Tag: Stumbling Upon History in Iran
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Touring History in Iran: Ancient rock art in my backyard
This time we find 4000-year-old petroglyphs 2 kilometers from our apartmentIran still manages to surprise us, this time with 4000-year-old petroglyphs near our home.
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A tank is just right for Road Trip In Iran
Hunting for rocks and history on our last country stay in northeast IranIran is where you can stumble upon a ancient Zoroastrian lookout by accident – and find out it’s not even on the map, let alone protected. Do it in a tank-like 4WD, perfect vehicle for Iran’s dangerous roads.
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Another (Abandoned) Caravanserai
Exhilaration and sorrow upon finding another jewel of the desertStumbling on abandoned or undiscovered historical sites is a common theme for anyone who frequently travels Iran’s 240,000 KM of roads. Saeideh and I aren’t frequent travelers and yet some of our most memorable visits are to the nameless abandoned jewels of an Iran no one today would recognize.
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Iran Qanat: Swimming & wonder under the desert
Cooling off in an ancient qanat is a treatSwimming on a hot summer day is good. Swimming under the desert in a 2,500-year-old qanat in northeast Iran is extra special. I am 15 meters below ground, inside one of the world’s oldest qanats (aka kārīz) – the system of underground canals and aqueducts ancient Persians invented to transport water from mountains to the desert.…
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Waiting in Iran, for 400 years
The day I fell in love with an abandoned caravansaraiA postal route operated here when North America wasn’t yet settled by Europeans. International traders slept here in style 200 years before there was even such a thing as the United States. But today the caravanserai of Zafaraniyeh sits empty and abandoned, like thousands of other ancient jewels all over Iran, victim of time, cultural amnesia…
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Stumbling Upon Antiquities in Iran
Highway boredom leads to a day of marveling Iran’s pastNear SABZEVAR, Iran – Iran is so old that sometimes even aimless tourists get to discover a village chock full of antiquities seemingly unnoticed by a government overwhelmed with the upkeep of thousands of similar jewels. It’s mid-August afternoon and wife Saeideh and I are speeding toward Sabzevar on the highway that used to be…
