Travel to Iran

Day 4 Kuhpayeh - Nain - Yazd

After sleeping in our room of the renovated caravanserai of Kuhpayeh, we spent the first hour of the morning visiting this construction. A caravanserai (from Persian, caravan, 'travelers' and saray, 'hostal', 'refuge', 'palace') was a building located along the main communication lanes of the Muslim world (especially those on the Silk route ), destined to accommodate the caravans at the end of a stage of trip. Most typically a caravanserai was a building with a square or rectangular walled exterior, with a single portal wide enough to permit large or heavily laden beasts such as camels to enter. The courtyard was almost always open to the sky, and the inside walls of the enclosure were outfitted with a number of identical animal stalls, bays, niches or chambers to accommodate merchants and their servants, animals, and merchandise. In cities of certain importance, in addition to its function as a hostel, it was used to sell the merchandise.

(in 55 km.) Varzaneh sand hills: We want to visit the desert and we go to see the dunes of Varzaneh. We see the dunes as we get closer. Our heart shrinks, but once we enter the access road, after paying a small fee, we get a small disappointment. We find quads, 4x4, zip lines, camels for tourists, a restaurant, dunes too much footprints, too much noise. It is not the image we have of the desert. We make a little walk towards a dune something more remote, trying to get away from the bustle, to take a picture. In this desert the dunes have a height of between 5 to 62 meters.

(in 80 km.) Nain: On the way to Nain we passed between some cotton fields, roads with spectacular views over the nearby mountains and some abandoned caravanserai. We eat something and we are gone to visit the Jameh mosque. The initial construction of Jame Mosque dates back to the 8th Century. One of the oldest mosques in Iran, its magnificent plasterwork over the niche, the marvellous brickwork around the yard, and its silent basement—which may have been used as a fire temple before the mosque was built here—are only a few of the remarkable features of this mosque. A 28 m tall octagonal minaret was added to the mosque almost 700 years ago. One of the most exquisite pieces of artwork inside the mosque is the wooden marquetry pulpit. The carpenter matched the wooden parts together like a pieces of a puzzle. The pulpit is decorated with organic geometrical designs. According to the wooden inscription on the left side of the pulpit, it was created about 700 years ago.

Very close to the mosque, Narenj Qal´e is a remnant of a structure that was also known as Narin castle. The construction materials used in the castle, as well as its style of architecture support the idea that it was built in the pre-Islamic era. According to surveys and other evidence, this monument might belongs to the Partiyan period.

(in 170 km.) Yazd: We are going to sleep in this city located between the deserts of Dasht-e Kavir and Dasht-e Lut.