I'm at my uncle's house in Chaboksar, northern Iran, on the Caspian Sea. Jungle meets the ocean and it is incredible. I went to a tea factory today. The smell of freshly picked tea leaves was intoxicating. I drank a cup of the tea and it was so strong it gave me a headache (it will get weaker in the coming weeks).
On the way up to the top of the mountains, we stopped at a small village and bought some eggs and borrowed a frying pan from a local restaurant owner. There were cows all over the road. At another village, there were dozens of men and women picking valerian flowers. The road we were on twisted and snaked its way through the heart of the mountains, climbing higher and higher with each bend. We finally reached the top of the mountains and the view that spread out before us was like something out of a fairy tale - green jungles, jagged cliffs, countless waterfalls. And all-enveloping mist.
We parked the car and climbed to a flat area where we set up a picnic - bread, cheese, and we cooked on a communal omelette in the borrowed frying pan on the petite fire we had made. Some cows ventured near, but I think we smoked them out. I made friends with a huge yellow slug that was attempting to steal some cookies. Someone suggested we have some escargot - I didn't think that a good idea. I spent some time exploring but got slightly discouraged when I put my hand on a stick colored snake that fled from me as I fled from it.
Almost as soon as we got to our spot on the mountain, the mist crept up on us. We resided in the mist and could not see more than five feet ahead of us. It was the thickest, heaviest moisture I have ever encountered. I laid down on the ground and closed my eyes for a moment and felt like I was at the top of the earth in the middle of nowhere but above all of humanity and enveloped in a cloud where I could disappear from the whole damn thing. So far I have been at the top of the mountain, at the edge of the sea, in the middle of the desert, part of the hustle and bustle of a metropolis of 14 million people, and on Monday I will head to a time where civilization was born and great kings built great kingdoms which centuries later would be heralded as one of the wonders of the world - Persepolis is my next stop!
4 comments:
PUT UP MORE PICS!
that's probably a banana slug.
Great blog Tara, really interesting, it's good to see that it's not just me who has that view of Iran as I am a visitor to the country too when I go there once a year to see my lovely grandad and others. If you go back to Tehran, definitely try to fit in Saad Abad palace complex, I went there for the first time this year, beautiful. Take care and have fun x
well, not to be anal or anything but Caspian SEA is not an ocean! in fact it's not even a sea. it's a lake.
i enjoyed reading the posts though. keep it up :)
Post a Comment