Soon after the visit to the caves we headed back to Kermanshah, though stopping at various places on the way. Firstly to have lunch at a restaurant, where I ended up giving some gifts to a little boy who kept on looking at me as I ate.
Then, somewhere in the middle of what initially looked like nowhere till we came across a beautiful spot with relaxation carpet covered areas. These were magic moments that served as a regaining of strength period before we got on the road again.
The third and longest stop was at a village - I Saq vand, which I found fairly similar to Kandovan in terms of village display. We were first taken to a place where corpses used to be washed in the past prior to the funeral ceremonies and then just climbed up and down the narrow and steep alleys of the village, meeting and talking to people who came out to greet us, ask us questions and even give us fruit.
From a certain moment onwards we started being followed by an ever growing number of children, whom I finally gave a few baloons and gifts to before leaving. It doesn't really take much to make people happy ... a few words in Farsi, a number of genuine looks and smiles ... a gesture ...
Iranians are naturally welcoming and generous ... but villagers seem to have a rather special way of making us feel wanted ...
This rather memorable day might have ended in tragedy as we drove back to Kermanshah and were hit by a loose wheel from a car that almost forced us out of the main road. "All is well that ends well" so they say ... and it has never been truer.
