Nothing beats a good stew on a cold day. And today was no exception. Waking up its not the hottest out, and the sun wont make an appearance for many many hours due to the parking location. So its coffee and go today. Pina completes our prestart and gives us the tick of approval and we are off!
Stop number 1: Ezzatullah Khan mansion, a set of ruins just up from where we camped for the night. Not much history to be found on this. There is a good chance it is older than the length Canada has been a country.
We started in a dry and dusty area but with in 40 minutes we are back in the snow and white out conditions. We are doing some side tracking today, and end up heading for a small town called Sa’dal where there is a Tomb to visit, for us it is closed due to winter still, but we are able to view the outside at least, the tomb belongs to Seyed Sadr-edin and is related to the battle between the Ottoman empire and Iran in 1514.
Moving on we now head for a very very early Christian church, carved into the caves. It has been defaced sadly, which is what you find happens in any country as the country’s religion is changed. But that is how history rolls. We struggle for a big to find it, and upon arriving have a river crossing in front, we try about 3 different spots looking for an easier route, so into the water it is. Easy as. A small hike through the snow leads us to the small church. It is neat to see and a good stop to stretch the legs. It may be snowing but its not to overly cold out today.
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- Judging the area for crossing
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- hunting
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- inside the church
Being cold means one thing, hot food, we head into Khoy looking for the stone gate, it’s a bit of a flop, but that’s okay cause we are right next to the bazar and grab ourselves some gloves and toques. It is freezing here. This town is famous for Dizi, which is a type of stew made slowly in individual pots. And of course, we try it, take a ton of photos as well. Try it if you get the chance.
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- The Stone gate
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- Inside the Bazar
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- Lunch time
On our way to our final destination we see the stone inscriptions of Khan Takhti
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- Great views from up here as well
Back in the car we are headed for Urmia to stock up and meet some friends for dinner. This city is busy, and the salt lake is almost dry. A double whammy. With everything we need in the car we push through traffic out to a place called band, along this strip of roads are all the restaurants you could dream of. I get a kebab made of chicken and meat. Honestly, life changing.
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- Ughhhh….
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- Delicious
We push on into the dark, which we hate doing, to the dam down the road and setup camp on the flats. Its snowing again. We are approached by a guy who comes from a car parked about 100 meters away, a bit panicked but all he wants is a lighter for a ciggy. Easy enough. The cat did not like this area until we were in and was trying to push his way out of the tent. We figure maybe from the smell of all the dogs? Who knows.
