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November
19, 1999
This is
Jeff Okubo and today we traveled from Shiraz, Iran to Esfahan, Iran.
Since we
have tour guides we have once again gone from following our own schedule
to following a schedule dictated by our tour guide. Our guides Kamran and
Ali Rheza have realized we are not traveling in the fastest vehicles.
Therefore there is less time for lollygaging. In other words, a more
stringent schedule is required in order to see everything they have set
out for us to see. Kamran is from Pasargad Tour company and he is a great
guide, very enthusiastic knowledgeable, and best of all very proud of
Iran. We hired Pasargad because pretty much we had to. If five Americans
and a Canadian apply for visas to this country there is a strong
possibility that one of us will be denied. A reason for denial isn't
supplied either but it happens quite often. Back when we were planning
our route we decided that despite all the warnings we wanted to travel
through this country. But if one of us was denied a visa it meant that
all of us would have to find another way. One way to significantly
increase your odds of obtaining that visa is to hire a government
sponsored tour company. So our token Canadian mate Earle did some
excellent research and found Pasargad. In fact, once we arrived in Iran
we learned that we hired the same company that Philip Young used during
the scouting mission for the 1997 Peking to Paris Rally.
Like I
said, many people advised us to avoid Iran. They said to change or remove
our license plates and to beware the bearded ones. That's the name given
to anyone in this country with a long beard. They are extremist Muslims
who do not want Americans in their country.
When I am
traveling or at home I always enjoy talking to people from other
countries, it offers me a perspective on my own country as well as unique
insight to another country. We all suffer from egocentrism; chains that I
try to break as often as I can, even though this is not as often as I
believe is necessary for good understanding. A person of a different
experience, or homeland is a wealth of information, and most often has a
point of view that I have not yet thought from, or an experience, I can
only imagine at best.
Pasargad
Tours strongly suggested not missing the city of Shiraz. Although it was
a days drive out of our way, our friends convinced us that we shouldn't
miss this. Thus we are here today.
After the
usual morning routine we were off. Our guide was driving a Mitsubishi
Pujero and it needed an oil change so we stopped about twenty minutes out
of Shiraz for quick change. While the mechanics were working on his
vehicle we noticed a green Land Rover 109 soft-top pickup nearby and went
to have a look. Under the hood it had a six cylinder diesel engine which
Nick had not seen before. The owner soon came to meet us. We exchanged
looks at his vehicle then together we walked back to our Rovers and
exchanged a bit more. He wanted to know the age of our vehicles so we
reported the ages. He reacted with amazement. “There are a lof of Land Rover
in Iran” he said.
Back on the
road we drove for another thirty minutes and arrived at the runs of
Persepolis. None of us were quite sure what the Persepolis was, but we
knew it was a premiere attraction in Iran. We parked the Rovers and
walked up to the foot of an enormous wall. A man asked us if we wanted a
guide, but Kamran politely informed him that this was his job.
Kamran
started us out with some history of this place. It was built 2500 years
ago and was the home to King Darius and later Xerxes. I snapped to
attention, Darius, the King that was fabled to have thrown Daniel into
the Lions den? I just had to ask if the lion den was around, but this
comment was ignored, and conversation moved on to other periods.
I don't
know why it took me so long to realize or put two and two together, but I
suddenly realized I was walking around a biblical place as ancient
Persia, which is often mentioned in the bible. My traveling experience
was reaching new extremes. Even though I knew theoretically that ancient
Persia was Iran, and this was a major power in the days of ancient
Israel, and was alluded to many times in the Bible, I suddenly realized
where I was and things began to make sense. The other day while looking
on the map I saw a city on the coast of the Persian Gulf named Ninevah,
or a close derivative of that. That was the city where Jonah was
traveling to, directly disobeying God, when he was thrown over board and
swallowed by the whale. Wow, this was more amazing than I had
anticipated. I was raised with a church background, and that sixth grade
play where I portrayed King Darius made a full swing back and nicked me
when I least expected it.
On with
more history. This was also, in later years than Darius, the home of
Xerxes the famed Persian commander that waged war against ancient Greece.
The war was described by a Greek historian, Herodotus who wrote about the
two Greek Persian wars? In fact, Alexander the Great had his troops burn
Persepolis in retribution for Athens which was sacked by the Persians.
After this
background we climbed the ancient steps to where the Palace once stood.
Although most of the once regal palace has given way to time and the
elements, enough was left standing to enable us to merge imagination with
reality. We saw lions and other figures carved from stone and standing
within the walls and columns as we toured the clearly laid out halls of
the palace. The walls were no longer there as was the roof, but the floor
plan, although worn away clearly spoke the map of the place.
It is a
marvelous experience to walk through a 2500-year-old world, especially
since, it seemed somewhat familiar given my church background. I had
often imagined places such as these during long sermons and Sunday school
sessions.
As we
toured the grounds that stood like a footstool to the steep carved
mountains in the background, we ran into a class of university students.
Shiraz is noted in Iran having the premiere university in the country so
I guess this was not unexpected but I was a pleasantly surprised. Much to
the delight of the team these were University women who were studying
English. There was no apparent shyness as they approached everyone in our
group, trying out their English and it was very good. They were all
clothed in black Chadors but their eyes were radiant with questions.
They were
escorted by old men who attempted to mind their distance as well as their
questions, but a chaperone can only do so much to quell a strong
curiosity. We all were asked different questions, "What do Americans
think of Iran?" "What books are you reading?" "What
is America like?" "Do you like Iran?" What is your
favorite thing about Iran?" and, "Can I take a picture with
you?"
Taking
pictures was an odd experience, as the young women had to keep their
distance from men as well as stand behind them. Not realizing this at the
time, I went with my cultural default settings and tried to get everyone
close so the photographer would not have to stand at such a distance. I
also tried to stand back so we would appear much more like a group than
an arrow, but every time I took a step back, so would the whole group.
Many people
talked of their relatives who were either living in America or had
studied there. I even met a woman whose father studied in San Jose,
California. This was a truly wonderful experience, and if it hadn't been
for our guides and theirs, we would have spent the entire day there
talking with them.
Kamran
rounded us up and escorted us out, claiming we had a long way to go
before our destination of Esfahan so we begrudgingly left this majestic
place.
The days
drive sent us on a course through the Zagros Mountains, a course that
turned this unusually eastbound journey north. The mountains mark a
seismic weak point in the earth's crust, and are the offspring of what
was once a flat region. The rocky landscape is evidence to this violent
past. The Rovers struggled up and down through the arid curvy roads.
This was
the first time that we felt the slow pace of the vehicles, as we were now
on roads where you could exceed fifty miles an hour. Until now we had not
yet realized that these vehicles were so slow, as we never had the
opportunity to speed down the road. Cognizant that we needed to keep the
pace at a decent clip, Jeff used the downhill momentum to pass slower
vehicles that stood in his way. Unfortunately one of the vehicles he
passed, in a no passing zone, was an Iranian police car. Our convoy was
quickly pulled over, and the policeman stared at Jeff in dismay and, in
perfect Farsi, he asked for Jeff's license. Kamran, the nervous type,
erupted out of his car to intercede. The officer was relieved that he
could talk to someone after seeing Jeff's California Drivers license,
written in an alphabet and a language he did not understand. Kamran
explained that he we were visitors to this country and reminded the
officer that visitors should be treated well. In the end Jeff got off the
hook with a couple smiles and small tour of the vehicle, and we were soon
on our way.
There was
not much traffic, and pretty much any traffic on the road passed us
anyway, so we had a nice leisurely drive to Esfahan stopping on the
outskirts only for gas where we were rushed through the gas station line.
A man at the gas station asked Nick where he was from and when he said,
America the man told him it was dangerous for us to be in Iran. You could
tell he didn't know how to react to this encounter but the moment Nick
brought their conversation down to an individual level he instantly let
his guard down and told him that he hopes his country and our country
have good relations in the future. We do too. Who knows, maybe after a
few more seemingly insignificant exchanges like this we will. This is
Jeff Okbuo, signing off.
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