Day 4.

After going for a run through the tree lined streets of Isfahan, we headed down to the square again to check out the Imam Mosque, since it was closed the day before. Outside there was a concert underway, with lots of school kids.


The mosque was undergoing refurbishment and was covered in scaffolding.


Inside they had built a big mould with which to organise and layout the newly refurbished coloured tiles which will go on top of the dome.


Stonecutters cutting the intricate shapes of the individual tile patterns.


Stopping to get some Gaz, a candy from Isfahan made from nougat and pistachio nuts.


Back in the Peugeot again for the journey north. The terrain wasn't quite desert, with some green scrub and rocky mountains.


On the road to the mountain village of Abyaneh. On the side of the road we saw a few anti-aircraft batteries, as we were getting close to the Natanz Underground Uranium Enrichment Facility. Unfortunately I wasn't foolish enough to take photo's of the facility as we drove past the entrance.


All the buildings in the Abyaneh were a rusty, red colour.


Abyunaki woman typically wear a white long scarf (left) and baggy pants for the men (right).


Some sub-terrean homes.


We then drove on to Kashan, a city of ~300,000, and stopped for lunch.


Bagh-e Fin in Kashan, where Amir Kabir, "Iran's first reformer", was killed on order of the King.


Tabātabāei House, built in the 1880's.


With beautiful stained glass windows.


Agha Bozorg Mosque.


We then headed north again, stopping off at a rest stop about 100k's south of Tehran.


At the toll gate about to head into Tehran.


The tomb of Imam Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution in southern Tehran.


At the Ferdowsi Grand Hotel, our final stop for the day in central Tehran.