Troglodyte village of Kandovan

Before leaving Tabriz we visited Arg-e Tabriz, a chunky remnant of a 14th century citadel destroyed in 18th century by earthquake. It was made of brick and the outer walls sloped inwards as they rose. Not far was the stunning Blue Mosque constructed in 1465. It was one of the most glorious buildings of its time - artists took 25 years to cover it in deep blue majolica tiles. It was destroyed in the 1773 earthquake and wasn’t restored till 1951. Though the brick superstructure is now complete, only on the main entrance are original tiles. Inside portions are visible and piles of brick with mosaic on are stacked up behind a screen. It was stunning, some of the tiny detail especially fine.

From there we headed for the bazaar, a UNESCO world heritage site. It is one of the biggest covered markets in existence, covering 7 square km. construction began a millennium ago but some of the wonderful brick vaulting where the carpet section is dated from 15th century. People buy carpets that look like French tapestries or Constable paintings with the odd horse thrown in. They are in garish colours.

We didn’t get as long as we’d have liked as Mr C and I had to give an interview for Iranian TV about our impressions of the country. We were of course very complimentary.

Then we had lunch in a pretty touristy place. I had some fish but Mr C had the famed Dizi, a kind of mutton broth with chickpeas, tomatoes and potatoes. You firstly tear up some bread to put in your bowl, then strain out the liquid. After you’ve eaten that you use the provided metal pestle and grind up the veg and mutton fat, first removing the bones, and eat with more bread or a spoon. He is feeling a bit queasy tonight.

It was a 1.5 hour drive to our next destination, the troglodyte village of Kandovan, which was established 700 years ago. The homes on the hillside were carved out of the lava flow from the nearby (now dormant) Mt Sagan’s. there are about 100 families living here. We explored the village for an hour then walked to our hotel which is very luxurious. It is cut into the rock and we had to climb many steep steps to reach our room. It is like a duplex with a bedroom and loo downstairs and upstairs a huge bath and shower plus sitting area with tea, fridge and TV. No WiFi though so back blipping