I’ve noticed that in a holiday, the first half passes very very slowly. Suddenly you think to yourself, it has only been 3 days since I landed in this country and I have already seen / experienced so much. The initial part of a holiday in a new country, when you’re taking in the sights, sounds, and smells, every moment seems to expand. I was still at the ‘taking in the country’ stage and time was passing slowly, but I knew as soon as I got used to the ‘new’ country, time would pass really fast (as it always does when you’re having fun).
From Eghlid, we took our mini-van to get to Zeinodin Caravansarai. But en route we stopped at Abarkooh where we saw a ‘jugadoo’ icehouse. This conical structure (there are many across Iran) was used to store ice in the hot weather. This large structure has a huge pit in which ice was stored covered by straw and sand. The conical shape of the icehouse ensured that the interior of the structure remained cool because of air circulation. At this ice-house there was a group of 8-9 year old girls on a school trip. One of the was curious about me, and became very excited when she found out I was Indian (she asked if I knew Shahrukh Khan!) and couldn’t stop telling her trip-mates, “this fellow is from India.” I asked her name. Fatima.
At our next stop, a 4000 year old Cypress tree, I was invited to tea with an old couple who were picknicking under its shade. A bus approached the tree and lo and behold the school girls were there too. Fatima got excited when she saw me. When I told her that I remembered her name, she was a bit angry as I had pronounced it incorrectly (Fatimeh). She then asked me to sing a bollywood song. Fortunately, I was able to wriggle out of that one and instead asked her to sing or recite a poem. She agreed and just before she was about to start she looked at me seriously, and with big wide eyes, “don’t laugh”. She then recited a Hafez couplet. One of the more memorable moments for me during the trip.
Then, after a longish drive, we reached our destination for the day – the Caravansarai Zeinodin in the Dasht e Lut desert. This caravanserai, built in the 16th C during Safavid times, was a perfect place to relax and unwind. Shah Abbas had got 999 such caravansarais built for the ease of the traders (especially on the silk route). These caravansarais served as resting shelter for the weary travellers and as storehouses.
This circular structure, with an open courtyard in the middle and rooms all round, has been refurbished to take in tourists. Since there was nothing but the wide open desert all round, there was not much to do apart from read a book and take in endless cups of tea and a rather evocative sunset. A perfect way to get some much-needed rest.
