beautiful orange trees, water features, and a large guest pavilion. Mirrored walls, painted ceilings with European scenes. On the walls of the entrance building were images that we knew from the Moghuls in North India: elephants.

Shiraz bazaar

The covered bazaar of Shiraz was always pleasantly crowded. There was plenty of shopping going on. There were sections for clothing, for carpets, for spices, for household items. Despite all these people there was a quiet atmosphere, merchants were not shouting, passersby greeted us without being intrusive.

Shiraz bazaar

In the middle of the bazaar was a small square with a pond. It was simultaneously busy and intensely peaceful, serene. We sat down on a bench and looked at Iranian life passing in front of our eyes. The ladies all looked fascinating. Sometimes shapeless under a large black piece of cloth, sometimes unassumingly stylish, sometimes concealing, sometimes accentuating their figure, sometimes eccentric and challenging. If you did not know it already: even with the strange dress codes in Iran, women can dress in a personal and charming style.

Shiraz bazaar

Shiraz is a big, cosmopolitan city. Because of the southern location, the friendly atmosphere, the long siesta and the custom to eat at ten o'clock at night, the province is nicknamed the Andalusia of Iran. And that's how it felt.