
Yazd – magical city in the desert
We left for Yazd on Monday morning with the “express train”, at 6 am. I have to admit, we were a bit sad to leave Tehran, as every time you leave a place, an empty space grows into your heart. Knowing that …you might never return. We stayed indeed just for few days, but when your life is reduced to constant moving, staying somewhere for few days..it’s already like having a new home, a new family. And we grew fond of our new Tehran family. But such is life, and if we’ve learnt something during this trip, is to say good bye.
We arrived to Yazd. Unfortunately during the train ride we slept, so we cannnot say how was the scenery. But the firs impressions of Yazd, were really a big WOW!!! We are in the middle of the desert! It felt like in a film, the houses, streets, towers…..
Yazd is a magical city with special atmosphere and we have enjoyed every single moment, we have even stayed longer than planned, since we really enjoyed walking through the small lanes of the old town. It feels like a step back in the times of beduins and silk road travelers. This is probably where they were stopping , looking for shelter and food…my thoughts were. Since we are travelers as well, we kind of had the sames goals as them, stopping in this city…we looked for a place to sleep and food.
There are more tourists in Yazd, or at least you see them more since the city is small. Impossible not to bump into your neighbors from the guest house. But still big enough to get lost in the labyrinth of streets. I personally enjoyed a lot walking through the bazaar streets, as it was a special day when the nomads came to town for a religious ceremony. The nomad women hide under mysterious masks, and resemble the masks from the Venice carnival.
Most nomad women will not let you take pictures of them. This lady just smiled when we asked her, and agreed.
We bought a map of Yazd and planned to visit the sights listed on it. But we ended up just walking around without the map using our intuition. I cannot really name any sights except of the bazaar or some mosques.
Besides the main sights of Yazd & around (we did not visited) we liked most of all:
1. The streets of Yazd old city
You can just walk around the old city for hours. We did that early in the morning, noon time, in the evening and in the dead of the night.

Streets of Yazd

Streets of Yazd

Streets of Yazd

Streets of Yazd
2. Water cisterns and wind catchers
You see them everywhere around the old city and other areas of Yazd as well. They are a unique feature of Yazd. You will see these wind catching towers in other desert cities but in Yazd they are concentrated.

Water cistern with wind catchers

A house with wind catchers in Yazd

A house with wind catchers

Water cistern with wind catchers
That is us watching sunset from top of a water cistern ;-)
3. Mosques
Yazd has a number of beautiful mosques and mausoleums.

Jame-e Kabir Mosque (left) and Roknedin Mausoleum (right), Yazd

Morning in Jame-e Kabir Mosque

Morning in a mosque

Minarets of Jame-e Kabir Mosque
While walking around the old city of Yazd you will see stair wells going deep down into darkness. Those lead to deep underground water reservoirs which stored water for the city.
We did not go to visit any castle or village in the desert where most of visitors go. We spent 3 days in Yazd enjoying lazy walks around old city, spending time in the hotel and talking to other travelers.
We have taken many pictures in Yazd, and we very much would like to share them with you. A picture gallery of Yazd.
To conclude about Yazd…don’t miss it if you come to Iran. It represents a lot the culture and traditions of the country. The people of Yazd, are really kind and famous for their hospitality throughout Iran.
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by Photo gallery of Yazd on October 28, 2012 at 8:24 am.
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by First time visitors' guide to Iran - Travel Report | Travel Photo Report on November 5, 2012 at 5:58 am.
well , I wish u had seen Dakhmeh , which I think was a traditional place in 2500 years ago for burring the passed away people
by an irau had snian on April 12, 2013 at 7:09 pm.
Thank you for the tip, we will keep in touch with you,and next time we come to Iran we will visit it :)
by Mara on April 13, 2013 at 4:04 pm.