People were gazing us in the streets, they were trying to discover us. We were also extremely curious of them, so when we found somebody who spoke English, questions were flying… 🙂 The two parallel worlds were simply gazing and discovering each other.
Shiraz was gracious to us: we met somebody who offered us his entire home, plus… alcohol, music and video clips showing women in a provocative light. Highly illegal in Iran…
Please click on the first picture (and the following ones) for the story:
After having breakfast in the Niayesh hostel, we headed out to visit the city. The city with 1,6 million inhabitants is around 700 kilometers South of Tehran. The locals here are also extremely welcoming: they’re happy that tourists come here and visit them. They also want a picture with a European
First up in the list of sites was Imamzadeh Ali ebn e Hamze mosque. A guide was assigned to us. Of course, she asked where we came from, what we visited so far, what we think of the country. She told us that the mosque was built in the 19th century over the tomb of Emir Ali, a nephew of Shah Cheragh who also died here while en route to Khorasan to help Imam Reza, this shrine is the latest of several earlier incarnations destroyed by earthquakes. It was terribly hot, the ladies who had to dress in chadors (it is a full-body-length semicircle of fabric that is open down the front) were suffering the most. Our guides sweated, but resisted. Unfortunately we were not allowed to go into the tomb which is in the middle of a dome full of mirrors
Only Muslims were allowed to go in
I was pretending to take a picture of how Bianka and Emma were looking at the phone, but in reality I just wanted a view of the street…
These boys were the most insistent of all Iran. They wanted a parrot to guess my future. Well, I didn’t want to give it this privilege. The followed us on the streets, but eventually somebody summoned them: leave the tourists alone. We felt unsafe nowhere in Iran
We also had a peak inside the Vakil Bath…
Karim Khan Castle is a citadel located in the downtown Shiraz. We had a look from outside
When visiting a foreign country, I’m interested in how people live, what is the structure of the society. I like taking random pictures on the street… This man was simply… selling something…
Of course, we wanted to try the metro out. Workers there were amazed that we were interested in this. They gazed at us as if we were UFO’s. We were surprised that they were surprised… The metro is not fully operational, a ticket costs a few euro/dollar cents. In rials, of course
No comment
Of course, we took a ride…
The rule: women and men separately…
I desperately wanted a beer. No chance…
Going to the toilet in downtown Shiraz was easy. You don’t have to be a customer to pee, like in Europe. Well, not in a cinema, anyway… Look at that reservoir up on the wall. Well, that’s just liquid soap, industrial quantity
Inside a building housing a cinema in Shiraz
We’ve seen very good Iranian movies lately. The Salesman, for example. Apparently the regime is not allowing them to be screened in the Iranian cinemas…
A seasonal river, Dry River, flows through the northern part of the city and on into Maharloo Lake
No comment
Throughout our journey in Iran, I had the impression that people do enjoy life, the simple parts of it: they don’t run after fortune, expensive cars, they simply put down their tent and have a picnic. Or play a game. Like these ones: table tennis. They don’t watch Tv as extensively as us, nor they use the computer, tablet or smart phone so much
A back street in Shiraz
Why would anyone paint them like this???!!!
It happens
They still use old style public phones in Shiraz…
Finally, we could meet our host. We guided us to his spacious and new apartment, and said: Outside Islam, inside no Islam and he opened a bottle of great French wine, 30 euros a piece. We drank two, and fortunately didn’t have to pay… 🙂 He’s a wealthy businessman, just like his father. We watched Turkish music videos on Tv, drank, and then he left the house, he went to his father for the night. We drank more… 🙂 Our second and last time drinking alcohol in Iran…
Our Shiraz host showed us the other face of the country: the wealthy, westernized Iran. Plenty of food and alcohol, good living. We had a party after he left…We left the city the next morning
Kiss Olivér blogja 
🙂 🙂
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