Iran

Isfahan is an astonishing city that is really something out of 1001 Nights. Here the sultans constructed amazing mosques and bridges in the height of Persian grandeur and prowess.

The most famous of them is the Blue Mosque on Imam Square. The square itself is enormous and takes about fifteen minutes to walk around. There are watered greens in the middle where families come to eat their dinners out in the open – also a safe place for the budget traveler to sleep. In the evening there are often 5-a-side football games too that you’ll be welcomed to join.

At the end of the square the first turquoise pillars of the mosque rise. The tiles all form spiraling patterns of Islamic geometry and are almost psychedelic. Once inside you’re in a kingdom of blue, turquoise and purple with not a single hot color. The idea was that after wandering though the arid desert the mosque would refresh the eye with an aura of calm and peace.

Then you walk under the main dome and here when you shout your echo comes back to you seven times! Yell “Allah hu Akbar” (God is Great) and be amazed.

Isfahan is also a modern city but you’ve never far from some spellbinding mosque or bridge. When you stroll down to the river at night you can find people gathered by some of the bridges drinking chai and smoking nargillahs. A good place to find conversation.

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