Abyaneh

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  Abyaneh, Iran
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

I had a difficult day when I visited Abyaneh. It is not easy to get to this mountain village and I had to hire a taxi to take me there; after struggling to make a deal about the price and destination - mostly due to the language barrier - we finally set off. It was about 1 hour drive from Kashan and on the way I saw the polemic Iranian Nuclear Facilities beside the not-so-busy highway in the middle of nowhere. It was quite exciting to be able to see with my own eyes something that the whole world is talking about. The site is not impressive - just a group of 2 storey buildings in arid lands. One thing was clear though: very restricted access area indeed. I could see many huge machine guns all around the place + they bulldozed lots of earth to form a barrier around the complex. By the time we reached the village it started raining! + the taxi driver kept asking for lunch and kind of invited himself to have lunch with me > this got me in a very bad mood! Some type of Iranians can be pushy too! Nevertheless, in Iran people are so kind that I find it hard to be rude to them. I ended up paying for his lunch. Anyway, Abyaneh is a very nice and picturesque village, surrounded by beautiful mountains. The only downfall is that not many young people want to live there, so all you see are very old folks and the crumbling houses. There does not seem to be many people willing to live and preserve the place, so the old town does not have a very good atmosphere. Very different from the same-sort-of-place Masouleh, where I found a lively and friendly community.
While walking on the streets of Abyaneh I was approached by a group of teenage girls from Esfahan (all about 17 years old) who wanted to practice their English (and flirt too). They all wanted to take a picture with me and find out if I had a girlfriend, how old I was, etc. I thought it could be a good opportunity for me to get a free lift to Esfahan and also get rid of the much disliked pushy taxi driver. So, I asked if I could join them on their way back and, after an unanimous request to the head teacher, I ended up going in their bus! Me again in the middle of many over excited young girls! I am getting used to feeling like a pop star by now. After many questions answered, e mails exchanged and pictures taken I arrived in Esfahan. Thanks girls!

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Artist	Car and houses in Abyaneh	Corner	Fallen board
Houses and mountain	Houses of Abyaneh	Kids playing with candy and ants	Kids playing with candy and ants I
Ladies in traditional clothes	Man and his dunkey	My friends from Esfahan	Overview of Abyaneh
Road to Esfahan	Ruins and mountains	Small angry lady	Street in Abyaneh
The bus that took me to Esfahan	Two teenage girls visiting...	Woman on the way to see her goat

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