by Jill Worrall
The ceilings in the galleries of the 14th-century Soltaniyeh mausoleum are adorned with decorative plasterwork that seems to echo the intricacies of a hand-knotted Persian carpet.
Zanjan’s broom-sellers successfully entice us to buy one of their wares.
Qaylan hosepipes festoon the ceiling of a shop in Tabriz’s enormous bazaar.
Kalisa-ye Tadi (the Church of Thaddeus) sits smothered in snow. Armenian Christians from throughout Iran make a pilgrimage here every year.
Party-dinner time Iranian-style in Bazargan, a town on the border with Turkey. The yellow on the platters is a sprinkling of saffron-coloured rice.
A tea-seller in the Tehran bazaar with the abacus he still uses in preference to an electronic calculator.
Nasik (Reza’s sister) in a teahouse at the alpine resort of Darband high above Tehran.
A restored traditional Persian house in Kashan. The structure on the roof is a wind-tower, a natural air-conditioning device.
The courtyard of the Abassi hotel in Isfahan. This is probably Iran’s most beautifully restored caravanserai from the era of Shah Abbas.
The spectacular dome interior of the Sheikh Lotfallah mosque in Isfahan.
The Azadegan teahouse is a treasure trove if you love lamps. The tables and the back wall are covered in typical Isfahani block-printing work.
Isfahan’s Emam Khomeini Square. The Sheikh Lotfallah mosque is on the left, and in the centre is the Emam Mosque.
The gloriously decorated central courtyard of the Emam Mosque in Isfahan.
FRONT COVER FLAP
Iran is probably the most misunderstood country on Earth, and one of the most fascinating. Few people in the West know anything about the Iranian people beyond their current politics and religion. In this book, award-winning travel writer Jill Worrall, with her friend Reza Mirkhalaf, a leading tour guide from Tehran, describe an Iran the world has forgotten about. Using the threads of Iran’s silk road heritage as a basis for a road trip travelogue, they visit places both ancient and modem, many rarely written about by Westerners. Jill’s vivid observations are complemented by Reza’s expert knowledge on Iran’s history, religion, culture and architecture.
During their journey, Jill and Reza explore the caravanserais that were once a vital part of the silk routes that crossed Persia, while also encountering many ordinary Iranians. The result is a picture of Iran that offers a detailed insight into the landscapes, landmarks and people of the country at a grassroots level. The title reflects the dual nature of Iranian life and also the fact that Jill and Reza are two people of different sexes, different religions and cultures travelling together, yet keeping their journey harmoniously on course. Together they visit the holiest city in Iran, Mashhad, paddle in the Persian Gulf, pass close by the borders of both Afghanistan and Iraq, stay with local families, play in the snow near Mt Ararat, pray in mosques, read poetry in Shiraz and eat ice creams in Isfahan.
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Jill Worrall is a New Zealand-based writer who has a passion for travel. Having worked as a journalist for more than 20 years, she decided in 2004 to become a freelance writer specialising in travel writing. She has a special love for the Islamic world and anywhere out of the ordinary, and has visited and led tour parties to such countries as Bhutan, India, Uzbekistan, Libya, Syria and Jordan. She has visited Iran seven times, and to research this book she travelled over 8000km on one trip alone. She has won several awards for her travel writing, including for her previous book, A Blonde in the Bazaar (2003).
BACK COVER MATERIAL
Little sunlight can reach through the dark opts this early in spring, but we sit on a bench beside the bubbling fountains where above us a bird starts to sing ... Intensely melodic, its song seems to waver between happiness and despair, leading me to ask Reza what we are listening to.
‘That’s a nightingale,’ he explains. ‘Have you never heard one before? But if you are going to hear one for the first time how perfect that it should be here.’
A western woman and an Iranian man journey through a land of culture, mystery, laughter and isolation.
Here is Iran as its people know it.