Exploring out of town

We had arranged for a tour to Chak Chak and a few other places today.  We have Mikel and Puri, plus Sophie, the Australian girl that I keep running into through my trip.   The pick-up was supposed to be 0830 (but with a hint of 0900 in the discussion) and Said (same driver as yesterday who arrived on the dot) turned up just after 0900.

First stop about an hour away was Kharanaq, a deserted mud-brick village.  We rambled through the ruins and climbed through a couple of levels.  We all gave the caravanserai opposite a miss.

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The main part of the tour for me was Chak Chak, named after the sound of dripping water due to how the place was discovered.  The Pir-e-Sabz Fire Temple is housed in the cliffs high above where we parked the car and a well constructed set of steps lead up pass many sleeping platforms for Zoroastrian pilgrims and finally through a set of relief brass doors into the temple.

An eternal flame is supposed to be in the temple.  I noticed the main “bucket” with wood (like the eternal flame at the Yazd fire temple yesterday) was off but there were three tiny flames against the wall.

We were lucky to be able to visit Chak Chak as in a few days, there would be a huge pilgrimage for several days, meaning that it would be closed for tourists.

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We came back down to the car and Said cut open a watermelon for us before continuing to Meybod.  First sight there was Narin Castle which cost IRR150K.  Said discouraged us from going inside as he said it was like Kharanaq but it wasn’t; it was very well-restored.  But that didn’t matter as I had seen too many nice buildings already.

Sophie’s “must-see” was the Ice House whereas mine was the Pigeon Tower.  The Ice House was a dome with two shallow pools outside for making the ice in winter.  The ice was than cut into large pieces (probably 2m long) and kept in the semi-spherical depression under the dome.  It was a real surprise that it wasn’t kept deeper like in a cistern, and kept chilled with wind towers.

The Pigeon Tower was a squat tower with many cubby-holes inside for the birds to sit in and shit.  The droppings are then periodically harvested as manure.

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Said took us back safely and tried to drop us off at the Silk Road Hotel (where I had stayed 13 years ago) for lunch. Presumably there was a commission but we declined and got takeaways which we ate in the air-conditioned room comfort of Mikel’s room (a dorm room which was assigned for his personal use).

We rested till the evening when Mikel and I went to the main square for Pistachio-Milk-Icecream (IRR80K) blend.  Yummy!  My treat for skipping one meal today.

We got talking on the issue of alcohol prohibition in Iran.  Looking it up on Wikipedia later, it apearst permitted for religious situations eg. Christian eucharist and questionably for non-Muslim minorities.  But apparently these exceptionis are sometimes not respected.

A search on the internet shows big headlines for Christians being jailed for drinking communion wine.  However, the articles downplay the fact that the three that were persecuted were Muslim converts (which isn’t supposed to happen legally) and I suppose it was a way to penalise legally.  As far as I can tell, people who are born into Christian minorities are free to practice their religion including drink the communion wine.

We finished the day on the rooftop of the Fazeli Hotel for tea, overlooking the Jame Mosque and Bogheh-ye Sayyed Roknaddin (mausoleum).  It was a picturesque way to finish off my stay in Yazd.

Final cuppa tea in Yazd overlooking this view.