on the way to Kashan

while our destination of the day was Esfahan, some 400km from Tehran, we stopped by the city Kashan, which was more or less half way between the two.
during the journey, then we realized how large a country Iran was.
vast fields extended into the horizon with snow filled plains near and afar.

Young soldiers at the Holy Shrine

this was probably the first time in our lives that we have met with the people of a nation with such hospitality & friendliness. Though it was difficult to communicate with one side speaking English and the other side speaking Farsi, one could feel their genuine sincereity to visitors.

young girls at the Holy Shrine

Holy Shrine of Imam Khomeini

before leaving Tehran, at the south of the city is the Holy Shrine of Imam Khomeini. amazed by its sheer size, but somewhat disappointed by its means of construction...
During the day of our visits, there were many visitors, school children, soldiers...the first time we had a close encounter with the Iranian people.

waking up in Tehran

Was half expecting to hear morning prayers in the morning across the city...but it did not happen.
The Sun rose, along with the dust settled on the street the previous night, composing a picture quite surreal.
Our journey started in Tehran, and took us to Esfahan, Shiraz, Yazd, before finally returning to the captial...
Tehran is very much a modern day city, with little deviation to its western counterparts. But we were told that once we leave the city, what's beyond was immensely different.
The mysterious Persian Kingdom lies ahead.

the sun still sets in here...

this was our first day in Iran, and since arriving early in the morning, it was more or less a non-stop trip inside the city of Tehran. After visiting the snow filled ground of the Sa'd Abad Palaces, we left the northern side of the city, which was regarded as the more well off regions, heading towards the Tehran Laleh Hotel (fomerly Intercontinental Hotel).

was this what we expected? the Iran/ Iraq war was history, and the capital of Iran resembles very much to its counterparts in the West, the density, traffic jams, noise and pollution...and yes, you can easily find a Toyota as well.

just like any other places, the sun still set in here, the veiled country was in fact, not that remote at all...

background study

available from http://www.amazon.com/

There is generally little books available on Iran in comparison to other more popular locations.
Other than the Lonely Planet, which has a good general description of the country, this book was perhaps one of the more informative literature available in the store. From the history of Persia, its people, and even events like the 1979 Islamic Revolution, this book gives a good account of the topics. How true are they from the truth...well, who can have a definitive view on the truth about anything?

An essential for outsiders who want to undertand more about Iran.

what's left behind...

thought this was an installation of contemporary art, but after consulting our local guide, this used to be the statue of the Shah, but during the 1979 Islamic revolution, the statue was cut down, and all that remains was a set of hollow boots...

children at the White Palace

Just when we were about to depart from the White Palace, we met with a group of young children who were extremely friendly and would like to take photo with us, even though their teachers tried to deter them from doing so.

A smile is an internationally recognizable greeting that needs no words...

The Green Palace

The facade of this palace was finished a green colour stone, from Isfahan. Its pattern, texture, and tone were something seldom seen in the construction industry, in fact, was the first of its kind we have ever seen.

The interior was lavishly decorated, with a room full of ornamental mirror decorations...how would one perceive such space? the slightest movement will trigger a multitude of reflections...

marble cladded staircase

not only were the floors finished with marble, the supporting walls to the main staircase inside the white palace was also finished with marble.

despite the fact that the dynasty was overthrown as a result of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Governement has decided to conserve what was left behind by the Shah.

An important contribution to the study of the history of Iran and its development.

sunset on winterland

there were three main sites at the Tehran Sa'd Abad Garden:

the National Palace Museum (White Palace), the Green (Shahvand) Palace, and the Military Museum.

the works shown in the two palaces were some of the finest interior decor we have seen. But knowing the eventual fate of the Pahlavi Dynasty, strangely, it wasn't the palaces that drawn us, but rather, the silent, solemn woods that were around...

imagine the day the shah decided to flee, it was the same woods that witness the end of an era.

voices in the woods

each a silent witness to the past, whispering in the sound of the settling snowflakes...

Palace in the snow

a moment ago, we were still seeing low rise houses made of mud bricks, largely unfinished, with a compromised facade that spelt out nothing remotely resemblence to the word "comfort", in less than an hour, we were transported to a completely different scene.

a vast mansion, stood in front of a frozen lake, with its back to the mountain filled with snow...

The National Palace (White) Museum, the last of Shah's palace before he was forced to leave the country in 1979 as a result of the Islamic Revolution.

shop composition.

your average corner shop?
This is Tehran, though not quite at the city centre yet.
There were many boxes springing up from the street everywhere, and the one to the left with a cupping hand is supposed to be for donation to the public.

Guardpost in the distance

we knew it was going to be cold, but snow? isn't Middle Eastern Countries meant to be hot and dry?
that showed how ignorant we were about the country, ha.
on leaving the airport, the views on either side of the coach were bleak. little activities could be detected but plenty of guardposts.
we were told not to take photos of any of the Government facilities...was actually having cold sweat dripping down my forehead while taking this...

The distorted vision of the World

Like past years, we spent the Chinese New Year Holidays travelling. While there are still many places which we haven't travelled to, Middle East has always been a facinating region to us: early civilizations, Babylon, Crusades, the Great Persian Empire...

With Iraq regarded as the most dangerous place to travel to on Earth, and Israel and Palestine constantly engaged in a antagonistic confrontation, we turned our eyes towards Iran, a vast country with little news on paper other than their unending disputes with the West, and Bush's labelling them as "Axis of Evil"...but what is it really like?

We have heard of great names like Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes...but what is the modern day Iranians like?

Is it as dangerous as what the West portrayed?

or is it a completely distorted story waiting to be rectified?

intuition...

well, I stopped for another few months before picking up the writing on this particular topic, simply what happened still troubled me deep in the night...

when travelling along the edge of the only route leading to the summit, I could feel the air was becoming drier, and temperature was definitely dropping. Luckily for us, we have brought enough winter clothing, but it still didn't stop us shivering once in a while after breathing in the cool, dry air.

When viewed from far, the temple was dwarfed by the massive broadcasting structure located nearby, but upon arriving at the front of the construction, one's attention was immediately drawn to the meticulously detailed front walls.

Standing on the porch, facing south, I could already see in the distance that darkness was slowly dropping its veil on the land below. As we were told by our friend that we could gain access to the top of the temple to catch the view of the city of Barcelona, we hurried in, and finding our way to the tower which led to the roof.

As expected, the interior of the temple was finely decorated. Dimly lit, and thus highlighting the stained glass decoration located along the masonry walls. Perhaps due to its location, or perhaps it's almost the end of the day, the place was sparsely populated. A few candles were flickering momentarily amongst low murmuring sounds in a language I could not comprehend.

To the left of the hall was an opening which gave way to another narrow corridor, which at its end, was the entrance to a lift which travelled to the roof.

I was still deep in thought on my previous deja vu experience, and suddenly, the name of the place flashed through my mind - Tibidabo...what an interesting name, I wondered what it meant...

there's a strange sensation within me which I couldn't quite place...but I could suddenly feel my heart was beating increasingly faster, a sign that my adrenalin was pumping...

...but why?

a case of deja vu...

have not updated this blog for quite a while, reason was because I didn't know how to begin with this particular entry...





let's talk about the idea of "déjà vu" first. you can read up everything you want to know on deja vu at the wikipedia, in my experience, however, it's about when I had that sudden feeling that the place looked familiar even though I have never visited the place the whole of my life. I remember such sensation only happened a few times in the entirety of my life so far, but my experience in Barcelona was one that would never be forgotten.

After visiting the former Olympic site in Montjuic, our friend drove us in his car away from the leisurely South towards the mountaineous North. As the car climbed through the winding path leading up to the hills, what came into view was rows of houses fitting sporadically along either side of the valley. A strange and somewhat chilling sensation shot through me, and I thought to myself, "this place looks familiar, somewhere I've been to...", just as I was trying to study the details of these houses, there was a picture flashed across my mind, a narrow path for coaches (horses), houses along side the steep valley, dimly lit by either gas light and candle flame...isn't this the same dreamscape that I came to many years before?

unknowingly, I was breathing heavier, and there were glimpses of fragmented images that were appearing at the back of my mind, whether they were out of my imagination or actual experience that I had before, I could hardly distinguish the two. Suddenly, the car stopped, our friend turned around and said, " this is almost midway to the top, let's stop for a while and have a look at the plain of Barcelona."

the view was definitely breathtaking, but what caught my eyes also were a church like construction at the top of the hill.

"That's where we are going," my friend pointed at the church.

a church at the top of the hill? i felt uneasy without knowing why...

homage to the Gods...

after having a satisfying lunch by the waterfront, our friends drove us up the south side of the city, and making our way up the hill of Montjuic, home to a number of famous museums, galleries (incl. the Fundacio Joan Miro), as well as the site for the 1992 Olympic Stadium.

also tucked in this majestic setting was the telecommunication tower designed by Sapnish Architect Santiago Calatrava. his skills in making the most ordinary objects into something out of this world was one of the characteristics of his works, and this particular one, was a monument, to all visitors to the place in the future of time, that would keep one in awe.