MIR Corporation's Travel Blog:
Ancient Persia, Modern Iran

Follow along with MIR Corporation Tour Specialist Meaghan Samuels as she explores beautiful and enigmatic Iran on MIR's Ancient Persia, Modern Iran small group tour.

• Day 1: Arrival in Tehran
• Day 2: Tehran
• Days 3-4: Tehran, Bandar-e Anzali, Masuleh Village
• Day 5: Tehran, Yazd
• Day 6: Yazd
• Days 7-8: Yazd, Kerman
• Days 9-10: Kerman, Shiraz, Persepolis
• Days 11-12: Shiraz, Firuzabad, Yasuj
• Day 13: Yasuj, Isfahan
• Day 14: Isfahan, Tehran

April 18, 2008

Today is a halfday drive to Isfahan. At a roadside market, we check out local goods. I purchase some unique snacks, including saffron-flavored cotton candy, and sohan, which is like a brittle with bits of pistachio.

After check-in we all walk to a carpet shop several blocks from the hotel. The onset of evening cools the air, and the walk is refreshing after the long drive. The carpet shop gives us nothing short of a show, with all the fanfare you might expect at a magic show. They inform us of how to look for silk versus wool, and how to tell what the knot count is. They explain that some carpets actually gain value from floor usage over time. Then they begin to pull the carpets out one after the other, each more beautiful than the one before. We are invited to touch the carpets and even to walk on them, making our experience not only visually stimulating, but also palpable and interactive.

Some stay to view more carpets and consider a purchase, while several others of us walk a few more blocks to Maidan Square. As we enter the square from the southwestern corridor, the lit inner perimeter of the square opens to us. It is like walking into a hidden garden, as the lights and businesses cannot be seen from the street. Many Iranians are picnicking on the long wide green lawn that surrounds the center pool. Many dark silhouettes of women's hajebs can be seen lounging on blankets, interspersed between colorful flowerbeds. Shops line the square, and we are overwhelmed with the busyness.

I depart from the group to begin some last minute shopping. As I begin with the shops closest to me, I am approached by several curious Iranians about my age. "Hello, where are you from?" I tell them I am from the US, and wide grins spread on all of their faces. They have many questions for me - where in the US am I from, and what brought me to Isfahan. They want to know how long I am here, and are disappointed to hear that I leave in the morning. "You should stay longer," they tell me, "we can show you around." I earnestly tell them that I too wish I could stay longer, as Isfahan is quickly becoming my favorite city on the itinerary.

I reluctantly leave them and return to the hotel for a final dinner. Tonight we feast on a hearty meal. I start with a creamy mushroom soup, for the main course pan-seared fish, and for desert - saffron ice cream!

Photos from this leg of the tour (click to enlarge):