The next morning we were dropped off at the edge of a
pedestrian mall near the Tehran Bazaar. It was crowded with shoppers and people
selling all kinds of things on the street. We drank some delicious, fresh
squeezed pomegranate juice from a small stand at the entrance to the bazaar and then we headed inside. It quickly became apparent that the Tehran Bazaar is not like the Grand
Bazaar in Istanbul. This is a bazaar
where everyday people shop for food, clothes, house wares and all kinds of
goods not found in typical tourist shops.
Walking through the alleys, I couldn’t help being impressed by the size and
scope of the bazaar and I enjoyed being able to window shop without being
pressured by the shopkeepers to buy. I
saw many things I would have loved to take home if only I had room in my suitcase and
was not restricted by sanctions regulations to spending $100 or less in
Iran.
The bazaar was almost a city within a city and we visited a
small religious shrine there. While we
were wearing headscarves and long coats or shirts, we needed to be further covered
to go into the shrine. This was our first
experience with the chador, which means tent in Farsi. A large piece of fabric, the chador covers
everything but the face. It was a
challenge to negotiate holding the chador closed while trying to take off or
put on shoes at the door to the shrine.
The shrine was divided
into men’s and women’s sections and Milad left us to go in by ourselves. There was a large rectangular structure made
of lattice bars in the middle of the shrine which houses the remains of the
saint. The interior was peaceful and
there were only a few other women inside sitting on the Persian carpet praying. We stayed for a while before leaving and
returning our chadors.
Leaving the bazaar, we found Amin and the white van waiting
for us on the street and we went to have lunch at the Ferdowsi International
Grand Hotel. A nice buffet lunch with
Iranian traditional foods and salads was washed down by bottles of tasty (really!)
near beer and then we were off to see two museums displaying
some of Iran’s rich history.
The National Museum of
Iran seemed to have a surprisingly small collection on display for a country
with such a rich and storied history. I
remembered seeing objects from the ancient Persian Empire at the
University of Chicago and imagined pieces of Iran carried off and scattered
across the world in various museums.
Milad told me he thinks this is OK, that maybe it is a good thing that
people all over the world can see these artifacts and know a bit of the history
of Iran. We saw ceramics, pottery and
stone carvings, some dating back to prehistoric Iran. The most impressive objects were the large
carved panels from Persepolis which hint at what we will see later.
As we left the Jewels Museum Milad asked if we would like to see something that is not on the itinerary. He suggests going to Milad Tower, which he said was named after him. It wasn't but we all laughed at the funny joke. Milad Tower was an impressive sight, dominating the Tehran skyline. The sixth largest tower in the world, it had panoramic views from the top which are amazing. The city of Tehran looked its best in the brilliant sunshine, laid at our feet, stretching on and on and on with snow clad mountains in the background. From this high vantage point you got a real sense of the geography of Tehran and its immense size.
Tehran is huge and we
were only able to see a small part of the city during our two days there. We left Tehran the next morning and on the
way west to Kermanshah we drove by Azadi
Tower. Built to commemorate the 2,500
anniversary of the first Persian Empire, the tower is an iconic symbol of
Tehran. Imposing in its massive scale,
Azadi (Freedom) Tower is an impressive piece of modern Iranian architecture.
