DAY 6 YADZ

 We started out early before it got too hot...our first stop was a garden in the center of the city. Roughly 20 acres it was built in 1140AD and has a summer and a winter palace at either end of a long reflecting pool. One of the defining characteristics of large buildings in Yadz and other surrounding desert cities is the "wind tower". A tower structure of several stories that rises over the building and as the wind blow through acts as a cooling system...the wind is channeled through the by hollow passageways and was a primitive A/C system. The palaces here had wind towers as did many of the buildings in the old part of Yadz.

After strolling through the garden we next went to a Zoroastrian Fire Temple...Zoroastrians are an ancient religious sect that have been in Iran for millennia and have been allowed to peaceably co-exist. I asked if there were any Jewish temples that were similarly preserved but Reza, the guide, was unaware of any in this area. Since my interest level was pretty low for both the Zoroastrian temple as well as any Jewish temples I let the matter drop.

Last stop before lunch was the ubiquitous carpet showroom...it was in the old part of town and the first thing we were offered was an opportunity to go up on the roof of the carpet building...WTF is it with climbing up to the roof? Anyway after having an overview of the Old City we were ushered to a carpet viewing area where we were offered tea...a 15 minute talk about carpet making in Iran and a much longer period of time unfurling carpets on the floor and urging us to buy them...the pricing was aggressive (think European retail) and we only longed to escape.

For lunch we had a local specialty, dizi...tomato, potato, meat and chickpeas...served in a stone cylinder with a mashing device...you mash it all up at your table and eat it with flat bread and greens...it ws pretty tasty.

Back to the hotel to chill for several hours and then we walked around the old part of town in the evening.

We stopped at a traditional Iranian gym...a large room with a sunken floor and men doing some kind of ritualized exercise to the beat of a drum and a singer. I'm posting some pics but the videos are better at conveying what was going on...text me for some video clips if you're curious.

My general impression of Yadz was that it was a quiet town that lacked the vibrancy of Tehran and Shiraz. While the population may have been 1M, it felt much smaller. The women were dressed more conservatively...lots more in black chadors...but the overall feel was not one of religious oppression or gender weirdness...everyone was just walking around like regular. There was nothing to gawk at or file away as an exotic memory.