Golnoosh and I get up early and walk through the quiet park to the Chel Sotoon palace. In front of the palace are 20 columns (sotoon), but when you see them reflected in the rectangular pond it looks like there are 40 (chel), hence the name. We arrive when the palace opens and there are only few people. We can quietly enjoy the splendid murals in the building. Later that morning the four of us go sightseeing by private cab. We start with the Armenian Church and then head off the to Zoroastrian temple. Zoroastrian temples are hard to find in the cities because they are hidden from sight by high walls. They offer a quiet spot where you can take off your scarf and feel the wind in your hair. Inside the prayer building there is always a fire (atesh) and therefore such temples are also referred to as atesh gadeh. Men wear a white cap and women put a white napkin on their heads, which are provided at the entrance. Next our cab takes us to the ‘shaking minarets’ just outside of town. This building is famous because it is constructed in such a way that when someone shakes one of the two minarets from the inside, the other minarets will shake as well. We arrive just in time and join the large crowd that has assembled to watch the spectacle. After the ‘performance’ it starts to rain and it doesn’t stop anymore for the rest of the day. The cab drives along a barren hill with on top the ruin of a structure that used to serve as a place to leave the dead for the ancient Zoroastrians. In the old days the dead were not buried because the earth was considered too sacred to pollute with dead bodies. We have lunch in an outdoor restaurant on a carpet-covered podium under a plastic awning. Rain falls hard as we enjoy long skewers of kabob between large flat breads.

In the afternoon we visit the monuments around the Naakhs-e-jahan (view of the world) Square, now officially called Imam Khomeiny Square. The Ali Ghapou Palace, with its high porch from which you can have a ‘view of the world’ has a beautiful music room on the top floor. It is still raining but fortunately we are sheltered from the rain in the bazaar (shopping center), which surrounds the entire square. The Imam Mosque in a corner of the square is impressive with all its turquoise tilework. We end up in a cozy underground chai khane (teahouse). While we drink small glasses of tea sweetened with yellow rock sugar and smoke a water pipe we gape at the enormous collection of knickknacks that is on display on the walls and along the ceiling.

Tea with a water pipe is a wonderful way to relax so around midnight we visit the teahouse underneath two of 33 arches of the 33 Arches Bridge for another round. The river runs through the teahouse.