Monday, 5 April 2010
Our entire day was spent on the highway. We came to Isfahan from Shiraz by car. The view consisted of very dry and yellow desert and mountains. We didn't see a single tree for kilometres end.
Because of the dryness of the air, our skin became flaky and our nose very dry. I guess this is how Central Asia is. How humanity survived in this dry climate - amazing!
Both F. and I realised that we only saw a few cats and dogs since we came to Iran. Where are these animals? Where is life? Is it because they can't stand stray animals or is it because the animals cannot survive in the harshness of this climate?
At the same time, we realised that we didn't see any dirt or trash on the streets and roads of Iran. Very interesting. Besides the intense and incessant exhaust gas and of course the dust that comes with the dryness of the weather, it is a very clean country.
During our 7 hour drive, our old driver Akbar played cassettes starting with Bob Marley and then the cheap European pop songs of the 80s. He doesn't care about the mullahs’ bans. It was also interesting that he was even listening to Bob Marley who is a Rastafarian and his song Zion. He constantly complained about the mullahs. He told us all the way that the mullahs put the taxes in their pockets, live like kings, shower Hamas with money (with the money of the Iranian people), drive Mercedes and make people's life harder and more expensive since the revolution. He said Ataturk was a great and good man. He said that at the time, the mullahs wanted to cut Ataturk's throat. It broke my heart.
Why is this hatred, alienation, theft from your own people, not investing for your people, using religion for politics, what is all this, what's the point? How can they live with all this stress and unhappiness? Ok, we all have differences and what makes us is our different history and background but we would live more peacefully if we concentrated on our similarities and knew how to get along. Every human has good in him and her. I believe that. Smiles are genuine and warm. Everyone has this. I wish everyone could see this.
We settled in the Abbasi Hotel in Isfahan.
As far as I could see on the road, Isfahan is a more settled and developed city than Teheran andShiraz.
It has a river (water) - this is very important for its effect on me. I don't feel imprisoned here like I felt in other places. It is greener and there are more trees.
Let's see what my impressions will be.