Isfahan

Another late posting.  I took over 400 images in Isfahan and the time needed to sift and sort the images, in between the distractions of real life, has meant that it's taken a year to get around to completing this series of blips.

This image is taken in the Madrasah-ye Chahar Bagh, one of Isfahan's theological colleges, a structure dating back to the 16th century.  It was built by a Safavid king, Soltan Hossein, whose mother ran a caravansary (hotel), the income of which went to finance the theological school (it's now the Abbasi Hotel, one of the swankiest hotels in Isfahan and a favourite of the shah).

The extra images are mostly on the train journey back to Tehran.  It's a modern express service ("The Negin VIP Train") which takes 7 hours to Tehran.  We stopped at at about 8 o'clock once the sun has gone down.  Those who wanted to, got off the train and went into a special hall to pray.  I noticed there were more women than men and that no more than about 30% of the passengers too part.