Tag: Razavi Khorasan province of Iran
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650-year-old Air-Conditioning in Iranian University
The AC still works. No one cares.I don’t think it’s possible for a thinking person to step onto the gorgeous courtyard of the 650-year-old Khargerd Ghiasieh School in northeast Iran and not feel both pity and amazement. Amazement for the beauty of its iwans and the technical engineering devised to use nothing but desert winds to cool down the school’s 32…
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Iran’s Towers: “Lighthouses of the desert”
Iranians kept fires burning on these minarets to direct desert trafficAncient Persians, aware of the strategic value of the Silk Road to East-West commerce, built towers with fires on the top to direct travelers. Many of the towers survived the centuries despite earthquakes and the punishing weather.
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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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Tour of Iran’s countryside: full of surprises
The famous Persian hospitality on our weekend trip in northeast IranPersian hospitality and quick friendships are hard to avoid anywhere in Iran – especially when you’re in the country. On our weekend autumn getaway near Mashhad, we ate a lot of traditional food, we also visited the shrine of a local Shia saint who almost instantly answered my prayer!
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A perfect Iran Vacation: sleeping on the floor
In northeast Iran, a simpler traditional living is a short drive awayMy stay in a simple country home in Iran’s countryside was unforgettable – even if wife and I had to sleep on the floor. For me, experiencing the rural lifestyle in Iran even beats visiting famous historical sites.
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The Splendor of Fresh Iranian Bread
You seek it out like your life depends on itYou see the creation of food at a primal level, men relentlessly clawing the doe, molding and shaping it, and then facing the sometimes unbearable heat of the open oven–in order to feed themselves and the world around them. This is real; Wall Street speculation is not.
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Massive Glory in Sleepy Town
We find glorious antiquity even in tiny GonabadToday we were again reminded that Iran’s appeal is not limited to what the travel guidebooks pitch. There’s awe-inspiring beauty in many of Iran’s small towns, sans the traffic and expense of the touristy hotspots. s Gonabad (go-NAW-bawd) is 288 km south of Mashhad in northeast Iran. It’s not even on the primary route from Mashhad to…
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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…
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Iran’s Wailing Wall
Strangely soothing even to a mere spectatorIMAM REZA SHRINE, MASHHAD, Iran – Beneath giant chandeliers and surrounded by bewilderingly intricate mirror artwork and calligraphy sits this nation’s equivalent of the Wailing Wall. Dar-al Hojjeh is an immense underground hall adjacent to the burial chamber of Imam Reza (Persian: امام رضا), whose 1000-year-old shrine is Iran’s spiritual nucleus and the world’s largest…
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The Window of Steel
Where Shia Pilgrims Come for HealingIMAM REZA SHRINE, MASHHAD, Iran – It’s called the Window of Steel, through which millions of Shia pilgrims try to find hope and healing. For the tourist, it can provide a fascinating – and at times heart-wrenching – peak into mankind’s universal urge to touch something greater than himself. The Window of Steel (a.k.a Fulad…
