Been here in Esfahan for 5 days now and will have to stay probabaly another two, everything is closed here for the past 3 days due to the mourning of the death of Imam Hossein .... it was a job even to find somewhere where we could buy food, one night we had to join the queue outside the local mosque for the free food ..... its handed out to anyone and everyone during this time. (Though I felt somehwat guilty doing this, I mean, imagine cruising into mass one day just for the free wine then making a beeline out of the church!) Tomorrow, shall be interesting, it is National Iran Day .... looking forward to that after a slight quiet patch of a few days!
We arrived here in Esfahan via the now infamous Natanz in this bright-red-psychadelic-painted with-Quranic-verses-written-all-over-it clapped out dilapidated Mercedes bus. Evidently the bright and cheery decorations on the outside were just to try to get you in a cheery mood before been crammed into the bus that seem to dawdle along slower than your average Paykan. The bus insha'allah, was suppsed to arrvie in Esfahan in 4 hours time. Insha'allah is a lovley phrase they use here that translated into "God willing," and is especially used in respect to travelling. I, however, have found that the translation of "probably not" more fitting!
Esfahan is certainly one of the most picturesque cities Ive seen ..... the area round Imam Khomeini Square is amazing! Never have I seen richer architecture than in Imam Mosque, which is on one of the sides of Imam Khomeini Square (And this place, unlike all other squares in Iran, is shaped like a square, all the others look decidely round!). Met quite a few interesting locals here (even got invited to someone's family in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan which had to be very tactically declined!), whether it be just your typical uni student or even a guy who was formerly part of Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon ..... now he brands it as a silly childish pursuit that seemed a good idea at the time (sounds awfully similar to your average WW1 recruit). Even just sitting down at any teahouse with tea cup in ine ahnd and water pipe in the other watching the day go by is an experience in itself.
Speaking of drink and all things culinary, food here is awesome, both in taste and price! The banana milkshakes which every shop seems to make fresh round here are almost orgasmic! Never will I look at a jam donut back in Oz in the same way, bakeries here also superlicous. However, one thing that can be given a wide berth is the pizza and beer here. Yes, Iran does produce its own brand of non-alcoholic beer, called Delster. What makes it so unique is that it comes in several flavours, inlcuding lemon, strawberry, and .. wait for it ... caramel! It seems that what makes a good pizza here is making it totally devoid of any flavour .... you need to slosh on some tomato sauce to give it any flavour.
The mouring of the death of Imam Hossein has been quite intersting to witness. Mass crowds gather in the square and its surrounds as a procession of men and loudspeakers alike make their way through! Masses of flag-waving ... free hot milk been served ona ll corners of the street and meals at mealtimes .... never have I seen a population so galvanised before. I'm really hanging out for National Day tomorrow!
One last pointer Id like to make is what I think, is a little over-exaggeration of the Western media over these cartoons. Granted there are still many things and aspects of Iran which I have not and never will see, but people here, though annoyed at the cartoons, arent busy torching anything Danish and European. You can still buy Tuborg here, there are 2 Scandinavian travellers here who walk the streets freely and people here greet you with the utmost hospitality. Indeed, Australians seem to be much in the favour here at the moment (though relatively more European and Japanese toursits make it here, virtually none come from Australia apparently) due to a not so successful sporting encounter against them in recent years! (You get constantly reminded, in graphic detail about the winning/drawing second goal here!). The vast majority of people here accept that what governments think is not necessarily what the people think, they know that all too well from their own.
Anyway, I best be off now to do a little explore of the city!
James
