Today, Nick and I borrowed his brother’s car early in the morning and drove to Kashan, about 2.5 hours south of Tehran. It is a beautiful drive, with the rugged outline of the Zagros Mountains to the right along the autobahn. Driving on the autobahn is very interesting. Just as it is in Tehran, nobody pays much attention to the lane markers. While in Tehran, one can explain this as being due to having just too many cars on the road, this is not so along the autobahn. In fact, we saw several lone cars driving right down the middle of the lane marker.
But, as Nick pointed out, it actually provides some measure of safety, as it gives the driver more room to maneuver on either side. Plus, if you want to pass somebody, all you have to do is honk and/or flash your light, and they’ll pull over into the right lane with no fuss.
We left Tehran at 6:30 a.m., and once we got out of the city, there were few cars the road. We did pass a couple of buses carrying tourists south. The most interesting one was a bus full of men. They were obviously listening to some good music, because a couple of them were dancing in the back of the bus. Another man was taking pictures of his dancing friends. We were so amused, and since we had the music turned up in our own car, my arms started dancing as well – they thought that was very amusing and they all started to look at us. Realizing it was probably not the best way to call attention to ourselves, we sped up and overtook the bus!
The small Kia, “Pride” model we were driving is a great car, and very popular in Iran, along with Hyundai’s and Peugeots, as well as a few Nissan’s here and there. However, the new Kia Prides have one drawback – if you drive above 120 km/hr, there is a warning bell that goes off – a constant beeping. It doesn’t stop until you drop back below 120 km/hr. Since we were virtually alone on the highway, we were naturally going above 120 km/hr at times, but we found a solution. Put in a good CD and turn up the volume. Not only are you now listening to great music, but viola! - no longer can you hear that annoying beeping!
Kashan's history reaches back thousands of years. As such, there are a great many historical sites to visit. We first drove to Fin Garden, a royal bath/garden complex. It was here in the mid-1800’s that a very popular prime minister, Amir Kabir, and brother-in-law to the king was murdered on the king’s orders, as the king was afraid he had grown too popular. I'm always interested in what types of "Western" items sometimes pup up here. I think the most amusing by far was the one we saw at Fin Garden. There, among reproductions of ancient Kashan pottery and other handicrafts, sat a leather baseball glove. No explanation at all, just a baseball glove cradling a pottery vase.
After Fin Garden, we visited two historical houses - huge compounds with multiple courtyards, gardens and living spaces. Kashan, which sits on the edge of a vast desert, can get quite hot, and the way these houses were designed was ingenious. They were two stories, but they also had below-ground rooms that stay very cool on the warmest days. The houses also had towers that acted as air conditioners, pulling down cool air from the outside. The below-ground rooms were a welcome relief from an increasingly warm day.
By the time we visited our next destination, Sialk Hills, it was becoming quite warm, which for me gets a bit uncomfortable with my scarf and manteau (a short coat or loose long-sleeved shirt which reaches to at least mid-thigh). So we did not get to spend as much time there as I would have liked. Sialk Hills is the most ancient site in Kashan; its settlements date back to 5500 – 6000 BC. There are several settlements over thousands of years at Sialk Hills, and there is an ancient ziggurat, built by the Elamites around 2900 BC.
We were actually able to climb to the top of the ziggurat, from which there is a splendid view of Kashan. But the sun was intense at the top, and I scrambled back down pretty quickly.
Kashan is also the center of rose water and other distilled waters from various flowers, herbs and spices. Much of the distilling actually takes place in a town about 30 km in the hills northwest of Kashan: Niasar. The town is famous for its spring water used in the distilled waters, and a waterfall that cascades down the hill into the town from the spring. We were able to visit two homes where distilling takes place, and ended up buying several bottles of various waters – cinnamon water, cardamom water, rose water, mint water, lavender water.
As you can imagine, the fragrances that waft throughout the town from the numerous bubbling vats of flowers and herbs are magnificent . We hiked up to the waterfall, which has a beautiful park built around it. Above the park, where the spring emerges from the ground, there is a Zoroastrian fire temple. While it didn’t look very old, and there were no markers or plaques to provide any history, I learned later it was built sometime during the Sassanid dynasty, which reigned from about 200 – 650 AD. For being so ancient, it was very well preserved!
From the temple, we had a fantastic view of the surrounding hills and the village of Niasar below.
The drive back to Tehran was even more beautiful than the morning as the sun was setting over the Zagros. I found that my own challenges and frustrations in life seemed to grow much smaller under their shadows as I considered how many events throughout history those jagged peaks had witnessed in this, a cradle of mankind's civilization.
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