Isaac and I set to Abyaneh fairly early in the morning. Considered a 2,500 year old village with a clearly preserved culture Abyaneh with its ochre multi-story structures made of clay made an impact on me because mainly because it looked inhabitted. It was particularly warm so I believe people just came out whenever strictly necessary.
We wandered around its narrow alleys in which I was especially fascinated by the balconies and the way they had beeen built into the mud, brick, clay and wooded houses. The flowery shawls of the ladies reminded me of some of the ones worn by old people in some remote Portuguese villages and despite knowing I was in Iran there were moments in which I felt as if I were at home.
We stopped briefly at the Ziarat shrine which provided us with some much deserved shade. There was a sense of quietness as I looked up onto the Holy Quran poems and inscriptions of historical accounts carved on the wooden planks, despite not being able to read any of them. I really apreciated these moments and when it was time to move on I felt like glueing myself to its patio floor, where there's a relatively large pool, around which water from the Doabi spring circulates.
We then walked a little further into the Ziyaratgah neighbourhood before heading back to the village by a different lane. Some small details, such as the paintings above the entrance of the Khanqah, said to be a building designed specifically for gatherings of the Sufi brotherhood, caught my attention but we didn't stop for long as the heat was starting to be unbearable. This was one of the reasons as to why I didn't make it to the forts.
Our visit to the village ended with a very simple yet good lunch at an ancient water mill turned into restaurant.
