Qom the most important religious city in Iran after Mashhad and visiting this holy city is considered a kind of pilgrimage for a lot of Iranians, who come here to pay tribute to the shrine of Fatimah, the 8th Imam Reza’s sister. The city is the largest center for Shiaa scholarship in the world, very similar to Al-Azhar for Sunnah in Egypt. And although there aren’t many non-religious tourists here, free tours of the complex are available and it was interesting to see the tour guide’s reaction when I told him I’m originally Egyptian. Whereas people in Tehran were excited because one of Egypt’s Presidents was a good friend of their beloved Shah, here in Qom the guide was extremely happy to meet someone from the same country as some of his favorite Quran reciters.
Of course, whenever you have a large gathering of people, a business idea to capitalize on the situation will quickly materialize. In the case of Qom it’s a brittle caramel/toffee like sweet candy called Sohan and sold in a variety of shapes, sizes, flavors and qualities. And it really is everywhere you look, so much so, that if you don’t bring back some Suhan with you, then you haven’t been to Qom!
Once in Kashan, things get more relaxed again and more tourists can be found. Kashan is a small town famous for its old but well preserved traditional houses. It’s also the gateway to the rose water region, where they grow fields and fields of roses and make rose water for the entire country to be used mainly in drinks and pastries. Unfortunately the rose water season started a month later, so I couldn’t experience it. Maybe next time.
As soon as you arrive in Qom you can tell that it has a religious significance.
And as you follow the crowds, you get a glimpse of the huge complex awaiting you.
Along the way, you can’t miss the sweets on offer to the left and right of you.
The level of details inside the complex is very impressive of course.
And the gold dome and minaret tops make sure you know, just how important this complex is.
The hostel in Kashan was originally one of the traditional houses.
This is the set up they use to make rose water here. The rose petals are boiled with some water below the big bell-like cover and the incense resulting goes through the pipe in to the pot, which is surrounded by cold water and so the infused fragrance is liquified, which then becomes the rose water.
And it’s not unusual to find these rose water “factories” in the older traditional houses of this region.
The doors of the older houses in Iran are also very special. They introduced two knockers, which make different sounds, so the people inside can know if it’s a woman or a man knocking at the door.
The Iranians love their pop-corn!
Kashan’s Fin Park is a beautiful place to spend the afternoon.
And if you want to make a day trip out of it, you can also camp in the parking lot. In fact Iranians love camping so much, that some parks have signs forbidding camping.
Snow capped mountains in the background and a simple shrine on the way back from Fin garden.
Out of no where.
Don’t be fooled by the star on the front of the bus or the lions on a lot of the cars in Iran. Most of them are copies fully manufactured in Iran by their local automaker Iran Khodro.
What I also liked about Kashan is how they included their old historic city walls in today’s modern city like here at the park.
So it’s not unusual that you find yourself walking through the old historic city on your way to work or school.
And just behind the city walls are green fields still used for agriculture today.