The GOLDEN EAGLE TRAIN: Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary: October-November 2014
I was so incredibly heartbroken when my dear Bob
the Dog died. I'd made these trip plans and was quite prepared to cancel
them to take care of him. But the cancer moved so fast... from the lump
under his ear that I detected when I returned from my 50th high school reunion
in late August, to his death on October 8, 2014.... so fast. I'm
beginning to write this blog in September 2016, two years later, partly because
I simply couldn't remember what I did to ward off the grief. Now I
remember. Now it's time to document it.
I decided to take a train trip from Tehran IRAN to Budapest HUNGARY on the
Golden Eagle -- an historic journey, since this train route has not been
traveled for decades. The journey is 7000 kilometers, almost 4000 miles. One way.
Yes, that's me, in a headscarf appropriate for travel to Iran.
I'm packing for this trip now, and looking forward to the Golden Eagle train
from Tehran through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and finally ending in Budapest.
This is the photo needed to get my Iranian visa... now to buy a manteau
(button-up, knee-length tunic) that's hijab-compliant. I think I'll do that in
Doha (Qatar) during my stopover there en route to Tehran.
SO, I flew to
Qatar first. There’s a separate
blogpost about that, which you can see by clicking here:
http://adventures-of-barbara-keck.blogspot.com/2020/06/qatar-2014.html
Tomorrow begins
the Islamic New Year, and Shiites celebrate this festival Muharam with
processions etc. I should see some interesting things in Iran, which is a
Shiite-majority-ruled country. My lunch-buddy HBS alum in Qatar is a Shi'a, and
he alerted me to the fact that this festival, which commemorates the martyrdom
of Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of Mohammed, is often accompanied by ritual of
men beating their chests in rhythm to the reading of the tale of this event, etc.
Women seem to be exempted (yay!). You all know how much I hate
violence, and so I'm likely to shy away from this kind of celebration.
You can watch plenty of it on YouTube, just google
"Matam".
Here are some maps of the trip I am about to take on the Golden Eagle:
Above is the marked-up map with stops each day.
NOT SO MUCH FUN AT THE TEHRAN AIRPORT
From Qatar I flew to Tehran. What an experience at the airport! Of
course I was a single American woman traveling alone ... and I got treated like
a prostitute. At the tender age of 68, I should have been flattered, but
instead I was furious.
As far as I can tell, not too many Americans are yet doing
tourism in Iran. I guess I should have figured this out when the
visa-expediter company that MIR uses had to send my passport to the Embassy of
Pakistan to get my Iranian visa. Well, it worked, I FINALLY got through
customs. Of course, no man could process me through
customs, so a female customs officer had to be called. But then I had to
stand around for an hour until a female customs officer was found so that I
could be FINGERPRINTED. Last time I was involved in fingerprinting was
when I had Martin and Matt's prints done so if they were stolen they could be
returned. Maybe that's the theory here? Surely I don't look like a
criminal... but then... you "did" see my visa photo, right?
Scary.
Then there was an intensive pat-down, finger-printing and close examination of
papers.
What a colossal pain in the arse! By the time
that was done, and I got transport to the hotel, I was not in a great mood.
TEHRAN
Hot. That's the first impression.
Horrible traffic. Next impression.
How horrible? So bad that crossing the
street in Rome is a cakewalk by comparison. I haven't figured out the
traffic light system. To a certain extent, it seems logical. But
you take your life in your hands crossing the street. I finally figured
out to hurry up and skitter behind a gaggle of Iranians and keep close and
cross in their wake. That works fine except for the motorcyclists who cut
corners pretty close...and close to me!
Still, no sense sitting in the hotel. So
I went out for a 2 hour walk and bit of shopping. I did find a kind of garb
that meets dress code. Frankly, I look like H*ll but I'm trying to
maintain good humor over all.
The hotel bookshop thankfully had a tour book for Iran. So I can study up
on history, sites, etc a bit. The rest of the group arrives tomorrow.
The dress code, of course, must be adhered to. But frankly it is a pain in the arse. It's nice to fling a pretty scarf over your shoulders when you dress up, but over your head ... no fun. It flattens your hair, makes your head sweat in the heat, and then the scarf's ends are always having a life of their own and unraveling so it's a constant battle to keep covered. I am in awe of these Moslem women who have figured out how to do this so effortlessly.
The money is difficult to keep straight.
27,000 (more or less) Iranian Rials to the dollar. Bills are denominated
in 500,000 and 100,000 and 50,000 and 10,000 and 5,000 rial. I have
some of each in my wallet right now, which makes me what my Dad would have
called "a nickel millionaire."
Did I mention that it's HOT. And jeez, this isn't even the hot time of year. I think the pollution from so many cars adds to the feeling of being warm.
There are lots of police on the streets.
Lots. Lots more. I wish they'd get involved with traffic control, but
mostly they look forceful and powerful and oh so young.
Three times today in shops I was asked if I was
Russian. I guess they see some Russian blondes here. Everyone
is excited when I tell them i am from California. The guy who owns the
sweet shop where I scored some Iranian dates (good source of potassium, haven't
seen any bananas here yet...) was thrilled. I forgot to put some San
Francisco postcards in my pocketbook today... i'll do that tomorrow... I got 50
to hand out to folks along the way. My amateur ambassadorial contribution
to American good-will-building.
So far, so good. I do feel a bit isolated,
as not so many people strike up a conversation here. But when the group
arrives, there will be plenty of company I am sure.
Some background on Tehran
After the Mongols destroyed the Silk Road City of Rey, Tehran
rose in its place as the region’s most important trading center. By 1789 Tehran had become the capital of
Persia under the Qajar rule, Agha Mohammed Khan. While the city grew in prominence, it
remained basically unchanged until the massive modernization efforts of
the19020’s. Since then, Tehran has grown
in population for less than 300,000 to a metropolis of several million. Modern Tehran is full of shops, museums,
minarets, retaurants, teahouse and a sprawling bazaar.
Scooting around Tehran by myself for the next day and a half was
interesting. I needed to buy another manteau (short coat that covers you
from bottom on your neck to the top of your wrist and falls below the
knees). That was an expedition until I finally happened on a store, and
figured out that it WAS a women's shop because of all the young women coming
out. So, appropriately garbed, off I went to wait for the rest of the
group to arrive.
I found a great red outfit at that store, and loved wearing
these vibrant colors in this otherwise-restrictive city.
October 27, 2014, meet up with the group.
October 28 - The next day,
we started our tour in earnest.
The Gulestan Palace is our first tourist stop….beautiful
tile work there! The palace complex is
the oldest of Tehran’s historic monuments, begun in the 16th century
as a fortress by the Safavid dynasty.
Encompassing several palatial buildings around a cool green garden, the
complex includes the Marble Throne, created from 65 pieces of yellow Yazd
marble. Gulestan Palace is on the UNESCO
World Heritage list.
Pix of My new boyfriend, below...
Met him on the palace grounds, Tehran. He's a bit cold,
but I'm depending on the tickley moustaches to warm things up. :-)
After all this walking around marble palace courtyards, we
had lunch at the Homa Hotel’s restaurant.
Here is a “typical” Persian lunch…
One of the delights of dining around town, such as it is on a
tour like this, is that you get to see the variety of toilet facilities. Well, in my opinion, no blog is complete
without toilet commentary: but I ask you
to consider – how would you handle this situation?
Sideways? From personal experience, I can tell you that if the distance
from your ankle to your knees is longer than 8 inches, you are indeed
experiencing this part of traveling in Iran "sideways".
Regardless, it is so much better than those nasty eastern-style
toilets.... just imaging having to handle a long scarf, a floor length robe,
slacks or a skirt down to your ankles...all these items and a nasty wet
floor...1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 SQUAT
We concluded our day in Tehran with a visit to the State Jewels Museum in the vaults of the Central Bank of Iran. The State Jewels Museum safeguards the Darya-ye-Nur, the world’s largest uncut diamond (182 carats).
This museum also houses the Naderi Throne, covered with 26,733 gems. Chair-like thrones like this were used in ancient Iran by Achaemenid dynasty in the 5th century BC, as well as the 17th century Safavid dynasty. The Naderi throne can be taken apart into 12 separate sections. It was intended to be portable, to be carried along when the King moved to his summer residences.
Then we boarded the Golden Eagle Danube Express!
This train journey from Tehran to Budapest will take 2 weeks
and cover 5000 miles. It was the first train to arrive in Budapest from Persia
in decades. Everywhere we stopped, we were welcomed.
It is a pretty cushy way to travel. The princess in me loved putting this morning
tea order on my cabin door handle before going to bed…
Okay, NOW
for notes on the small cabin I booked on the
Golden Eagle (I won’t do THAT again…)
The brochure says, 6'2 x 2.5' and that's all you know until
you open the door of your cabin on the Golden Eagle. The promised total
square footage of 40 feet sounds quite generous until you see it and realize
that this is your home for the next 15 days. Subtract from that the
totally-useless sink which occupies 2.5x2.5 feet in the corner, and you are
left with...an organizational challenge.
In the olden days, when I traveled a lot on business, I had packing down to a fine science. A carry-on would be perfectly sufficient for 5-7 days. But now, with attention to my "mature" demands, I need room for a pharmacopeia, all kinds of lotions, a little luxury here and there like my Angel bath gel, etc etc. It all adds up. Then in addition, you figure that these 15 days take us from desert heat to a possible 30F in Budapest.... and that means layers. And on top of that, a few more layers.
So through the wonders of clothespins (a packing essential!), plastic bags with sturdy handles, a few strong plastic hangers (the kinds with hooks on the shoulder parts), I have transformed the walls of my 40-square-feet into something that looks like a street-corner-homeless-person-garage sale. If I get over the chagrin of all this, I'll take a photo….If not, i'm hoping the imagery is sufficient.
So that's the UNPACKING part of the sleeping car saga.
The next part is the SLEEPING part of the sleeping car saga. Well,
that 6'2"x2.5' is not exactly a sleep-foam delight. After about two
hours of tossing and turning and finally realizing that my bony parts (elbows,
shoulder blades, knees, ankle) would not align themselves in any reasonable
semblance of a prone sleepable posititon, I sat up. Time for a
think.
Aha! I didn't really need the comforter that the cabin attendant put on
top of the starched sheet while I was in the dining car. (p.s. the food
is fabulous. smoked trout pate on top of fresh salad greens to start,
tender venison medallions in a red wine reduction...our chef and the train crew
is Hungarian…). So I put the comforter UNDER me and the sheet on
TOP of me and that was better.
An hour later, I woke up again. My throat was raging sore. The
sweat I'd broken into was not from illness... but an overactive mini radiator
at the window side of the 40-square-feet. With some shame, I called the
cabin guy and beseeched him to turn the radiator OFF. Much better.
Okay, my toes were a bit cold, but the thoughtfully-supplied cotton bathrobe
made an extra layer for the middle of me, although it fought with the sheet for
supreme position, and so it went, hour after hour, station stop after station
stop, clackety mile after clackety mile.
Tonight I'm hoping for more sleep. I've asked for an extra comforter --
the cabin guy was taken aback, but I bet he'll find one -- and so ONWARD.
(The excellent
end to this story is that midway through the journey, the tour directors on board
from travel agency MIR Corp, through whom I’d booked this trip, gave up
their room and moved me in there. Now,
THAT’s customer service!) They are still
in business post-pandemic, and I hope to travel with them again. https://www.mircorp.com/trip-finder/
October 29 -Touring Mashad
If you really want to know more about Mashad, google it. Needless to say,
it is a city that features yet another shrine to yet another martyr. And it’s
a famous honeymoon place.
More than half of all hotels in Iran are located in this
town, Mashad... or so our group was informed by the mayor or somebody like that
who greeted us in an extensive and extensively-photographed ceremony at the
train station this morning. The arrival of this first-class tourist
train for the first time at this (and other) stops in Iran is BIG NEWS.
Well, we are not so welcome that the strict
"hijab" dress code is at all relaxed. In fact, before we
were allowed into the public spaces of the huge square at the shrine, all
ladies were issued a plastic bag in which something like a sheet was
folded..but there was an elastic band sewn into a 10 inch section-edge of these
sheets. We were instructed on how to put that elasticy part over
our foreheads, and then swarth ourselves in the rest of this required garment.
What a huge pain in the butt this Islamic dress
stuff is becoming! That is a forced
smile in my hijab-moment.
In Mashad, our first visit was to the Nader Shah Museum museum, which is quite interesting, with a collection of the weapons of Nader Shah Afhar (who ruled Iran in the 18th century) and other beautiful artisan exhibits. My guide (also known as a secret police agent...) spoke fairly good English. I enjoyed the tour, and, forgetting where I was, reached out to shake his hand and thank him at the end of the tour. He recoiled in horror. I keep forgetting that since I am not a female member of a man's family, they are not allowed to touch me. This radical Islam stuff is getting old fast.
DUSTED=BUSTED at the Imam Reza Shrine in Iran.
I wasn’t sure I could get a photo from the Imam Reza
shrine that we visited today, but it's somewhere in my cellphone
camera-roll. Strange thing is, we were not allowed to take photos with a
real camera, but cell-phone cameras were okay. Go figure. I think
it may be that because when the no-camera rule was instituted back in the
darker ages, cell phones or at least cell phones with cameras did not exist.
Millions of pilgrims visit this shrine every
year, because it is an important Shi'a shrine, in fact the biggest shrine for
Shi’ite Muslims in the world, with more than 12 million visitors a year.
It is dedicated to the eighth grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was
martyred in 817 when the ruling Caliph helped him to the hereafter with a
draught of poison. As pilgrims started arriving at his burial site, the
city was renamed Mashad, meaning “Place of Martyrdom” (Don't you just love
religious history? So much mayhem in the name of one God or Prophet or
Savior or another...) Nonetheless, this is an emotional topic for
adherents of this sector of Islam, and nicely enough for this city, the source
of tremendous tourism.
All I know for sure, is that if tourist men were
required to wear hijab, tourism in Iran would screech to a halt. That would
probably do more than sanctions for changing religio-political attitudes in
this country.
In fact, it would be a big dust-up.
Next, a quick visit to the Tomb of Ferdowsi,
the most famous epic poet in the history of Persian literature. The tomb was built in the1930’s, but Ferdowsi
was not really recognized in his lifetime. (he died in 1020 AD). Per Wikipedia, Ferdowsi's tomb, which resembles
the tomb of Cyrus the
Great, is built in style of Achaemenid
architecture. There is a clear link
between this choice of architectural style and the politics of Iran at the
time. Four years before Reza Shah came to power in 1922, a group of secular
Iranian reformists had created the "Society for National Heritage",
composed mostly of western-educated, pro-reform intellectuals, and it was this
group that got funding from the Iranian parliament for this structure.
 |
| Tomb of Ferdowsi |
En route
to KERMAN: SANDSTORM!
So tonight while we were dining on paprika chicken with homemade gnocchi and finishing up with a superb selection of cheeses (and thinking, all of us, how nice a glass of wine would be with this meal...), I walked back to sleeping carriage "G" where the attendants had just finished preparing our beds DESPITE corridors filled with a thin cloud of what I was sure was pollution from the locomotive stacks that are only two cars ahead. But no... this cloud of fine dust was due to the fact that we were chug-chug-chugging through an Iranian desert sand storm on the way from Mashhad to Kerman. How bad was it? Hard to know since we all had to pull our blinds down fully, close the curtains and jam the windows as tightly closed as possible. But one indication was the exclamation point that I drew on the windowsill in the corridor outside my room. (see photo below) Ah,
travel. You just never know what is coming at you next. I haven't
been in a sandstorm since Burning Man 7 years ago... who would have guessed it
would happen here. (I know, I know.. it does kinda make sense...this
being a desert country essentially....and the dry time of year before the rains
begin...) Regardless, I'm sure we fortunate 45 passengers and 40 staff on the Golden
Eagle will survive. And tomorrow morning, when I shake the sand out of
everything, I can look forward to a day in Kerman, the textile center of
Iran. Maybe I'll find a nice carpet to bring back....unlikely, though,
since sanctions mean that anything over $100 will likely be confiscated by US
Customs when I return... but that's okay. Rules are rules, all part of
being the world's policeman....
For the last hour of our overnight journey, some dusty looking shrubs
finally start appearing out the window. Otherwise, the landscape has been
desolate for the last few hours. My compartment window is pocked on the outside
with smudges of dust from the big sandstorm we went through last night. The
inside of the window has a thin film of fine dust too... as does everything in
my compartment, my throat and face included.  I can tell it is going to be a hot day here in Kerman, an ancient
trading town which was one of the important (and few) waystations in the trade
between India and ancient Persia. OCTOBER 30 - KERMAN Kerman is set in a high valley between the huge massif of the Zagros
Mountains and the Dasht-e Lut Desert, which geographically isolated the city
for much of its existence. For the last hundred years it has been on the
railway line to Pakistan. It has endured
a variety of ruling empires, from Arabs to Turkmen to Qajars, and in spite of
centuries of upheaval, has many architectural treasures and a wonderful bazar. When we arrived in Kerman, dust and all, we disembarked the
train and then drove to Mahan, a summer resort about 20 miles (30
kilometers) our of Kerman. We visited
the 15th century mausoleum of the Shah Nematollah Vali, a
renowned Sufi mystic, poet and philosopher who
died in 1431 aged over 100. Inside the
shrine, more beautiful tile work.   The 17th Century ice house in Kerman
showcases an old technology... in the cold winters in this
desert town, the keepers of this place would pour successive layers of water in
the shallow pond at the base of the pyramidal structure and harvest it daily,
keeping it frozen with heaps of straw and lead...and selling the ice for good
prices during the hot summers. On the hill in back are old fortifications
from the previous rulers.  We visited the Shazdeh (Prince) Garden, one of perhaps ten true Persian gardens left in Iran. It is a walled oasis surrounding the palace of the governor of Kerman. Built in the 1880’s, the garden’s highlight is a stairway of terraced pools flowing one into the next below the while palace.  Beautiful
light on the mountains leaving Kerman! October
31 - Shiraz and Persepolis The drive
from the train station to Persepolis is approximately 45 minutes. it was overcast and rainy today as we left the train and set
out for Persepolis and Shiraz. In a way, the splendor of eons past is
weighty, since the religious law seems to put a gray overlay on almost
everything. i do hope that things will liberalize, because Iran has a
population of bright and eager young people whom it would be sad to deprive of
their day in the sun. PERSEPOLIS     We also
admired the Kabe-Zardosaht fire temple (square building in the left
foreground of this photo above) and sanctuary, and seven magnificent Sassanian
rock-reliefs, including Shapur I’s famous victory over Roman Emperor Valerian
(below)   SHIRAZ
We ended the touring day at the Mausoleum of Hafez, dedicated to a famous Persian poet. Designed by French architect Andre Godard, the beautiful gazebo-like structure is set inside a big walled garden. Off to the side are smaller gardens where we saw some dating couples sitting and talking. Lovely. Tradition has it that you can ask for something at a special spot in this garden. I did.  The shopping day was abbreviated, since we are here on Friday
and most places are closed, and that includes what is supposed to be a vigorous
bazaar. We did have a stop at a carpet shops, but with prices starting at
$650 for very small carpets, I bowed out soon. Don't worry, the owners
assured us, we take all credit cards and can ship it door to door for you. How
does this happen for US citizens, I'd like to know, with sanctions in place and
firm warnings in the trip guide that items costing more than $100 are likely to
be confiscated when you come back through US customs. Something doesn't
make sense to me.
November 1 – ISFAHAN This city is 2,500 years old, one of the oldest in Iran. It served as Persia’s capital from 1598 to
1722. Our all-day tour took us first to the Chehel Sotoon Palace. This was built by Shah Abbas II in 1647. It’s set in a park by a long pool between the
Ali Qapu Palace and Chahar Bagh Avenue, and its pavilion was used for receptions
and entertainment. The name means “40
columns” and refers to the 20 wooden columns supporting the entrance to the
Great Hall, multiplied by their reflection in the pool. Inside are wonderful frescoes, miniatures and
ceramics.   The public gardens and bridge to the Armenian quarter of
Julfa in Isfahan (photo below). The public
gardens are really beautiful and quite extensive. despite the fact that
the river alongside which they are built is dry, they are watered by a quaint
system and kept quite manicured. Although the day is gray today, i am
quite certain that on a bright day, they are astounding.  We also visited the Vank Cathedral in the Armenian quarter, the neighborhood of New Julfa. Although it is somewhat nondescript on its sand-colored-stonework exterior, the interior is beautifully ornate with delicate tilework and gilt embellishments.   Vank is an important historical reminder of the Armenian migration to Isfahan. During the 17th century, Armenians began settling at the southern bank of the Zayendeh Roud River; and the cathedral dates from some of the earliest settlements in 1606. Now a museum, and a memorial to the Armenian genocide, it is still at the heart of the community of Armenian-Iranians and houses over 20,000 volumes of literary and religious works in Armenian language. the neighborhood of New Julfa. Although it is somewhat nondescript on its
sand-colored-stonework exterior, the interior is beautifully ornate with
delicate tilework and gilt embellishments.
Vank is an important historical reminder of the Armenian migration to
Isfahan. During the 17th
century, Armenians began settling at the southern bank of the Zayendeh Roud
River; and the cathedral dates from some of the earliest settlements in
1606. Now a museum, and a memorial to
the Armenian genocide, it is still at the heart of the community of Armenian-Iranians
and houses over 20,000 volumes of literary and religious works in Armenian
language.
Naghshe Jahan Square is a UNESCO
World Heritage site; it is also known as Imam Square. Located in the center of Isfahan, it is one
of the largest urban squares in the world!
Shah Abbas the Great built this complex in the early 17th
century after he moved the capital here.
The square was the symbolic center of the Safavid Empire. Some of the buildings surrounding the square
are the Imam Mosque, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, and the Ali Qapou Palace and the
Shah (Imam) and Sheikh Luftullah Mosques.  The Ali-Qapou Palace was built at the end of the 16th century and was intended as a gateway to the royal palaces beyond. Its central feature is the tall veranda overlooking the Square, with a ceiling richly decorated with painted plaster.  The Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is an exquisite small mosque on the Square, built during Shah Abbas’ time. It took nearly 20 years to complete this beautifully decorated 17th century mosque.    The Sheikh Lutfullah Mosque was once called the Women’s Mosque, because of a tunnel running between it and the Palace, which allowed the royal women to attend prayers without being seen in public.   Last, but not the least part of the Square, we visited the Grand
Bazaar of Qeisarieh… and YES, RUG SUCCESS!   This is my carpet find! Made in Baluch, a nomadic area in the north
of Iran The edges are finished with black sheeps hair, which, I was told,
repels scorpions. That was the clincher on the deal! There is no
way I want to enter 1221 Jones (or wherever it might rest... Boston?) and step
on a scorpion by mistake.... Best yet, it cost less than $100, so
US Customs should not lift it from me.  November 2 - Zanjan Here in the northwestern part of Iran, the morning of November 2 brings a moody crowd of clouds over the Elburz Mountains.  About 120 miles to the northeast of Zanjan is the Caspian Sea. This appears to be a fertile agricultural area, with the harvest done already and the earth turned in neat rows waiting for spring crops. There's water here, and I'm sure there will be plenty of snow in the mountains.
Will I miss Islamic dress for
women? Ha! Tomorrow I'll celebrate the loss of this wearisome scarf
and below-the-knee coverup with, I believe, a nice glass of white wine. The mausoleum at Sultaniyeh was constructed in the 13th
century by Mongol sultan Oljatu Khodabandeh and was meant to house the remains
of Mohammed’s son-in-law, but the sultan had a change of heart and made it his
own burial place. The mausoleum’s dome,
or gonbad, is over 150 feet high and is the highlight of the
complex. Covered in turquoise faience
(tin-glazed ceramic earthenware), the dome is a fine example of early Islamic
architecture.  We continued our tour of Zanjan to see the old Rakhkt Shoor Khaneh. This domed brick structure and its watercourses were once used as a public laundry during the 18-19th century Qajar era. Now, it is an anthropology museum.   We also stopped at the museum of the Mummified Salt Men
(Zalfaghari Museum). Here, a bit of
background from AtlasObscura: “WHILE
BULLDOZING SALT FROM THE Chehrabad Salt Mine, Iranian miners recently uncovered
the sixth “salt man” to be found in the last fifteen years. These “salt men”
are in fact ancient corpses killed or crushed in the cave and mummified by the
extreme conditions. Hair, flesh and bone are all preserved by the dry salinity
of the cave, and even internal organs such as stomachs and colons have been
found intact. The first salt mummy,
dated to 300 A.D., was discovered in 1993, sporting a long white beard, iron
knives and a single gold earring. In 2004 another mummy was discovered only 50
feet away, followed by another in 2005 and a “teenage” boy mummy later that
year. The oldest of the salt men found is truly ancient and has been carbon
dated to 9550 B.C. Four salt men have
been transferred to the Zanjan Archaeology Museum” Are they Satyrs?
AtlasOscura noted: “Stanford University’s folklorist Adrienne Mayor
thinks there may be another layer to the already intriguing story of the salt
men. She thinks the mummies may be the origin of the ancient myth of the satyr.
“Obviously satyrs are mythic creatures,” Mayor said, but pointed out that the
heads of the humans who had been preserved in the salt bear “a striking
resemblance to ancient Greek and Roman depictions of satyrs.” Classical images of satyrs are indeed similar
looking, with similar hair and beards, snub noses and protruding jaws. “I think
it’s very likely that an ancient discovery of a similarly preserved ‘salt man’
in northwestern Iran is the basis for St. Jerome’s account of the ‘satyr’
preserved in salt and examined by the Emperor Constantine and numerous other
curious visitors in Antioch,” Mayor writes. So that’s great news! At last an interesting story about dead people I don’t know!   And so, onward to TURKEY!
I'm not sure what the mountains are that the train is
climbing as we make our way toward the border with Turkey, but these mountains
surely are beautiful. All along the base of the peaks as we pass through
the valleys, and in some cases as we take short journeys through tunnels bored
through these mountains, you look not too far down and you see a lovely
running river. I think of the Sierra and its rocky beauty, and I
must say that this terrain is equally beautiful. I can see why
hordes of invaders marched across Persia trying to claim it for themselves over
the centuries. It is hard to disregard this kind of natural beauty, and
easy to want it for one’s own.  Our Iranian border crossing was at Salmas, at 10:30 pm
Iranian time, and the border control officers get on board and check
passports. Groan – a few more hours of Islamic dress, at least
head-dress, required if we are sitting anywhere near a window. Gosh forbid if we ladies tempt any Iranian
men by looking out the train windows with bare foreheads! And then we stop 2 hours later, after midnight Iranian time,
at Razi on the Iranian border. (How
strange is this: Turkish time is 1 hours
and 30 minutes behind Iranian time.) So we stop on hour earlier at Kapikoy on the Turkish border,
at 11:30 p.m. Turkish time. And then onward:
breakfast in Turkey! November 3, Turkey and Lake Van
Van is a
city that has passed from empire to empire since its origin as the capital of
the ancient Uratu Empire in the 9th century BC. For many years, it was ruled by the
Armenians, then from 1548 until the end of WWI, it was rule by the Ottoman
Turks. Its Armenian population was wiped
out during the war (I’m sure you’ve heard of the Armenian Genocide?) and the
city itself was destroyed. (see below)  But a new
Van grew up near the ruined city, and is now primarily occupied by Kurds.
The Old City of Van features Van Castle (see below). Per Wikipedia: Van Castle is a massive stone fortification built by the ancient
kingdom of Urartu during the 9th to 7th centuries BC, and is the
largest example of its kind. It overlooks the ruins of Tushpa the
ancient Urartian capital during the 9th century which was centered upon the
steep-sided bluff where the fortress now sits. Such fortresses were used for
regional control, rather than as a defense against foreign armies. The ruins of
this fortress sit outside the modern city of Van, where
they support walls built in the medieval era.   We drove to Gevas for lunch, while our train and its 13 cars was dis-assembled loaded onto the train ferries to cross Lake Van.  This process can take as long as 10 hours! The ferries are huge. The crossing takes 4.5 hours per ferry, so while our group toured the city of Van, then took a passenger boat to Akdamar Island in the lake which houses a 10th century Armenian Orthodox church, the Church of the Holy Cross.   Back on the lakeshore, we bussed to TatVan on the other side
of the lake.  Meanwhile, our train was making its cross-lake voyage.
This whole process started at 8 a.m. and it is now 9:30 p.m. and the last
sleeping car has yet to be attached to the train. Regardless of these
technical difficulties, our train manager, a fierce mid-40's Russian woman
named Tatiana, made sure that the first 5 cars off the ferry included the bar
car. What a scene! After 7 days of no-alcohol in Tehran, the bar
car was quite the place for merriment this evening about 6:30 when we 45
passengers could board the partial-train. I noticed that an English
couple who never speaks to one another had a civil conversation.... I reckon
that the lady probably needed a bit of the grape to make her sociable. En route to Cappadocia from Lake Van, not quite yet in the
center of Turkey
This is an incredibly fertile land, punctuated by beautiful rivers and lakes, and wherever you look, orchards, greenhouses, furrowed fields, and small villages tucked away in pockets of riverine or mountain or lakeside beauty... all accessible by good roads in modern Turkey.  November 4, On to Capadoccia. When we finally arrive there after 20 hours on the rail
tonight/tomorrow, we will have missed any possibility of touring. The
train boss has offered an overnight in a cave-hotel there as a make-up
gesture. No thanks. My claustrophobia would hit an all time record
there I'm sure.... better to stay on the train and maybe sample a new wine
instead. (and I already stayed in a cave hotel on an earlier trip to
Turkey….) But a bit more about this weird landscape: three million years ago, eruptions from
nearby volcanos spewed out tons of ash that settled and hardened into a soft
rock called tuff. Other eruptions
covered the tuff with layers of lava, which cooled into basalt, a much harder
rock. In the millennia after these
eruptions, wind and rain eroded much of the tuff, leaving the harder
basalt. The “Fairy Chimneys” you
see in the photo below are cones of tuff topped by caps of basalt. The tuff in the UNESCO-listed Goreme Valley
is easy for people to crve, and they have been doing just that since at least
the time of the Hittites in 1600 BC.
Cave homes were carved from rock cones, and during the Christian era,
underground monasteries and churches were dug out and decorated with frescoes
that remain bright even today. (There
is more about Cappadocia in my blogpost about the great trip I took to Turkey
in September 2002, click here to see that)  November 5 - Driving into Istanbul from Ismit We did not arrive here until 4 p.m. due to construction on
the train tracks... 4 1/2 hours later than intended. it is now 4:30 p.m.
and traffic is bad; the overall haze of pollution is incredible. I don't
remember this problem on my trip of 2002... it is just so sad. 
Why this drive? Because the train tracks across the
strait are not yet finished...the tunnel is a huge project. So our group of 45
on the GOLDEN EAGLE must stay overnight at an Istanbul hotel while the 13 cars
on the train are uncoupled, ferried across the Bosporus , and put together
again for us to get back on the train tomorrow after our full day tour of
Istanbul ISTANBUL We stayed for the evening at the Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah.
It is a historic special category hotel and museum
hotel located in the Beyoğlu district in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 1892
for the purpose of hosting the passengers of the Orient Express and was named
after the place where it is located.   November 6 – morning tour of Istanbul Istanbul, as you probably know, is sprawled across two
continents connected by two slender bridges.
The former capital of two great empires, it leads a dual life, both
ancient and modern. First named
Byzantium, the city was renamed Constantinople by Roman Emperor Constantine,
who moved the capital here in 330 AD.
The Roman Empire evolved into the Byzantine Empire, profoundly
influenced by the area’s Greek-speaking inhabitants. The Byzantine Empire reigned for over a
thousand years until the Ottoman Turks, originally from Central Asia, conquered
Constantinople in 1453 and renamed the city yet again. The city continues to be the head of Greek
Orthodoxy, practicing what is called the “Byzantine Rite.” Inside Hagia Sofia, Istanbul Hagia Sophia was originally built by Byzantine Emperor
Justinian around 537 AD., Its immense
dome stands 55 meters (180 feet) above the ground, supported by 40 huge ribs
made of special hollow bricks. Colored
stone from around the world was brought to Constantinople to decorate the
church, and 30 million tiny mosaic tiles adorn the interior.    Our morning tour also included a quick stop at the legendary Blue
Mosque, as Sultan Ahmed Mosque is known, soaring upwards wit its six
minarets and layered domes. Built
between 1609 and 1616 at the behest of Ottoman emperor Ahmed I, the mosque was
purposely situated on the site of the former Byzantine emperors’ Great
Palace. Its interior is decorated with
blue porcelain tiles.   Horrible restriction at entrance to BLUE MOSQUE, Istanbul!  A quick walk through the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, sometimes
called the Egyptian Bazaar, is delightful to all the senses!   After some free time in the Spice Bazaar, we get on a bus for
two hours to transfer to Tekirdag, where the train has been re-assembled, and
we get back on board. At 10 pm., the train stops at Kapikule station on the Turkish
border, and we clear Turkish customs there. At around 2 a.m. the next day (November 7), the train stops
at Svilengrad station at the Bulgarian border, and we enter Bulgaria.
November 7 – Bulgaria
We start our tour in
Bulgaria at Kazanlak, in the Valley of the Roses, which produces rose oil
prized by perfumers worldwide. We visit
a rose oil producer. There are so many
products!  A stop at the UNESCO-listed
Thracian tomb site, which features vaulted brickwork dating back to the 5th
century BC. This tomb was discovered
here during excavation of a bomb shelter during World War II. It has very delicate frescoes, but we can see
full-sized replicas on our tour.    We
visited Shipka Memorial Church. It is, together with the other parts of the Shipka
Monument complex, dedicated to the Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian soldiers
that died for the liberation of Bulgaria in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. It is a Bulgarian Orthodox church built between 1885 and 1902. The church's bell tower reaches a height of 53 meters (173
feet) and its bells, the heaviest of
which weighs 12 tons, were cast from the cartridges that were collected after
the battles.  In the afternoon, we arrive at Veliko
Tarnovo, which is Bulgaria’s ancient capital, inhabited since the Paleolithic
Age. Thracians and Romans settled here
before the 2nd century AD, and it became the capital of the Second
Bulgarian Empire around 1186. Located
in a mountainous area, the stone houses in this city seem perched one above
another on the steep banks of the Yantra River. The remains of the royal fortress in Veliko Tarnovo stand at the top of Tsarevets Hill. The town was conquered and razed by the Turks in 1393, but remained a center of Bulgarian national struggle.  We also visit a church where the frescoes date
from 1613  Back on the train around 7 pm., and at around 9
pm, the train stops at Ruse station on the Bulgarian border, and we clear
customs there. Around midnight, the
train stops on the Romanian side of the borner, at Giurgiu station.
November 8, Romania The train twists and turns through the dramatic
landscape of the Carpathian Mountains this morning on the way to Brasov, an old
Transylvanian town set at the foot of a mountain and filled with medieval
architecture, cobbled streets and small houses. ROMANIA Located in Brasov, Romania, Bran castle is the home of Dracula! The Bram Stoker story turned this 14th Century castle into a veritable gold mine for this town. Half a million visitors a year traipse through the building after running the gauntlet of dozens of souvenir shops at the base of the hill. Despite a popular myth, it was not actually build by Vlad Tepes, the prince on whom the Dracula mysth was based. The castle is in the Center of Bran village, and was built by the people of Brasosv in 1382 to defend the Bran mountain pass against Turks. It was a dark and dreary day...perfect for our group to visit this famous landmark. We are among the half million who visit every year. I wonder how many walk the 500 steps up? Do NOT count me I that number, but count me among the coffee drinkers in the many cafes at the base...  Back on the train, looking out the windows during lunch, we
see the Romanian countryside between Brasov & Sighisoara
These train tracks run parallel to the tracks we are on, to handle local
trains...all powered by electricity. Not long before I took this
snapshot, on a road leading into this village, I saw a horse-drawn wagon.  Romania is a country of contrasts, recovering seemingly well
from years as an Eastern Bloc (communistic) country, and yet horsedrawn
carriages are an everyday sight, the streets of medieval villages are busy with
foot traffic as well as many many cars, and many of the houses are (at least on
the outside) not much changed in a few hundred years. In Brasov, home to
Bran Castle (popularly known as Dracula's Castle), a 6 story shopping mall is a
hundred feet from the train station, anchored by a huge H&M.  Back on
the train at 6:30 p.m., and at 1 a.m. the next day (November 9) the train stops
at Curtici on the Romanian border for passport checking. Hungarian time is one hour behind Romanian
time, so when we stop at the Hungarian border station of Lokoshaza, we stop
there BEFORE we leave Romania. Crazy.
Kecskemet, Hungary This city, in the geographical center of Hungary, is a city
of 100,000 most of whom work on nearby farms which benefit from water of the
Danube River and its tributaries. The town hall is beautiful!  The town itself has a number of Art Deco buildings about 100
years old. It also has re-purposed a beautiful synagogue into a
museum...since 13,000 of its Jewish citizens were sent to the concentration
camps in World War II and the remaining 8 Jews were not enough to constitute a
"Minion" -- as is known the 10 men required to hold Sabbath services
-- Our next stop was Lajosmizse, and off to see a
spectacular Puszta horse show. We were transported to and from the train by horse-drawn
wagons!  A bit of
background from the extremely thorough MIR travel agency trip notes: “On
the vast grassy Hungarian Plain, the area called the puszta – a word meaning
barren or empty – is an environment partially created over two millennia by
humans and their hers. Hungarians,
descended from the 8th century nomadic Magyars, have been
traditionally known for their brilliant horsemanship.  
ARRIVAL IN BUDAPEST at 3:30 p.m . We all knew that when we arrived in Budapest, apparently the
arrival will be a big media event... first train from Iran in decades! Did I mention that a band greeted us in Budapest, and the
Hungarian train bigwigs organized a champagne reception? First (and probably
last) time I'll have red carpet treatment like this! Thank you Danube
Express/Golden Eagle company!  Our group stayed overnight at the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace. What a beautiful place!   MORE BUDAPEST! I stayed on in Budapest for 5 extra days beyond the end of
the train trip. Having come all that
distance, why hurry home? I stayed at
the Budapest Marriott Hotel, very centrally located and with a friendly staff. This morning in the wee hours I was castigating myself for
booking these extra solo days in Budapest and was just lonely lonely
lonely. I'm sure you know that feeling. And I found the famous pastry shop, Gerbeaud Café, not far
from my hotel. I do love marzipan, and
so many of the cakes here all feature that!   An overview from the Buda side of the Danube.    BUDAPEST AT NIGHT is beautifully
illuminated always, and now all the shops near the center of town are putting
up holiday lights to make an evening walk even more perfect. This is the
exterior of St. Stephen's Basilica, where I heard a wonderful organ concert on
Friday evening, featuring Bach's Toccata, Air and Fugue in D Minor played on
the Basilica's Grand Organ. (YOU know this piece... think "Phantom of the
Opera...")  FRIDAY, Nov 15, 2014 The Hungarian State Opera House. Richard Strauss, The Woman without a Shadow. Curtains up at 6, and 3 intermissions later, down at 10. Doubt I'll make it all the way...but at $20 for a box seat lower tier, it's a great way to see this absolutely stunning building.
Orchestra
warming up...  November 16 - DAY TRIP OUT OF BUDAPEST ON
THE TRAIN:
SUNNY IN BUDAPEST AND
ENVIRONS... so I went to Szentendre. It was fun to learn how to navigate the
Budpest Metro (home of the fastest-moving escalators I've ever ridden on!) and
to experience the HED suburban train system. This little town is fairly
touristy, but charming. According to the literature, it was once the home of
Serbian immigrants, and their Serbian Orthodox Church is indeed the main
architectural feature of the town. Szentendre is 25 km north of Buda on the right bank of the Danube. I had time to do a lot of walking and poking into artisan shops, and also to sit on a bench on the banks of the Danube and watch grandparents play with their grandkids, folks walk dogs, young couples holding hands. Charming.  Still more to do in Budapest itself: Pausing for a cup of coffee away from the hubbub of The West
End, a huge 4 story shopping mall near the main train station in
Budapest. Same shops as everywhere... I think I prefer wandering
the old streets and poking into unique smaller shops, of which there are a lot
here. Not that any salesclerk or waiter ever smiles in this
country...which is disconcerting. 600,000 young professionals have left
Hungary in the past few years, the government is not popular, and the high
level corruption seems a fact. Next week there will be some big planned
demonstrations, I've been told. The populace is catalyzing around
government's effort to impose a tax on internet use. So although it is
pleasant here, and much more developed than Romania or Bulgaria, facism is lifting
up its ugly head again. I'll be curious to see what happens in the next
few years. 
And so, getting ready to go home…
One last bit of shopping, at the Great Market Hall in
Budapest. Everything is sold here: fruits, vegs, street food, carved wooden
items, embroidered items, and items items items. Of course did a bit of holiday
shopping...ahem had to buy another small suitcase to add to the
can't-fit-it-all-in collection. And thanks TripAdvisor for the photo (forgot my
camera today). Good thing I am leaving, my sales resistance weakens as a trip
gets longer.
 And so, farewell. Someday I'd like to come back to Budapest and Istanbul. Depends on the religio-politico climate, of course. The other places on the trip -- glad to have seen them -- but not so interested in hauling around in full Islamic dress again.
|
