It was an interesting busride to Kashan since we met some nice Persians who were curious to know who we were and where we came from. We talked about our backgrounds, why we came to Iran, about politics, etc. ( However you should be cautious talking about politics in public. Sometimes I forgot about that when caught up in a discussion). When we arrived in Kashan, we took our goodbyes after they helped us getting a cab to our hotel. Our taxidriver was hyper, pushy, annoying but yet still very helpful and friendly. He immediately offered us all kind of touring possibilities, sightseeing in Kashan and suggested to bring us to another guesthouse since the hotel we had chosen was very expensive (lonely planet said the same, but since there are not many possibilities in Kashan we had no choice). We gratefully accepted his offer since that would suit our daybudget much better. He asked all kind of things, but since our Dari sucks and our Farsi sucks even more, we had difficulty understanding what he was saying. The funny thing was that Farhang said yes to everything despite of not knowing what he was hearing! The taxidriver invited us to his home for example in case we didn’t like the guesthouse, Farhang said yes. I had to correct because he didn’t understand what the taxidriver was suggesting. After that the taxidriver offered buying us icecreams and since Farhang didn’t know that ‘bastani’ means ‘ice-cream’ he agreed to that as well. I remember having difficulty not laughing. I corrected again, but he insisted buying us ice-creams anyway so we just let him and thanked him for his nice gesture. We finally reached our guesthouse and it seemed pretty okay. The taxidriver didn’t want to accept money, since he wanted to make sure we would call him back in the morning for some sightseeing. He promised to make a good price for driving us around the whole day. We really didn’t want it, but it was so difficult refusing him so we just took his number in case we wanted to go sightseeing with him the next day. Shortly after that we met the guesthouse owners to ask about eating possibilities. They offered to drive us to a near restaurant and ordered some good dishes for us which was really nice. It was sort of a courtyard where you could sit on your knees on small platforms with huge cushions on the sides. There was also this big fountain in the middle and the whole place had a mix of persian/marrocan atmosphere which was really cool. After dinner we walked back to our guesthouse (we figured out that walking back that late in the night wasn’t a problem at all, we didn’t encounter any dangerous situations but I suggest you should be precautious when you’re alone just like you’d be in any other place on earth) and started to chat with the hotel hosts again. One of the hosts, Farshad, was quite extraordinary. He was obsessed with all kinds of magic; from teleporting and flying to his theories of multiple dimensions of life and imagination. Let’s just say it was a very strange but interesting talk which lasted till early hours in the morning.
The next morning we made a plan for sightseeing in Kashan and decided to see the Bagh-e-Fin, some traditional houses (where also one of the guesthouse owners was working so he could arrange discount for us) and at last go to Kashan’s historic Bazaar at the end of the evening. The guesthouse owners advised us to call the cabdriver since he had promised us a good price, but when he arrived he asked quite much for the whole day so we just asked him to bring us to the Bagh-e-Fin and drop us off near the traditional houses so we could pay him and get rid of him. He kept repeating the whole time that he had been waiting the whole day for our call, denying all other clients, blabla… just to make us feel guilty about his ‘loss’. He brought us to Bagh-e-fin, bought tickets for us (always ask a local/guide to purchase tickets for you since there is a big difference in entrance prices for Persians themselves and for tourists). He would wait until we were done with Bagh-e-fin. The garden and the hammam complex were beautiful (the museum was closed though unfortunately) and we walked around for a while to appreciate the amazing architecture we were surrounded by; When we walked outside, the taxidriver was gone. We waited for him for almost half an hour and even called him. When he didn’t show up, we just took the bus back (with the help of some very nice locals) towards the traditional houses. The taxidriver would probably come to the guesthouse in the evening for his money. But while walking towards the Khan-e Tabatabei we encounter the taxidriver yet again calling Farhang’s name. Why god why?! We then decided to just pay him and make clear we didn’t want his help anymore. He tried to justify why he was gone, but we were done. At the Khan-e Tabatabei I put up my best Farsi accent to get the Persian rates for the entrance but I failed hard. We had some discussion about the price and I even mentioned the name of the guesthouse owner, but unfortunately he had already left (we were a bit late). So we walked further to Hammam-e Sultan Mir Ahmad to try it over there, but they had already called the person behind the ticket counter that we would probably try it over there as well. So he asked us immediately why we didn’t buy our tickets at Khan-e Tabatabei; Busted haha. I think he kind of felt sorry for us at a certain point so decided to give us some discount after all for both the places. The traditional house and the hamam were really very pretty so definitely worth the watch! It had gotten late already so we walked to Kashan’s famous Bazar. We liked it much more than the Tehran Bazar, since it was not that hectic and had a more laidback atmosphere. Still big enough though to buy any necessities from food to clothing to houshold stuff and anything else you need! We finished our day with awesome local food before we headed back to our guesthouse.
Recommendation? Yes! The city is an oasis on the edge of the desert Dasht-e Kavir with its atmospheric bazar and beautiful ancient houses full of history. The people you’ll meet here are remarkably nice (exceptions like our taxidriver excluded though) with whom you can chat for hours. A nice time guaranteed!
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