Iran: To Zanjan

This morning we were up and checked out of our hotel and back in the van for the drive to Zanjan. A couple hours into the drive, we stopped near a lake to enjoy some tea and snacks. Shepherds walked by tending their flocks as we enjoyed the view and the delicious treats.

Today is actually the Islamic holiday of Eid, which is a day of sacrifice. Traditionally, lambs are sacrificed with a third of the meat going to the family that made the sacrifice, a third going to their relatives, and a third of it going to charity. However, we were told since that can be expensive and messy, it's not done much anymore (unless you went to Mecca last year? Not 100% sure about this -- our guide wasn't exactly clear on this point). In fact, in the whole day I only saw one slaughtered lamb.

Our main stop of the day was in Soltaniyeh, which contains a UNESCO World Heritage site if the 13th-century mausoleum of Oljeitu, who was sultan way back in the day. The structure was built of brick and is very tall, made even taller by the presence of the large blue dome on top! The Kufic calligraphy and tile work inside were spectacular. Unfortunately most of the inside is under restoration, so the scaffolding was all over the place, but at least you could see what was left of the original artwork. We climbed the 100+ stairs to the top floors, which were fabulously painted brick ceilings in tones of rose, ruby-red and vermilion. An amazing site, to be sure!

We then picked up a passenger, the curator of the site, who needed a ride back to Zanjan, so we all piled into the van, and made our way the 40 kilometers to Zanjan, dropped off our new curator friend, and then made our way to an old caravanserai that had been converted into a restaurant for an amazingly delicious lunch. (It was a local dish called dizzy which was mashed with a pestle in a earthenware container which the lamb, chickpeas, potatoes, etc had been cooked in!)

We then drove to our hotel and got checked in before making a late afternoon excursion to an ethnological museum which was located in the old school "laundromat" and showed the way of life before plumbing.

Our final stop of the day was at Zolfaghari house, a gorgeous mansion which had been turned into a museum, containing old relics and artifacts. One of the most interesting things found here were two bodies dating back 1700 and 2500 years found in a nearby salt mine. Since they were preserved by the salt, the quality of the preservation of the clothing and of the bodies themselves was remarkable!

We then tried to go to a local tea house to have some tea and listen to some local music, but unfortunately it was closed due to the holiday. We drove around people watching, and eventually made our way back to the hotel where we had diner and then called it a night. Apparently we have a long travel day tomorrow!