Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Unpacking Continues: Bam, Iran

I came across a photo CD of images from my 1998 overland truck trip from Kathmandu to Damascus.

This trip went through Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. I was on an overland truck with 8 people.

During the Iran section, we visited the mud brick city of Bam. The Bam Citadel was about 2,000 years old, standing tall above the ancient city. We walked around the walls and listened to a guide's lecture. My mind wandered and I ended up talking to the guide's son about the illegal satellite dish his friend had, and about Batman.

Sadly, Bam was destroyed in the tragic 2003 earthquake which killed around 30,000 people. Officials are determined to rebuild it, but at the moment it is a pile of rubble.

1 comment:

Marie Javins said...

Aunt Peggy's computer is acting up so she couldn't post this, but emailed it to me:

The image that sticks with this longtime fan of Marie's travels is a different story from your travels in Iran. Marie, you said that the Iranian people were SO welcoming and their warmth. After your visit to Pakistan where you didn't even see any women, in Iran you found women driving trucks and doing all manner of traditionally manly jobs (because, a whole generation of young men had been decimated by the Iran-Iraq war). The story I most remember is how the Iranian women were so eager to tell you how much they like Americans, lifting the hems of their robes up to show you their prized American blue jeans underneath.