Day 2 – Esfahan
Today had the opportunity to see more of the city of Esfahan. Last night we checked out two of the famous bridges in the city, the pol e khaju, or bridge of Khaju, who was the person who was ordered to build it. And we saw the Bridge of 33 arches. It’s an incredible site to see both during the day and at night. But today, we checked out many of the famous sites that were constructed during the Safavid dynasty, under Shah Abbas. These sites included two of his palaces Chehelsetoon, or fourty pillars (one being his main palace Ali Ghapu, or mighty hotel, where he’d address his people in the town square, known as Naghshe jan, or center of the world since Esfahan was technically the first capital of the world) Also in the center square are two mosques, one of them being the Shah’s personal favorite mosque, shak lotfollah, and the mosque that was constructed specifically for women, the Shah’s mosque. Both sites were amazing. We also had the chance to go see the shaking minarets as well. All of the architechture that took place when these sites were built are truly amazing. A man climbs into one minaret and shakes it, while the adjacent one, not occupied, also shakes. Truly amazing. Meanwhile, I felt as if I were some sort of celebrity because in one day I was approached by three different gentleman, two of them at the Safavid sites who were sophomores in high school, the other a 21 year old student from Tehran at the minarets. The two young boys spoke very good English and were very interested to talk to me about America and what it’s like to live there. I was taken aback by how well these guys treated me. The gentleman from Tehran was especially warming and welcoming to me. He even gave me his phone number and told me if I’m ever in Tehran to give him a call so we can have lunch together. In America, this is considered to be strange and almost stalker-like. But here in Iran it is the way of the people.
That night, we drove four and a half hours to Shiraz where we are staying at my grandmother’s beautiful condominium. I’ll take pictures and post them later.
Day 3 – Shiraz
Today we were able to see the sites of Karim Khan e Zand, of whom I am a descendent of. Again, once people found out we are Zand’s (my original last name was Zand, but was changed to Beiram by my great great grandfather) we were treated with the utmost respect. At the fort of Karim Khan, I took many photos and videos. This site was used as a prison under the last Shah, Pahlavi, a man who I respect deeply because of his polite nature and intelligence. While there, I even took some photos with some military men outside of the fort who were providing security to the area. I was heckled by some very beautiful women for doing so. They asked me why I would want to take photos with these men, and I said “Are you jealous I’m taking photos with them and not you? I’m from America, come here and I’ll take some with you as well.” Oh course, because of the strict Islamic law here, that would be forbidden. We also visited Karim Khan’s very own bazaar here in Shiraz and we visited his museum, but were forbidden to take any pictures inside. This is also the burial site of Karim Khan, which was really cool to see. His original armor and sword are on display for all to see, but again, we were not allowed to take pictures. That somewhat made me mad because I am a descendent of that dynasty.
Other than that, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several cousins who were born after my last visit to Iran, 16 years ago. And I’ve been able to catch up with cousins I hung out with here when I was a child. The hospitality has been nothing short of amazing.
My only gripe about Iran is that just about every few blocks you travel, there are photos of Khomeini, Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah himself. This is something we do not have in America. We don’t have photos of Bush or Cheney at all. Oh well, what can I say? Hopefully the Ayatollah dies soon and this regime changes, because the people are sick of it.
Day 4 – Shiraz, Persepolis, Tomb of Cyrus the Great, Sivand
My uncle Ali took the time to take us out all day, along with my cousins Ali-Reza and Dorsa to the sites of Persepolis and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great. These were incredible sites to witness as there is a lot of ancient Persian history to be talked about. Persepolis is the location of the palace and harem of King Darius and King Xerxes. Most of you know these names from the movie 300, however, that movie is by all accounts a manifestation of someone’s imagination. There is very little historical accuracy to that movie. Anyways, these sites were truly beautiful to see in person. I have been to Persepolis before, however I was only five years old at the time. On the way back from the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, we were drove through the small village of Sivand. My grandfather grew up there and my family still owns property there. We visited a site in Sivand that is owned by my father. This property is filled with many walnut trees, but since they are old, you can no longer harvest those walnuts. We still own the property because it has been in our family for many years. The place is somewhat ran down nowadays, since the wall that would protect it is crumbling. Oh well, what can we do? We don’t live in Iran. I simply came to visit. While I am speaking about that subject, I must say that seeing as I’ve only been here for four days, tomorrow being my fifth, I definitely plan to visit this country every few years.
I would also like to state that my uncle Ali went way out of his means to take us out to all of these places, and yet he still would not allow us to pay for his lunch! It seems that we can’t buy anyone anything here, not even for ourselves. We practically have to argue to the point of fighting with our own family members in order to buy something for ourselves. It’s pretty funny to watch my dad and my uncles argue over money like that. Then again, it just goes to show why my great great grandfather changed our family’s last name from Zand to Beiram. Beiram is Farsi for “stubborn man.” That title, in America, might not seem so prestigious. But being stubborn in this manner in the Persian culture is a sign of honor and respect. I think the name fits us all very well.
Day 5 – Shiraz: Tomb of Hafeziyeh and Tomb of Sa’di
We just got home and finished eating lunch, I’m about to lay down to take a nap in a few minutes here but I wanted to quickly talk about seeing the tombs of Hafez and Sa’di. These are two famous poets from Shiraz who lived here a little over 1,000 years ago. Their teachings came about before the Islamic religion became very popular here in the country. Their tomb sites are beautiful places to see and I took a lot of great pictures there.
I wanted to mention two other things: I apologize for not posting any pictures, I haven’t had adequate internet access to be able to do so. The other thing I wanted to state was that gas is so cheap here it makes me sick to think what we are paying in America. It cost roughly $4.75 to fill up my cousin’s gas tank, which has a capacity of ten liters. I’ll try to get some pictures up soon, until then, take care!
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