29 Oct, Esfahan

Afternoon, before 5pm I was already in Esfahan. Despite having a map, copied from LP, I got lost. Some guy on CG125 showed me all the way to hotel doors. This hotel can be found in world wide read guide. Every tourist has it (except me). Unfortunately, this hotel turned out to be much much worse then expected. I got a double room, inside 3 beds, on one bed a pile of blankets and bed linen. On second one – table?! For a moment I thought that by mistake I entered storage room. I checked room number on the doors, No. 2, thats right. Well, what more do I need than a bed and fresh water? TV on the fridge, broken aerial though, that I could miraculously fix. Receiving was awful, it was black and white, and anyway I couldn’t understand a word. I checked almost all bed sheets before I found a “quite clean” one. I haven’t risked with blankets. I prefered familiar smell of my sleeping bag. On hotel doors sticker informs about new album of KAZIK (polish singer).

I wasn’t wandering a lot in the evening, I didn’t have a map nor I knew where I was. I only walked along main street. I found nice bakery, bought 2 breads straight from the oven. Inside oven was coated with small pebbles, bread had to be cleaned from them before giving it to the customer. In the shop next door I purchased cheese, in the next one tomatoes and onion, in third one coca-cola (ashi-mashi). I haven’t seen any shop with all those things. Supper before 10pm.

I tried to wake up at 6am today, to see as much as possible before I meeting Hojjat, Mehdi’s friend I met on Monday in Karaj. But I woke up at 8.30.

Yesterday I found a Foreign Nations Police booth . There, I got a map of Esfahan in German. “where do you work? What do you do? Do you study? You are so smart! I heard when I said I can also speak german.

Even with a map I was able to get lost or just go in opposite direction – as I prefer to call it. I got to Imam Square, at last, before it was called Kings Square. It was the size of market square in Krakow. Around beautiful and massive mosques. I could enter 3 of them paying 5000 rials for each. Unfortunately without any guide or tourist leaflet I can not say to much. It wasn’t even possible to join any tourist group that time. There are many more tourists here than anywhere before. Even in my hotel there was three other Poles recently. I think there used to be a lot of us, every storekeeper knows “dzien dobry, jak się masz, do widzenia, czesc”

I came back to hotel for 12. I took Hojjat on my bike and we drove to gas station. I filled my tank using his fuel card. 30 litres, I was supposed to pay 90 000 rials, and this is nothing compared to black market prices. And the second advantage was that I didn’t have to use my own so I still have 120 l on it. Hojjat however didn’t want to accept any money (I tried 3 times – Ta’arof) saying it was his gift to me. So many people gave me something or helped, and I don’t have anything for them, no gift no nothing. I will do it when I’m back home.

Now, I’m sitting in front of computer at chemistry department university of Esfahan. Before, I talked to some professor and he agreed to let Hojjat go early to show me the city. It is a beautiful place and I wanted to make some night photos. It is easier, as well, when you are with an Iranian, otherwise you are nagged every 100 meters by “welcoming you in Iran” people.

Ewelina asked me to take some more photos of normal life. Believe me, it is not easy to point your camera at people. Displeased women were hiding behind their scarfs, men were waving hands. I can maybe try with teleobjective.