Travel

Travel
through the dusty desert and suddenly the surrounding
mountains aren’t the only peaks in sight. First, you see the Yazdi
minarets and then the famous badgir towers, a form of medieval air
conditioning which funnels any passing gust of wind down into the
baking city below. Yazd is so incredible because it doesn’t seem
natural for a city to thrive in the middle of a desert, yet UNESCO
lists it as one of the oldest towns on earth, with an estimated
2000 years of permanent human settlement.

Walk around the maze-like town of old Yazd in early morning
solitude. There are still lots of Yazdi people living in the
ancient mud houses; take a moment to watch them go about their
daily lives, children playing football on the street – this is the
best way to get a feel for this dreamy desert city. Find a rooftop
café to rest and sip tea (there is a well-known one close to the
tourist information point) then pay a visit to Lari House, the old
dwelling of a wealthy Yazdi trading family. Go for lunch at the
Silk Road Hostel, where delicious shuli (camel meat) and more-ish
date shakes will keep you sustained throughout the afternoon. Next
up, make your way to a Yazdi gym, known as zurkhaneh, where locals
pump iron to ritualistic music and traditional Iranian songs.
Leaving the old town, make a stop at the Water Museum where you can
find out about the qanat system of irrigation which brought Yazd
into existence. Then head out to the Zoroastrian Fire Temple and
gaze in awe at the Atash Behram, which has been burning for over
2000 years. Around sunset, take a taxi to the Towers of Silence to
be part of a weird and wonderful Zoroastrian ritual.