TRAVERSE 29
a cup of tea – a full thermos always at the ready in very car – some invited us to sleep at their homes , other simply for lunch .
In an economic system based upon trade and travel , Muhammad wanted and imposed that all followers should help strangers and guests , and together with their wish to discover the world and let others know that they are not terrorists , meant a culture of welcoming those that travel this land and the ancient cultures as they make their way to the Indian subcontinent or the Mediterranean Sea .
Iran is possibly the country where you could feel the strongest suggestion of living again in Marco Polo ’ s adventure , all you have to do is lose yourself in any bazaar in the centre of any city , crowded by veiled women running among spice stalls and century-old shops , while the muezzin starts the day by his call to worship .
This suggestion works in bigger cities too , whose bazaars are filled with tourists , where western women are happy to dress in the hijab imposed by law , playing to themselves as a kind of new Mata Hari . All western women were happy , except Peppina , my wife , who couldn ’ t bear this imposition , allowing her day to be spoilt more than once . Iranian women have learned to bypass the law by showing a small lock of hair from the hijab framing their perfectly made-up faces giving them an irresistible charm .
Looking out from the bazaar there was an urban landscape that suggested of the desert sands beyond . The Iranian Plateau is a dry mountain range whose height is often over one thousand metres . For this reason , during past centuries , the wisdom of the people learned how to save every water drop and how cool their abode . The masterpieces of this architecture were found in the city of Yazd , the driest city in the country , surrounded by the Dasht-e Lut and Dasht-e Kavir deserts .
Yazd ’ s skyline is drawn by contrast between the mosques ’ domes and the wind towers , straight and squared off , oriented to put in warm wind and freshen it through underground tunnels . The contrast is chromatic too , the blue of majolica and mosques was like an ode to Allah emerging from the adobe finish of house walls and towers , the same colour as the desert .
Shiraz , close to the ancient capital of Persepolis whose style and greatness is still impressive , is built like Yazd along a secondary route of the southern Silk Way . Secondary , but not less important because , after hundred kilometres , you enter in Balochistan , a region divided among Iran , Afghanistan , and Pakistan .
Many eons ago this region was the door to a branch of the Silk Road that connected China to the Indian Ocean , following the Indus River and the Karakorum Range . That ’ s where we were going .
We stayed for some days in Bam , at the Akhbar Guest House eating dates , drinking tea , and chatting with Mr . Akhbar , a real institution for overlanders from all over the world ,
TRAVERSE 29