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It took us a couple of hours to reach the Nomads. We travelled through some really barren land before finally reaching our destination. As soon as we pulled up to the camp a group of children ran to greet us all shouting "hello, hello!" The only English they know. Because of my blonde hair I'm attracting a lot of attention and the kids were no exception. They surrounded me and bombarded me with questions in Farsi. As all I've learnt to say in Farsi is hello, thank you, how are you and what is your name it was a pretty short conversation. They showed us their school, which is just a tent with the Iranian flag at the top, which differentiates it from all the other tents. One lady invited us to watch her making and baking bread, whilst another invited us in to her tent for tea. We all sat around cross legged on the tent floor while she made us some cinnamon tea. We were soon joined by the children and some of the other Nomad women. Through Mustafa we were able to communicate and find out about the harsh conditions living as a Nomad. Zara who was 10 asked if I had a map of England so I could show here where the English nomads lived. She found it very hard to believe that we didn't have any Nomads in England asking the question but who looks after the goats? She has a point who does look after the goats?!
The Nomadic men were out with the goats when we visited and as the women weren't sure when they would be back we headed to a nearby village to spend the night at a homestay. We were welcomed by the family which consisted of the father, who comes from a nomadic background but 30 years ago he decided to put down some roots and became a lecturer at the University and is now retired. The mother, who is a housewife and has 7 children (5 girls and 2 boys) and finally the youngest son who is 27 and studying Tourism at University. The mother wore an amazing dress, which is the traditional costume of the Nomads. It had a massive skirt, like a ball-gown and was covered in beautiful embroidery. She cooked the most amazing meal of Iranian rice, freshly baked bread, Aubergine stew, herb stew with beans, fresh rainbow trout, chicken and of course the obligatory lamb kebab. We sat crossed legged on the floor eating with our fingers and scooping the stews up with the bread - it was one of the best meals I've ever had. Through their son and Mustafa they asked us many questions about our thoughts on Iran, our countries, what we do for a living, our families - it was such a lovely evening. We then headed outside to sit round a camp fire. We listened to poems spoken in Farsi and tales of Iranian history as well as trying to smoke the Shisha pipe. Then at about 1am we rolled out our beds on the floor where we had eaten and tried to get to sleep.
At 7am I woke up and went outside to watch the mother making and baking bread. I was roped in to make some bread and I soon realised that it's not as easy as it looks. The nomads believe that as soon as a young girl can make bread she is ready for marriage. Whilst the mother was polite she did say she could see why I don't have a husband!
Once the bread was baked we headed up to the roof of the house to enjoy an amazing home cooked breakfast. There was homemade jam, honey, bread, eggs fresh from the chickens and saffron tea. We watched the sunrise and had the most amazing views of the mountains that surrounded us. I could have quite happily stayed there whiling away the hours.
Instead we got back on the minibus and headed to Eqlid. Eqlid was meant to be just a transit stop for one night but it turned out to be so much more than that. There is a beautiful park set on a hill where locals go in the evening to catch up with friends and family. They take a picnic and spend many hours up there. We walked up the hill carrying pots of tea, boxes of biscuits and fruit. We set up camp and began to enjoy the view. The next thing we were surrounded by locals all asking us why we were in Eqlid, where we were from and trying to give us food. Gabrielle and I spoke to a group of at least 20 women who wanted their photo taken with us, wanted to feed us and asked LOTS of questions about England and Australia. We spent a couple of hours talking about our different cultures and eating some really good food (as you can see food is a really big part of the Iranian culture and it is so good). Then as the sunset over the city we headed back to the hotel.
- comments
Jioan Sounds like you are having an amazing time, every bit as good as you thought it would be. Looking forward to hearing all about it when we both get back off our holidays.
Maureen Grimwood Oh Sarah, you bring it all to life - can't wait for the next instalment!