Things To Do While in Yazd

Yazd is undeniably one of the highlight of every trip to Iran. Sandwiched between two desert – Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lust, it is a charming old city with well preserved mudbrick wall, labyrinthine alleys and historical sites in every corner.  Once an important station in the ancient Silk Road, and notable as the birthplace of Zoroastrianism, Yazd is place where centuries-old traditions remain contemporary.

Here is a list of the top things to do and see whilst in this enchanting city :

Wandering the old city

Being located beside the central mountains, far from the sea, adjacent to the desert, every inch of Yazd is a desert city and it is certainly one of the driest part of Iran. Living in such environment brings hard consequences for the inhabitants, with temperature extreme change during day and night, not to mention sand storms that can hit the town at anytime. For this, the city dwellers constructed house complexes with thick, earthen walls made of mudbrick that provide insulation. The inner passageways, called koochech was built a few meters high above the ground, sometimes roofed at intervals to provide daytime shading. To walk this alleyways is a pleasure itself. It’s the right place to wander and get lost. The city is also famous for its windtower or windcatcher (Persian : bâdgir). It’s is a high structure on the rooftop serving as special ventilation structure.

A koochech and a badgir all in one scene

Watching the sunset from the rooftop

Pay a visit to Dakhmeh

Yazd was and still remains a center of Zoroastrianism in Iran. A religion that dating back to second millennium BCE, and Dakhmeh or Tower of Silence is an important part of burial rituals for the religion. Here the body of dead people cleansed and lied atop the mountain, and let it be picked clean by birds of prey, a practice that lasted thousand years until 1970, when it was otherwise prohibited by law. Modern day Iranian Zoroastrian who wish to be treated as so, must go to India, where the last standing Tower of Silence still operating in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

The Tower of Silence in Yazd. It took half an hour to climb to the top and back

Eating Yazdi sweet

As Yazd is well known for its fire temple and windcatchers, it is also famous for its confectionery. There are more than a dozen varieties to choose from baklava, halva, toffee to nougat, to cake. Each with its own name and distinctive use of spices and flavours. To name a few, loze nargil -diamond shaped Persian sweets from pistachios and rose water-, sohan –a Persian saffron brittle toffee that is sweet and crunchy- , qottab –almond filled fried pastry covered in powdered sugar- and naan berenji –a Persian rice cookies- are among the very popular. And there is one specific confectionery shop near the Amir Chakhmakh Complex called Haj Khalifeh Ali Rakhbar which is very famous among the sweets lover, for having over three generations making the finest sweets in town.

The stack of sweets with sohan in the front right

Enjoying the breeze at Bagh-e Dowlatabad

A typical Persian garden, this garden is the embodiment of earthy paradise, which purpose is to provide a protected relaxation, a philosophy and design that had been adapted in many other gardens in the world including the Alhambra and Taj Mahal. Dowlatabad garden - along with eight other gardens across Iran is enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

The 33-meters-high windtower of Bagh-e Dowlatabad, the highest in Iran

Watching a training session in Zoorkhaneh

literally translated to ‘house of strenght’, it is a gymnasium in which traditional Iranian sport is practiced. Originally used to train warriors based on pre-islamic Persian culture (mostly of Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism), the training sessions combining martial arts and strength training with music. The Morshed (the singer) is the one who leads the athletes and dictates the pace by beating a drum (zarb) while reciting Gnostic poems and stories from Persian mythology.

About to begin a training session

Visiting Kharanaq

Lies 70 kilometres North of Yazd, Kharanaq is a deserted mudbrick village said to be dated around 4000 years ago. Strolling down its labyrinth of streets, tunnels, passageways, and rooms will makes you wonder how anyone lived out there thousand years before.

But crumbling village is not the only thing Kharanaq has to offer, it also has a few of historical sites mostly dated back to the Qajar era. One is the Shaking Minaret of Kharanaq. A mosque with 15-meters-high minaret with three storeys and a winding staircase within. It’s often seen shaking to unknown reason, hence the name.

Another site  is the caravanserai in the edge of the village, a guesthouse designed to welcome travelling merchants and their caravans as they made their way along the trade routes. This establishment played an important role in the ancient time, when Iran was part of the Silk Road which was, until 1500, the main trade route between Europe and Asia.

There is also an ancient aquaduct with a still functioning bridge of Kharanaq. With the old village in the background, it is a beautiful yet sentimental view to behold.

This out of the world view is Kharanaq old village, with the shaking minaret seen on the left

A Peek to Iran, From our Winter Trip

We made our winter trip last month. A trip to Iran. A country many will imagine with stereotypical images of a nuclear threat, women clad in black chador and the bearded clergy of Shia, a heresy to those of sunni moslem. Almost everyone who was aware of our plan frowned in disbelief, even showed a glimpse of fear. But we didn't have the energy to explain. Our only defense was the relatively cheap flight from Kuala Lumpur. Something that was enough for us. In fact, it’s all we need. So we went ahead. Full of preparation for the harsh winter we’d been cautioned before. Full of enthusiasm for the chance to taste our first middle east experience. But not fully aware of what awaits us. 

We arrived in Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) in the dead of night. And after swiftly passed the immigration, we headed to Tehran. It took an hour to get to the city center. Thank God my husband arranged a pick up from the hotel. I thought we will be greeted by an extreme temperature change in our arrival at the airport just like my experiences in Nepal or China in previous years. But I was so wrong. It was all warm and cozy. They had heaters. Lots.

My first day in the capital was not very special. As it was Friday which is a public holiday in Iran. No business. We found it hard to find shop to buy local simcard, even to find something to eat. So we just walked through Imam Khomeini street and tried our luck on metro, a kind of subway. It took us 5 minutes from Imam Khomeini station to the former US embassy in Taleghani. The local government dubbed “Den of Espionage” is now the home of Sepah – Army of The Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. It’s not hard to find the structure. Exit the Taleghani Metro Station and looking at a long imposing colorful wall full of provocative mural of anti-US sentiment slogans. 

Right outside the Taleghani Metro Station, a big slogan welcomes us

We had plenty of time before taking the night bus to Shiraz, so we killed the time wandering through the bazaar. Not much to find, as we thought it’s too early for shopping. But I was happy enough to find the fresh juice stall selling my favorite fruit. The pomegranate. Fresh, and ripe and coldpressed. The juice making was a show itself.

Pomegranate juice stall. The seller looks a bit like Ahmad Dhani. LOL

Our first stop after Tehran was Shiraz. It took us 13 hours journey. But it was all pleasant, as the VIP bus we choosed was new and very comfortable. It had three seats in every row, with generous leg room and hot dinner included. It cost us $18 per person very value for money. The only thing annoying was Ishtar catching a cold due to extreme weather change.

I woke up somewhere before we reached  Shiraz and being mesmerized with the view en route. It was something I couldn’t explain, watching the sun rose behind the mountainous desert, the dark shade of blue with a burst of orange behind the mountain shadow. This panoramic view helped me enjoying the journey as I found the intercity busses drove in a maximum 100km/hours with police patrol in every now and then to check the driver not exceeding the speed limit. A very slow drive for me LOL

My morning view en route to Shiraz

From the Shiraz Karandish bus terminal to hotel was another swift journey. It’s a 4km drive to the old district of Shiraz where my husband booked a room in the newly established Forough Boutique Hotel. It’s an old house restored and turn into a hotel. As a typical old Persian houses, it’s surely complete with courtyard and a pool, and an orange tree. How poetic. 

Forough Ol Molk Boutique Hotel, our host for three nights in Shiraz

Shiraz is the capital of Fars province, one of the oldest city in Iran and had long been reknown as the city of all things romantic, think about gardens, wine and poets. But this time my eyes was set only to Pasargadae and Persepolis. The ruins of ancient Persia capital situated 60km northeast the modern day Shiraz.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae

In front of the Necropolis - complex of tombs belong to Darius The Great, Artaxerxes and Darius II

The Gate of All Nation

Bass relief on the Apadana

The Tachara, the winter palace of Darius The Great. of of the few survived the burning by Alexander.

Next stop was Yazd, the desert city. We took the VIP bus again, and this time spent 6 hours in 448 km journey. Yazd is a city of long history, dating back to the time of Median Empire. It also was and still remains a Zoroastrian center in Iran. Our highlight was to see some Zoroastrian temples and of course getting lost in one of its neverending koocheh – the typical small alleys.

Walking down the koocheh - the long and winding alleys in Yazd

We stayed in a traditional house, which similar to the one we stayed before in Shiraz, has interesting details, like the interior and exterior façade, windows with stained glass, a courtyard and fish pond that made my daughters play with delight. 

Narenjestan Traditional House in Yazd

Me & Ishtar at Narenjestan

A visit to Yazd is not complete without a short trip to its surrounding areas which without doubt a very rewarding experience. So we took a day tour with Abbas, the driver we met in the Ghadir terminal. He took us to Karanagh, Chak Chak, Meybod and to fulfill my desire, to the desert. To our surprise, he prepared himself with a jar of tea and fruits for us to enjoy during the trip. Iranian hospitality in another level. 

Beautiful view of the road to Chak Chak, seen from our car

The view from atop Chak Chak Temple

Me and Ishtar at the desert

Next up to our trip was Esfahan, the city dubbed as half of the world. It’s a big city and everything was a tad bit more expensive than Shiraz or Yazd. Not to mention it’s colder than those two previous cities. It’s even the coldest city in our entire trip with -8 Celcius degree in the morning. It got worse near the buildings when wind chill hit our face the hardest.

the celebrated Si O Seh bridge in Isfahan

In front of Imam Mosque in Naqsh-e Jahan square, Isfahan

And it’s in Isfahan we shopped, and eat. This time with less caution we ordered fesenjan and doogh. To our tastebud these two was an odd combination, Fesenjan was meat cooked in sour and sweet paste of pomegranate while doogh was a salty yoghurt drink. Weird. LOL.

Posing at Bastani Traditional Restaurant

Mixed kebab and fesenjan

To close our winter trip, I insisted to go to Tochal, a ski resort within an hour drive from Tehran. My husband made us took the metro again, this time long the way to Tajrish at the end of the metro line, then took a shared taxi to Velenjak, where the ski resort lies.

Ishtar playing snow in Tochal

Tochal ski resort has been open to public since 1978 and one with the longest telecabin line. Open all year long at the altitude of 3740m above sea level it is the sixth highest resort in the world based on altitude according to Snow Magazine. No wonder my daughter got struck with altitude sickness near the top telecabin station. But to see the snow in such a vast area, blinded our sight and made our fingers numb with its bitter coldness, it’s a perfect way to end our winter trip.