Hamadan
March 13th, 2007Click here for a slideshow from our trip to Hamadan
Where are you from?” The traffic cop asked, leaning into the window.
“America,” I answered.
“No that is not possible,” he laughed.
“They’re Italian,” a passerby offered.
My travelling companion was exhausted after driving at night behind long lines of trucks on the 2-lane highway between Tuyserkan and Hamadan. “Just tell us how to get to the Ferdosi Square,” she said.
Eventually we wandered into our hotel — what was it’s name? — on Takhti street near Ferdosi Square.
Hamadan is a more interesting place than people give it credit for. For one, the drive to it is stunning. It is easy to imagine silk road travellers coming to this amazing place in the mountains and marveling at its riches: cool summer weather, water, trees, a gentle valley. It is easy to imagine the ancient city from today’s modern city. Ancient ruins pop up in the strangest places. There is the Alavian tomb in a schoolyard. Another tomb sits next to an apartment block.
I enjoyed visiting Avicenna’s tomb. What an amazing man he was! It is thanks to our philosopher friends Joep and Yeganeh that I know even the small amount I do about Abu Sina / Avicenna.
And, of course, there is the tomb of Mordecai and Esther. I don’t even care if Esther is not buried there. The monument is still great. We had the bad luck to visit it on the Sabbath and on Purim, so the tomb itself was closed.
Many travellers go to Hamadan expecting the ancient city of Ekbatan and are, therefore, disappointed. We went with lower expectations and loved it.
Click here for a slideshow from our trip to Hamadan
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About Hamadan
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The account of a Russian spelunker about exploring caves near Hamadan
Quotes from Habakkuk
Habakkuk on Wikipedia
At one point, Angus got pulled into a discussion about world affairs with a group of men who were gathered around a tray filled with dates and “denmarki” (delicious pastries named for Denmark). “We don’t want war,” one man told him. “But if war comes, we will fight. You have to remember that when we kill in war, we are victorious. When we are killed in war, we are also victorious.”
My favorite places were the fruit juice shop where I had amazing carrot juice followed by a chaser of sweet lemon juice (not lemonade: sweet lemons are an Iranian fruit unlike any other that I have ever tasted. Its taste is unlike a Myer lemon or any other sweetish lemon that I had before visiting Iran.) and the stamp shop with the owner and his one inch long pinkie nail and the 150 year old collection of stamps.
Perhaps the biggest cliché about Iran is the truest: that it is a country of paradoxes, surprises, and contradictions. A man raises his fist into the air, shouts Down with America, and then welcomes an American into his house. A woman in a chador advocates for an end to Iran’s restrictions on women’s dress while the one in the tight jacket and barely-there scarf claims that she has no problems with the restrictions. Mullahs provide dating services and write Weblogs. A snowy day in north Tehran looks like a winter wonderland postcard. 
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Kamran Ashtary left Iran as a teenager and was gone for over twenty years before returning to his home country. He became a citizen of the Netherlands where he graduated in art from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Kamran is a graphic designer and photographer and has had work published and exhibited all over the world.
One of Kamran’s first projects after graduating from the Rietveld was the Children’s Photography Project. In conjunction with the New York Transit Museum, Kamran led and organized the photography workshops for children from the nearby Gowanus housing projects. The project was featured on CNN and the Japanese news network NHK and was covered by several New York City newspapers. The children’s work was publicly exhibited to more than 100,000 people.
Tori Egherman is an American who lived in Iran for more than three years. She has authored a number of articles on a wide variety of topics from the 
Ashtary Design is a group of designers, project managers, writers, and researchers that offers marketing and branding services. 
