One of the unique things about Mashhad is that it’s surrounded by fascinating landscape, only minutes outside the city. The stark landscape north of Mashhad is dotted with endless hills, lonely villages and gorgeous rocky outcrops. The area is known for its wild cherries. Winters are relatively mild in the plains. The snow stays on..
Bagh-e (Garden of) Akbarieh (or Akbariyeh), ancient home to the rulers of the area, today is the site of two museums, in Birjand, the capital of South Khorasan province, in northeast Iran. The garden is one of nine in UNESCO’s “Persian Garden” collection.
The dusty alleys behind the Birjand’s bazaar contain architecture of the days gone by. A quiet stroll at night made me nostalgic in this capital of South Khorasan province, seldom visited by foreign tourists. As it always happens when touring Iran’s old alleys, I wondered why a people would abandon such symmetrical beauty for the..
Our pics from Shafiabad, the last populated area before the road veers into the Dasht-e Lut desert. It is home to an ancient and very big caravanserai, which has been under renovation for years and an old qanat, which is, apparently, still functioning.
To millions of Iranians it’s a symbol of purity. To conservatives it represents a critical bulwark against indulgence. To a lot of Westerners it epitomizes misogyny – although, curiously, the critics don’t seem to be as bothered with nuns or the Amish or the conservative Jews and countless others who also cover their heads in..