Aerial Funerals in Yazdi

In Iran today is Sunday and I was hoping that would mean less traffic. Fewer cars, but there is a lot of freight traffic on the road. It is hot today and the highway goes straight through the dry desert. A boring, hot ride that can be interrupted for a while by a visit to a caravanserai that I meet on the way. Unfortunately under construction and not accessible, but also very beautiful from the outside.

When I stop at a gas station for tea, 4 truckers are around me in no time. The internet is down, so the translation app doesn't work and they don't speak a word of English, but a conversation still forms and we laugh a bit too. Every now and then it seems like 'hints', it must be really nice to see from a distance, hahaha. My travel name that I came up with for this trip was created by getting creative with the letters G and S (for non-motorcyclists: GS is the type of motorcycle I ride). So far, I can't think of a country in the world where Global Smile can come into its own. I don't believe Iranians without Smile exist. 

Likewise when I arrive at the hotel: I don't even have to ask, the owner immediately offers me to put the motorcycle in the storage room with him, because this hotel is also located in a narrow street where only pedestrians can come. 

An hour later when I walk through the alleys towards the bazaar I meet a young Iranian couple and the young lady says “Hello”, which in itself is special because women usually look away when I look at them. When I stop 50 meters further to determine my direction with Googlemaps, I hear behind me “Excuse me…”. It's the young lady I just met and she asks if I speak English and if she can give me an interview. She is studying English and for her exam she has to interview someone who speaks English and the video recording of this is assessed by her mentor.

So a little later we sit on a bench in front of the beautiful mosque to talk while her husband films us. She is very nervous but has prepared well because she has written 20 questions in English. She speaks very good English and it turns into a pleasant conversation in which she asks me what I think, with a tourist slant, of Iran and their city. After the closing photo, we all happily continue our own way.

The next day I go out immediately after breakfast because most shops close around noon and then open again at sunset (around 5 pm). I walk to the Temple of Fire where, with the exception of a few relocations, a fire has been kept burning for 1500 years. In the cold winters on the steppes of central Asia, fire had an important function and was worshiped for the light, warmth and comfort it brought.

After that, the bazaar and the mosques are also on the program because I still find them impressive buildings. Like the Iranians, I use the afternoon to rest and in my case to edit photos and texts. 

Before nightfall I visit the Towers of Silence. This is an ancient Zorostrian cemetery located just outside the city. In earlier times the dead were brought here for a so-called aerial funeral. The deceased was then placed on top of a hill on a square made for this purpose, after which the vultures did their macabre work. After 40 days, all the remaining bones were then thrown into a now covered pit in the center of that square. I let the taxi take me back to the center of Yazd where it has become pleasantly busy again.

This entry was posted in Azie, Iran