Day 120 to Tabriz, Iran, 68km, 9,956 to date,482m up,  1315m end. 

Again an easy day, a bit of climbing then a wonderful descent.  We can tell that Fall is not far away, the days, particularly the early morning are getting quite cool, a nice relief from what have been extremely hot days.

The more I learn about women in Iran the more confused I get.  Iran is an absolutely gender neutral country when it comes to education, i.e. everything is open to women, based on ability.  In fact 62% of University enrolment is women.  Women in Iran have one of the highest literacy rates in the world (94% I believe).  

The education system in Iran is very similar to Canada, there are public and private schools, with the majority of students going to the public schools.  The public schools are free, the private schools are expensive.  University involves tuition fees, but most of the bright students get full scholarships. 

Talking to Iranians, the view is that, yes we have the Mullah’s dictating that women shall be covered in public etc.,  but other than that, things are good.  It’s actually not that bad a thing.  Also, the gov’t (Mullah’s) have kept us out of armed conflicts, something that the populace definitely likes.  Considering all the neighbours around Iran, staying out of any war is a major accomplishment.  Yes, Iran is a leading and successful fighter of ISIS.  The attitude seems to be that things will change (re women), just give it time, also there are more important things to worry about.  Also, many consider the full covering for women as a safety factor, women are considered precious and should be protected - this was coming from a woman.

Something I have noticed is the lack of music in the streets, very different from all the “stans”, something else that the Mullah’s are blamed for.

Another example of the generosity of Iranians:  At lunch today, a small pickup truck comes up and beckons us over - in the front seat an older gentleman with his walking stick, shotgun and a bag of freshly picked pears.  He gives us the bag of pears.

An interesting elevator in the hotel.  When the elevator gets to a floor it simply stops, no signal or any other indicator that it has arrived, it simply stops rising or falling.  You have to open the door yourself.  All of us have stood looking at the door waiting for it to open…

We are seeing a fair number of unfinished buildings with no work happening.  What is happening is that people are using property as a way to park their money, i.e. like having gold, but harder for the government to get their hands on.

Some pics from around Tabriz

This gate is from 1200AD and called the Arg-e Tabriz or Ark of Tabriz.  Convicted criminals were thrown off the top to their death - interesting entertainment for the masses…

The new mosque - it is capable of holding 1,000,000 people

This is the municipal hall, dates from 1939, the German architecture shows.

The Tabriz Bazar is another major Bazar, some 12 km of pathways.  There was some amazing jewelry there, $2,000 would buy one some beautiful one off designs.  There are 5 carpet sections within the Bazar, probably the best place in the world to buy handmade wool, cotton or silk carpets.

This is the blue mosque, (it was blue when it was "new"), built in 1465 it was heavily damaged by a major earthquake in 1779, only some of the “blue" remains:

 Not sure if I should have taken this picture, but inside a mosque at the Bazar: