Trip to Esfahan

We met one local tour guide who offered more interesting off-road trip to Esfahan (for 55 eur) and we decided to take it (not using our paid hotel in Naein). It was worth - even after pretty chilly sleep in abandoned caravanserai. He was loud and very energetic, but he had good stories and humour.

Kharanaq is an amazing mud brick village. It is good example how was a life of people 1000 years ago. It has been renovated modestly - so for elderly people could be dangerous. It has been one of the best examples of such type of architecture.

Next stop was Chak Chak - the best site of Zoroastrian religion. It is the most sacred Zoroastrian shrine. You have to climb up but it is worth of it. You feel it is a holy place. The story behind it was that a priestess escaped there when being chased. Her cane became a tree that is still growing there and the spring is one of the most holiest places for the Zoroastrians.

In Meybod city we visited pigeon tower - it could be seen in many places but this was the best example. Interesting to know it had several purposes. Farmers built them to keep birds (not only pigeons) away from the fields, but also to get valuable bird manure. Farmers put in tower water to drink but also food. Inside it was full of nests, but at the moment only few birds actually lived there now days. We paid a visit also to Narin castle. It could be one of the oldest mud brick castles, it was also quite big, so it takes a bit time to walk around it. We were also shown industrial part of the city where the ceramics and pottery was made. If you haven´t seen anything similar, it is interesting to see. Most of it was mass produced, but for some the decorations on it were made by had.
Khargoushi caravanserai is abandoned for many years. it is surrounded by classical Iranian desert. It is used time to time by shepherds. We slept under the stars in sleeping bags on the roof of it. It was very windy and we needed to put on few more layers. Supposedly it is only one of the few ones that aren´t restored yet or damaged beyond repair. Our guide was telling how police is sometimes patrolling the area in the night, because drug trafficking is also done by desert roads. So when moving around desert during a night don´t get scared if police officers with machine guns stop you. If you explain who you are and what you do there everything should be ok.


Zein-o-Din is in fact more interesting. There is also a restaurant and it is possible to rent a room. Prices seemed for us quite high. And there is small observatory where they organise star gazing during the nights for a price.

With our 4 wheel very old Landcruiser we passed through salty land. In spring, large area is under water and it is big lake (we saw similar place in few other areas). In summer rivers are very small and very salty. It was for us very difficult to understand what attracted flamingos to stay there, as water looked to us lifeless.
One of our top sites was Varzaneh desert. It is beautiful classical sand dunes desert. It seems to be also very popular among locals. We saw many families coming for picnic. You can ride a camel, quad or proper 4 wheel car. We took opportunity and challenge to take a ride with our "grandfathers" landcruiser. Driving there is quite different. Thanks good guide was experienced in this. We took a short walk on dunes but heat started to hit us and we finished our exiting desert trip in some 2 hours. There isn´t that much to see but the sand dunes all the way where your eye can reach, but the ride there is a rush. If you are not into such extremes you can just walk around the entrance of the desert or ask for a ride with a camel.

Esfahan was definitely our number one city / it is spectacular place. Many interesting sites to see, lively, the best place for shopping. Imam square (Nagh-e-Jahan complex) with 2 mosques and great bazaar is one of the largest public squares we have been so far and probably the biggest in Iran. It was full of local people - for picnic, for shopping just for a walk. Don't forget to go there also at evening when lights are on. If you want to do some shopping for local stuff this would be the best place, you probably could spend hours in there if you are looking for something special.
Lotfallah mosque is very small but it is great architecture. It has entrance fee but it is worth to pay a visit to shoot some nice photos. And it is the place where the Lonely Planets cover foto is taken. Also the Shah mosque is nice to have a look. Aliqapu palace is more for those who are more interested in architecture or if you just want to have a photo from the whole Imam square. Also Chehel Sotoun did not impress us, but for a little walk in the park, why not.

Esfahan bazaar was the best for good shopping. In other cities it was more to have a look on architecture and local people. Quality and variety of handicraft is better then in other bazaars. Choice of carpets (woollen and silk) was way better then in other cities. I bought medium size good quality silk carpet from Magic of Persia II shop. Shop keeper was professional and as it was not anymore high season, gave us very good price. We visited more than 10 different shops before making decision. I bought also 2 nice tablecloth's. Wife was very happy at home. You can find also great variety of natural perfume and scents. Prices were very reasonable.

Vank church and Armenian quarter was nice experience. Church is itself very nice and also museum is worth to visit, as there was lot of christian history there and much information about Armenian genocide. We had great lamb in Khangostar restaurant and the owner was a great guy as well. Former professional football player trying to offer good quality food for locals and foreigners.

We decided to visit famous Khaju bridge at evening (we saw it from taxi window when we entered the city). Si-e-She and Chubi bridges we visited walking around. We took taxi as it was too long to walk. It was very memorable walk. It was full of local people  (all age groups) "chilling" around. Probably popular among locals as it is free of charge and you can also dip your feet in the water if you want to.
Setareh hotel and restaurant were very good and comfortable. The main plus - good location. The other dinner we had in Abbasi hotel. It was occupied mostly by tourists. I took a local meatballs what were surprisingly good. But it was a bit expensive. All in all Esfahan has also highest average food quality, but the prices are higher as well.

If you have time only to visit one city in Iran, then we would recommend Esfahan.