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Post by questa on Nov 2, 2013 0:33:14 GMT
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Post by questa on Nov 2, 2013 5:28:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2013 6:50:04 GMT
It just goes to show that in spite of this world of "globalisation" certain specific techniques persist in various countries. Those wind towers could almost certainly be used successfully in other places around the world -- but who has ever heard of them?
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 9:56:03 GMT
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 12:38:40 GMT
The carpet shop...and the slickest selling I have seen. As we gathered in the showroom, the boss called his minions to order. We were seated in nice chairs and a chap went around with cups of mint tea for us all, which he kept topped up. Boss clapped and said to minion near door, "Lock it" which he did with a loud clunk. Boss says to us, "OK we are all family here, no-one can enter, so Ladies, you may remove your headscarves and feel cooler." He described carpet making, designs etc, then on came the spotlights and he started showing the carpets, rolling them out with a flourish. They were like multi-coloured jewels. After covering the floor with rugs, we were told to just look around. John saw one and started working on his budget Mmmm...it is beautiful...and the pattern is reversed on the other side I could only afford photos. Mrs John points out the rug will cost their next trip, while their friends find it funny The boss points out that this heirloom will stay in the family forever. (the eyes said it all) John has another look with the other rugs, just to make sure Then decides he really wants the gold/crimson beauty and buys it. As he said, he could sell it in Sydney for 3 times what he'd paid. So we donned our scarves and hit the streets again.
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Post by bjd on Nov 3, 2013 13:32:57 GMT
Did Mr John have to pay customs on his carpet on his return to Australia?
I would imagine that the Iranian carpet business is really hard hit with the international sanctions against Iran?
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Post by mossie on Nov 3, 2013 15:46:35 GMT
Super tiles again! I want one of those carpets
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 3, 2013 16:58:50 GMT
Questa, this report is such a treasure house of information and beauty! We travelled on to Yadz, less romantic but a very old city. It is the Centre of Zoroastrian traditions. On the way we stopped at a 4000 year old Cypress tree and a roofed well. There is a famous ancient cypress near where I live. It's also pretty arid here, although nothing like the region you're showing. But I learned from visiting the tree here that it exists because the area was once marshy. Amazing to think that the tree near Yadz began life as a sapling in a swamp. Re: Yadz ~~ you show a photo of a man passing in front of a very tall, sort of beehive-shaped structure. What is that, please? Fascinating! Are they crushing out the seeds in the cotton bolls? There's obviously sticky green dust everywhere. It has powdered the very beautiful young worker you show & those seated men seem to be weighing it into envelopes. Any idea of what & why? I've read about the Towers of Silence, but never quite envisioned them. I love your long shot of the tower and surrounding area. Compared to a conventional cemetery, the tower ground has a much more serene and beautiful feel to it. The wind towers -- how simple, perfect, silent, & non-polluting. You'd think they would have been introduced to other parts of the world long since. So interesting to see how the importance of water is acknowledged. I'll bet people in that part of the world are careful about not wasting it. Tiles, glorious tiles! Wonderful pictures, Questa, as are those of people working. The picture of the pot repair shop (?) includes quite a few pressure cookers. They're certainly an intelligent option in a land with little water & fuel. I'm enthralled by your unrolling of the rug-buying experience -- like being there with you. The rugs are beyond stunning. That man John may have verbally justified his purchase by its monetary value, but the expression on his face in the 6th picture tells the truth: he just looooves that rug!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2013 17:20:05 GMT
I normally don't even like Persian carpets, but I saw a couple that I wanted. I can't imagine travelling with one, though.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2013 17:48:11 GMT
Nice carpets. I think they probably ship them out for you, even overseas?
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Post by fumobici on Nov 3, 2013 20:51:51 GMT
Love, love the carpets and tiles. Just beautiful design.
Surely they arrange shipping so the customer isn't shlepping a 100 lb. carpet out the door to their hotel and worrying about getting it on the plane?
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 22:42:46 GMT
If you buy a carpet it is carefully wrapped in front of you and you sign the seal on the wrapping. Then it is stitched into tough fabric wrappings and your name, address etc is printed onto the package. You sign that seal as well, confirming the address.
You are given the receipt matching the outer label and the date it should arrive in your country. Immediately it is couriered off and you can follow its progress to your door. This is at no extra charge to the buyer.
On another trip I carried a small rug from Bukhara around and it was so heavy. I have bought from Morocco and a Kashmiri rug and it pays to send, not carry!
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 23:05:50 GMT
Bixa, That is a covered well. Here is one I found in Uzbekistan The system is the same...find a spring, dig a huge well to store its water, cover it to prevent evaporation and contamination, store snow and ice packed in hard in winter and do the same again about a day's journey along the trade route. I am not too sure what the cotton process is. I think it is to break down the fibres to a fluff that can be combed and spun. (He is rather gorgeous, isn't he)
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 23:13:31 GMT
BJD...re customs duty...don't know about John, but I did not have to pay on any of mine.
I love your Belgrade photos...you show the city in a positive way with special touches and a good eye!
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Post by questa on Nov 3, 2013 23:34:01 GMT
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Post by questa on Nov 4, 2013 3:02:15 GMT
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Post by questa on Nov 4, 2013 3:41:25 GMT
Pasargadae The capital of Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC) and also his last resting place, was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Cyrus the Great began building his capital in 546 BCE or later; it was unfinished when he died in battle, in 530 or 529 BCE. The remains of the tomb of Cyrus' son and successor, Cambyses II, has been found in Pasargadae, near the fortress of Toll-e Takht, and identified in 2006.
Pasargadae remained the Persian capital until Cambyses II moved it to Susa; later, Darius founded another in Persepolis.
The archaeological site covers 1.6 square kilometres and includes a structure commonly believed to be the mausoleum of Cyrus, the fortress of Toll-e Takht sitting on top of a nearby hill, and the remains of two royal palaces and gardens. Pasargadae Persian Garden provides the earliest known example of the Persian chahar bagh, or fourfold garden design .Tomb of Cyrus the great. The fortress
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2013 7:03:22 GMT
There is certainly no way to doubt what a mighty empire ancient Persia must have been, just seeing all of these fabulous vestiges.
Not that I would be craving their presence, but are there any hawkers hanging around these tourist sites? There don't seem to be enough visitors to sustain any who might be there, which is something I found in the Egyptian desert at some of the more isolated places -- it was such a relief to be relatively alone in such places without vendors and 'guides' blocking one's path.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 4, 2013 17:34:41 GMT
Even battered and reduced by the centuries, the Naqsh-e Rustam & Pasargadae sites are magnficent. The carvings have such life to them.
Ditto what Kerouac said about how the sites are uncluttered by people. There don't appear to even be guards around. Can people touch & go inside the monuments?
Any idea about what the fairly regular little holes in the wall are? Do they have a purpose, or are they just where mortar fell out and the blocks have eroded?
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Post by questa on Nov 4, 2013 23:10:56 GMT
We didn't see any tourists outside the major cities that weren't Iranians on holidays. It is my practice to go to countries that are in a bit of strife...you get the whole place to yourself and the locals are overjoyed to see you (and prices are cheaper)
A couple of chaps who sell your ticket and keep an eye out for vandalism. You can touch and go inside the places, but none of us went into Cyrus's tomb, just to the upper step. It had its own aura and we found ourselves talking in hushed voices.
At the fort we explored like schoolkids.
I would guess they were drainage holes between the double thick walls. In some places I have seen holes made for timbers placed to form roof or upper floors, but these are too many and regular.
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Post by questa on Nov 5, 2013 9:27:50 GMT
Persepolis...the Capital city of one of the world's first super powers.
The site is marked by a large terrace with its east side abutting the Kûh-e Raḥmat (“Mount of Mercy”). The other three sides are formed by a retaining wall, varying in height with the slope of the ground from 13 to 41 feet (4 to 12 metres); on the west side a magnificent double stair in two flights of 111 short stone steps leads to the top. On the terrace are the ruins of a number of colossal buildings, all constructed of a dark gray stone (often polished to a marble-like surface) from the adjacent mountain. The stone was cut with the utmost precision into blocks of great size, which were laid without mortar; many of them are still in place. Especially striking are the huge columns, 13 of which still stand in the audience hall of Darius I (the Great; reigned 522–486 BCE There are two more columns still standing in the entrance hall of the Gate of Xerxes, and a third has been assembled there from its broken pieces.Terrace of the great hall.No mortar used19th century graffiti the Gate of all NationsSteps to the upper platform and Kings' audience hall. Steps are very shallow so VIPs could ride their horses up.Our guide explains some of the carvings, mostly people from other lands (check the hats and hairstyles)bringing their tribute to the kingThese are the nobles.Cart with horses...NB the axle pin carved as well.Various giftsFat tailed sheep from high mountains areaBuffalo from sub-continentBactrian camels from the deserts of the northThe battle for the sky...the bull with its crescent horns represents the moon, while the lion with the golden mane represents the sunThe king is portrayed as a winged bull with the face of a bearded man. This motif is on gates and doorways.and some pots that have been found at the site Some rides for those with tired legs
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Post by questa on Nov 5, 2013 11:52:08 GMT
Just in case anyone is wondering what happened to Persepolis...Alexander the Great took it without too much collateral damage, but wine and a woman changed history. He planned to keep it as his Palace but...
[ Alexander was ] sullied by an excessive love of wine... he took part in prolonged banquets at which women were present, not indeed those whom it would be a crime to violate, but, to be sure, harlots who were accustomed to live with armed men with more licence than was fitting.
(3) One of these, Thais by name, herself also drunken, declared that the king would win most favour among all the Greeks, if he should order the palace of the Persians to be set on fire; that this was expected by those whose cities the barbarians had destroyed.
(4) When a drunken strumpet had given her opinion on a matter of such moment, one or two, themselves also loaded with wine, agreed. The king, too, more greedy for wine than able to carry it, cried: "Why do we not, then, avenge Greece and apply torches to the city?"
5) All had become heated with wine, and so they arose when drunk to fire the city which they had spared when armed. The king was the first to throw a firebrand upon the palace, then the guests and the servants and courtesans. The palace had been built largely of cedar, which quickly took fire and spread the conflagration widely. (6) When the army, which was encamped not far from the city, saw the fire, thinking it accidental, they rushed to bear aid.
(7) But when they came to the vestibule of the palace, they saw the king himself piling on firebrands. Therefore, they left the water which they had brought, and they too began to throw dry wood upon the burning building.
(8) Such was the end of the capital of the entire Orient. . . Cleitarchus, FGrHist. 137, F. 11 (= Athenaeus 13. 576d-e))
And did not Alexander the Great have with him Thais, the Athenian hetaera? Cleitarchus speaks of her as having been the cause for the burning of the palace at Persepolis. After Alexander's death, this same Thais was married to Ptolemy, the first king of Egypt. Diodorus
She must have been quite a girl!
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 5, 2013 18:02:31 GMT
Absolutely fascinating, although it also smacks of so many blame-the-woman stories running through history. I googled Thaïs & the wikipedia entry has interesting historical background touching on Persepolis. Clicking the hetaera link within that entry gives an expanded view of her position in the society of the time.
But back to the pictures, the wonderful wonderful pictures ~~ you really convey the size of the site & the wonders there. That sheer & perfect wall! The bas-reliefs are beyond exquisite. Incredible to think that pottery survived so many centuries, even retaining traces of color.
I can see why you'd want a guide there. You must have been glad for your habit of boning up on the history before visiting a place.
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Post by questa on Nov 8, 2013 5:04:18 GMT
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Post by bjd on Nov 8, 2013 8:07:12 GMT
Amazing that they would build such an extraordinary bridge for a river that runs dry. They could have channelled the water to be much narrower.
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Post by questa on Nov 8, 2013 12:33:41 GMT
bjd...I gather it is unusual for it to be dry...they had a drought for a couple of years before I was there.
The Zayandeh Rood is one of the most important rivers of the central plateau of Iran. The same has come to be known by this name, due to the various gushing springs on its course, that is from its source to the mouth. The river takes its source in the northeastern front of Zard Kooh -e-Bakhtiari in the vicinity of Cheshmeh Deymeh, and flows to the marshes of Gavkhoony. The maximum length of the said river is 420 km and its width ranges from 10 to 20 m in the valleys and varies till 800 m in the city of Esfahan. The Kooh Rang tunnel aids in adjoining a part of the waters of the Karoon river to the Zayandeh Rood. Throughout its course, the presence of lush green thickets adds to the beauty.
It would not have been a navigable river as it finished in a swamp.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2013 6:45:00 GMT
The photos of Persepolis are breathtaking while the story of its demise sounds like the movie "Project X" which just goes to show that people will never change.
The Khaju Bridge looks extraordinary, but I do know that rivers running through dry countries can be fickle, sometimes for 10 or 20 years. After all, the Great Salt Lake in Utah was only 2460 km² in 1958 but got back up to 8500 km² in 1988. The "average" size is 4400 km² so there are all sorts of roads or bridges that are useful or not depending on the year...
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Post by questa on Nov 9, 2013 7:21:26 GMT
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Post by mossie on Nov 9, 2013 10:10:17 GMT
The craftwork, both ancient and modern, is beautiful. So much skill time and devotion has to be put in.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 9, 2013 16:35:40 GMT
This report continues to amaze and delight. The bridge reminds me of the big bridges over the Salt River in Phoenix which I've never seen spanning more than a trickle and usually only a lot of dust. The beauty and craftsmanship of Iranian art is incredibly impressive, speaks well of the culture that produced it.
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