Iran's Salt Lake and Father of Couchsurfing - Kashan - 4th stop of Iran

– 2014 Getting away to Middle East Dubai Iran 1 Month Trip

Couchsurfing in Kashan

There were only a few buses going to Kashan from Yazd. In order to save the time, I got on one going to Tehran and will pass by Kashan in a highway. Luckily, I contacted one of the hosts in Couchsurfing and he was very generous to come and found me in the highway after communicating with the bus driver through phone. If I did not talk to my host before, I might miss Kashan as this bus was going to Tehran but not stopping at Kashan.

The host I was with was the father of Couchsurfing who is called Mohammad. Why? He hosts many people in Kashan. Initially there was a girl who invited me to her house to stay in Kashan. However, some days before I arrived there, she said to me that she was going to travel and could not host me...Mohammad welcomed all people and he proactively sent inbox message to me in Couchsurfing to invite me to stay at his house. So there I was. Apart from me, there were usually other couchsurfers staying at his house too. He was funny though he could only speak simple English. The Couchsurfing community in Kashan is close. It seemed everybody knew everyone. Another host that I had great impression on was Java. He is an English teacher and he speaks good English. Whenever he was free he would hang out with us and tell us history of the spots we went.

When I arrived at Mohammad's house at night, there were two girls already living in his place. One was from Poland and another was from Switzerland. They were both coming from Azerbaijan. One was studying and one was working as internship there. It must be an amazing experience to work or study at those uncommon countries.

My host in Kashan Coushsurfing, Mohammad, aka father of Couchsurfing

Fin Garden (Bagh-e Fin), Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (Ammam-e Sultan Amir Ahmad) and traditional houses

The next day, we went to Fin Garden (Bagh-e Fin) (IRR$150,000). The entrance fee was quite expensive compared to other spots I had been. The garden was huge though, Java told us about the history of this garden. The architecture, ceiling drawing, etc. After that, we had lunch, where I had my first Dizi in Iran. Dizi is a special dish here, find out more at Clothing, Food, Living and Transportation of Iran

 
You can see the system of qanat across the whole garden. This can decrease the heat in summer
 

 
Colorful inner ceiling inside Fin Garden

Afterwards I went to Abbasian House (Khan-e Abbasian) (IRR$75,000), Tabātabāei House (Khāneh-ye Tabātabāeihā) (IRR$75,000) and Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (Ammam-e Sultan Amir Ahmad) (IRR$75,000). The houses were beautiful, multiple storeys with awesome carvings on the wall and the ceiling, colorful mosaic window, symmetrical structure. Also, the bathhouse was really awesome with fantastic sunset view on the rooftop. Compared to Kerman's, this one was much better. So remember to go there around dawn time. There were other traditional houses that you can visit. But I think visiting one or two of those will be enough.


Abbasian House


Light coming through the colorful mosaic windows, gorgeous

Same beauty even with different pattern

Symmetrical pattern of the ceiling, elegant

Older one yet still elegant

 



Tabātabāei House, feeling more modish


Every wall has its special feature, you need to take a look on all of them


Apart from the carving, there are also many glass decoration


Amir Ahmad Bathhouse

Wall carving, symmetrical and detailed


Ceiling of the bathhouse


You can see the 360 view from the rooftop of the bathhouse, beautiful


Sunset time

Of course we also went to the bazaar, Agha Bozorg Mosque (Masjed-e Āghā Bozorg). The bazaar was similar to other bazaars in Iran but here they sold rose water which was unique only in Kashan. They used rose water to cook, to act as perfume and even for healing purpose. We had a great time in a traditional teahouse inside the bazaar. With shisha, ash bademjan, non-alcoholic beer, dizi, etc. We also enjoyed the live music there.


Enjoying shisha


Shop that sells rose water

Abyaneh and Dasht-e-Kavir, Maranjab Desert

The day after, I and four another couchsurfers went to an ancient village called Abyaneh with elevation 2000+ meters that was famous for its special floral white hijab worn by women. Men also wore traditional garment with felt hat and loose canvas pants. 2 of them were from Austria and other two were from Poland. They were all either study exchanging or working as an internship at Turkey.

The weather was good, the ground, the houses and the mountains nearby were covered by a layer of thin snow and it was sunny. I could not feel any coolness but only warmness. Every breath I had was so clean and fresh.

Houses were made of red mud bricks, which gave the spectacular scene of Abyaneh. In this silent village with magnificent view, you could only see a few locals strolling around the alleys of the village. Most of them were in their old ages. Some of them were selling some snacks (mainly dry fruits) on the street to the tourists, while some of them just sat all day and looked at people passing by.

We went to see the shrines and mosques. There were difference between dome shaped and cone shaped roofs. Dome shaped is for Imam's sons and daughters and cone shaped is for Iman's grandsons and granddaughters.

We also went to the desert area called Dasht-e-Kavir, Maranjab Desert. The sand was so smooth and we saw the beautiful sunset color reflected by the salt lake on the desert. Because of that, the orange color covered the whole piece of land in 360 degree. While time passed, we could see the stars coming up. Some people went there with the big telescope and stayed there for stargazing. There was a place that you can stay overnight nearby. It was a Silk Road caravansary and It cost only IRR$400,000 for a room that could accommodate 4 people. The trip cost IRR$600,000 which included Abyaneh and the desert. Java was with us and his friend was driving. It was quite far so the price was reasonable.


Dasht-e-Kavir, Maranjab Desert, the sand is so smooth


Sunset, the reflection from the salt lake looked like it is unreachable


Abyaneh, the background seems unreal, but this is the one and the mountains are covered with a layer of snow


People are just siting there all day, letting time passing by



The girl on the left is another couchsurfer, she dressed the rose hijab which is unique in this town


He is Java, experienced couchsurfing host, speaks fluent English


Women was selling dried fruits on the street


Abyaneh from another angle.

Conclusion

Conclusion I really enjoyed my stay in Kashan. The architectures were gorgeous and the shops selling rose water were so special in my point of view. Especially may be because here I felt the warm of the Couchsurfing community. Thanks my host Mohammad and Java for all those things that we experienced.

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My Itinerary:
Dubai (1 day)-> Sharjah (Where the ferry was) -> 1. Bandar Abbas (1 day) -> 2. Kerman (1 day) -> 3. Bam (0.5 day) -> Kerman (1 day) -> 4. Yazd (2.5 days)-> 5. Kashan (Abyaneh , Maranjab) (3 days) -> 6. Tehran (2 days) -> 7. Sanandaj (Palangan) (2 days)-> 8. Kermanshah (2 days) -> 9. Isfahan (3 days) -> 10. Shiraz (3 days) -> 11. Bandar Abbas (2 days) -> Sharjah (Where we took the ferry)-> Dubai (0.5 day)


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