Day 4: Train to Shiraz

This is a back blip on my travels in Iran. I am aiming to complete the outstanding 5 blips before the end of the year (and to make full use of the free extra blips).

I took the train to Shiraz today.  It's a modern express which leaves at 16.20 and arrives overnight in Shiraz at 07.30. Passengers are welcomed on to the platform by a small musical ensemble, men wearing golden and red sashes. I was surprised to see the carriages mixed (men and women) but I think only to the extent of families mixing.  I was in a coupe with an older couple and their twenty-something daughter.  Another surprise. None of them spoke English.  The father and I shook hands and tried a bit of basic communication.  It was clear that the women were not invited to participate and both made a point of no eye contact. I got the impression that the daughter spoke some English but no way was she going to be able (allowed) to converse with a stranger. I noticed too that the mother kept her hajib throughout the journey although the daughter took hers off when the lights went out. The dining car was good and offered the standard fare one gets everywhere in Iran of lula kebab and yellow rice.  We stopped at a  small station around 8 o'clock as the sun was setting and people got off for evening prayers.  There were prayer rooms for men and women separately. I noticed that most people did not go off to pray and of those who did there were a lot more women than men. The trip was very pleasant, passing through the bland outer parts of Tehran, and then through the desert with the occasional irrigated patch of land. I was the only foreigner on the train.

Earlier, I took a walk through the neighbourhood in Tehran.  The extra blip is of a street concert which one sees quite often.  These feel almost medieval, a band of travelling minstrels, a somewhat quaint and old fashioned form of entertainment. There are charity boxes throughout the city (and in all cities) and it's common to see people putting money into them.  There are often quotations from the Quran on office and  factory walls about how to live a proper life (all of them have English subtitles).  "Establish prayer regularly; indeed prayer prevents man from shameful and indecent deeds".  And so on.

Day 5 tomorrow: Persepolis.