Earthlooping at the Zurkhaneh performance
Unfortunately we only spent 2 days in Yazd, but could easily have spent at least one week. Yazd has everything you may expect from Iran: Mosques, shrines, a beautiful mudbrick Old Town, a bazar, the best accomodation in the country and even different food than kebab! Definitely, Yazd is the best place to visit in Iran!
With the feeling of having wasted a couple of days and a few more dollars in Toudeshk, we jumped to a 3 hour bus which took us to our next destination: Yazd. We didn't actually know much about Yazd before visiting it. You read about Esfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis as the main tourist destinations in the country, but not that much about Yazd, which makes it a beautiful surprise when you start exploring it, and I can tell after having spent a couple of days there, that it was the place in Iran I liked the most.
The bus dropped us in the main bus station, 12 km. from the center of Yazd right next to the airport. In Iran they have this strange tradition of locating the bus and train stations far away from the city, which is really annoying as you have to spend a lot of time (in Yazd one hour) to get from the station to the center.
View from the Silk Road Hotel
From the bus station we took a minibus who dropped us in another bus station, and from there one more minibus to the center of Yazd. With so many time getting from the bus station to the center, we hoped Yazd was worth it, and it definitely was! In a few minutes we found the selected hostel, in this case the Silk Road Hotel. It is right in the middle of the Old Town, close to the major sights and the place itself, besides being cheap, is really nice. As a lot of hotels in Yazd, there's a central courtyard used as a restaurant with both normal tables and Iranian tables (to lay barefoot instead of sitting on a chair) and the rooms are distributed around it. It has a really nice atmosphere and you could easily be spending hours just laying down in that courtyard.
Earthlooping with a Nakhl (wooden structure used for religious processions)
As we were a bit hungry, we ordered some food right there and surprise: something different from the kebab, pizza, hamburger diet!! We really started to love Yazd just having seen the hotel and the menu. They offered a huge variety of dishes, such as camel stew, eggplant, spaghetti, chicken curry... after quite a lot of days with the same diet and eating in totally similar and charmless places, this was like paradise. In that moment appeared the Polish couple we had previously met in Kashan, a rather strange guy running stressed all the time and his girlfriend. A bit of chatting and we went out to start seeing a bit of the city, as we didn't have much time (our Iranian visa lasted only 30 days and in a few days we had to be back in Tehran to pick up our visas and to apply for a Turkmen one).
Yazd Badgirs or Windtowers
We started by the Jameh Mosque (aka Friday Mosque), right next to the hotel. It was already dark and it was beautifully lit. We got inside and there was some activity going on, so we spent some time wadering around the quite big courtyard it has in the interior. It is the typical Iranian mosque: two big blue-tiled minarets at the entrance, a courtyard and a big blue-tiled dome inside. Really nice. Afterwards we explored a bit the covered bazar and the nearby streets to confirm that Yazd Old Town is simply beautiful. Totally made of mud, with narrow streets and tiny shops all around. We even discovered a hidden teahouse which we left for the following day.
From there, we took the camera and the tripod and went outside the Old Town to visit a few mosques and shrines and a nearby Complex they have, which consists on a beautiful square with four badgirs (windtowers that work as an ancient air-conditioning system) with lit fountains, a mosque and a building with two minarets. Even if this part of the city is not made of mudbrick buildings, it is really nice and worth visiting it by night. Then back to the hotel, a bit of resting in the courtyard, some spaghetti (really appreciated even if they were not the best ones ever) and to sleep.
From there, we took the camera and the tripod and went outside the Old Town to visit a few mosques and shrines and a nearby Complex they have, which consists on a beautiful square with four badgirs (windtowers that work as an ancient air-conditioning system) with lit fountains, a mosque and a building with two minarets. Even if this part of the city is not made of mudbrick buildings, it is really nice and worth visiting it by night. Then back to the hotel, a bit of resting in the courtyard, some spaghetti (really appreciated even if they were not the best ones ever) and to sleep.
The Complex Square by night
Next day we woke up early and after having breakfast we started walking towards the Fire Temple, a Zoroastrian (one of the first religions in Iran) temple that has a flame inside said to be going for centuries. We could easily have skipped the 30 minutes walk, as the temple has nothing but the flame inside and you have to pay to get inside. Anyway, from there we went on the way to the Water Museum, right next to the complex square visited the previous night. The museum is worth spending some 40 minutes in it to learn about the qanats, an ancient system of conducting water underground. More than the explanations you see, the nicest thing is to see the building the museum is set in.
From there, another visit to the complex square, this time by day, entering a mosque to check that, as many mosques in Iran is undergoing renovations, and from there back to the Old Town stopping by another mosque on the way. This time we had the opportunity of going to the rooftop of the mosque, as a really nice guy there opened us the door leading up to enjoy views of the entire Yazd.
From there, another visit to the complex square, this time by day, entering a mosque to check that, as many mosques in Iran is undergoing renovations, and from there back to the Old Town stopping by another mosque on the way. This time we had the opportunity of going to the rooftop of the mosque, as a really nice guy there opened us the door leading up to enjoy views of the entire Yazd.
We bought some sweets (Yazd is famous in Iran for its sweets, and you find sweets shops all around the city, and they are really good) and we started walking inside the Old Town. All the streets are narrow, made from mud and you feel like being in a desert city a few centuries ago, only the camels are missing!
We walked and walked until reaching a square with two main buildings: the Alexander Prison and the tomb of the 12 Imams. A quick visit and then to try to find some place to eat. Accidentally we entered a hotel to ask, and they offered to show us the whole place. Wow! It was a five-star hotel the same style as the Silk Road Hotel but much more luxurious. The courtyards and the rooms were simply impressive and we were even led inside a badgir to check that the aircon system invented by the Persians centuries ago works probably much better than the present days one! Then we visited the rooftop for some nice views over the town and the badgirs and out from the hotel. In case we had any doubts, it was again confirmed: Iranians are by far the nicest people in the world! They just like being with foreigners, talking to them and showing them as much as they can... and always without expecting any money in exchange. Amazing!
We walked and walked until reaching a square with two main buildings: the Alexander Prison and the tomb of the 12 Imams. A quick visit and then to try to find some place to eat. Accidentally we entered a hotel to ask, and they offered to show us the whole place. Wow! It was a five-star hotel the same style as the Silk Road Hotel but much more luxurious. The courtyards and the rooms were simply impressive and we were even led inside a badgir to check that the aircon system invented by the Persians centuries ago works probably much better than the present days one! Then we visited the rooftop for some nice views over the town and the badgirs and out from the hotel. In case we had any doubts, it was again confirmed: Iranians are by far the nicest people in the world! They just like being with foreigners, talking to them and showing them as much as they can... and always without expecting any money in exchange. Amazing!
One of the Old Town streets
The rest of the day was devoted to wander around, to go to a garden (which was actually closed), to have some shisha and tea at the nice teahouse discovered the previous day and at 7 in the evening we should be in a street next to the Complex. Why? Because we were going to attend to a performance of Zurkhaneh, which is an Iranian traditional sport. It is like some kind of fitness held in a really nice and old building (resembling in a way a mosque but smaller) with a center court where the participants play and the public are sitting on chairs surrounding the court. The show lasts for one hour and there's a guy playing drums and singing, actually giving the players instructions and controlling the time of each activity, as the whole performance consists on different activities: normal training, training with different instruments, twisting around, different stretchings... and there are like 10-12 players on the court carrying out all the activities and around 50 persons as a public. All in all a really recommendable experience if you happen to be in Yazd, and it is held every day, so don't miss it!
Zurkhaneh
After the show, and before heading back to the hotel, we went for some saffron juice (yes, saffron juice, but not really tasty) at a yet another beautiful hotel courtyard and then walk a bit around the bazar. Coming out from the bazar we noticed a sign in a house saying "old traditional baths", so we decided to check. We got down a stairs, and what we found was an Iranian army birthday party! Yes, there were like 15 members of the army dressed in their uniform celebrating the birthday of one of them. We were immediately invited to have tea and cake, we were taking pictures with them, talking to them... even the army is nice in this country! After listening to one of them singing we decided to leave and let them continue their party not without giving the Facebook contacts and stuff (yes, even if Facebook is blocked in Iran, most of the people use a VPN to avoid the filter and have a Facebook account).
Partying with the Iranian Army
The birthday party with the army was the best possible ending for our stay in Yazd and it only confirmed that Yazd is definitely the best place to be in the whole Iran. It has everything you want and everything beautiful. The only pity is that we would have liked to stay there at least 2 or 3 more days, which was impossible as the Iranian visa only lasts for 30 days (although you can extend it) and we had to go back to Tehran for the visas and there were stil some places to visit in the Iranian tour.
But remember, if you ever visit Iran, make sure you don't miss Yazd and you spend at least 5 days enjoying its old town, its hotels, its food and its people. You won't regret!
For more details, check our Yazd Travel Guide!
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