I had to get up early on Wednesday 19th April because Mojtaba went to work. He dropped me at a hostel where I met Kynsley and his friend Mohammad who was 29 and he was from the Borujerd city. Mohammad accompanied us for the rest of our trip in Iran all the way down to the Persian gulf. He didn't speak English well and he answered yes to all my questions. At first I was glad that he agreed with everything what I said but after some time I became suspicious. Then I thought it was very funny and I asked him questions like: "Do you want that Kynsley leaves you a negative reference on couchsurfing?" Mohammad got a nickname Yes-man, but when he became aware that we were mocking him he stopped answering yes and he asked if he didn't understand.
We left the hostel and walked to the Hasht Behesht Palace, but it didn't look interesting from outside and the entrance fee was 200 000 rials which we found expensive and we didn't go there.

We walked on and we saw girls in traditional clothes. Their teacher agreed that we took a photo with them.

We went to the Naqsh-e Jahan Square which is one of the largest squares in Iran. Young women were paiting there.

We entered the Shah Mosque. We bought 3 Iranian tickets. Kynsley is from India and his skin is quite dark but he could get away with claiming that he was from the south of Iran. Mohammad said that I was his wife and we also got away with it.

The Shah Mosque is an excellent example of the Islamic era architecture. The ornamentation is very traditional and it is decorated in a blue colour. The acoustic properties at the central point under the dome enable the sound to reflect very well and everything can be heard. There was a man singing in the mosque and people listened to him. Mohammad was also a good singer and he sang often while we were visiting the city. His voice was melodious and strong. I will upload a video of him singing.
When we left the Shah Mosque we walked again in the square and we took a photo of the waterpool and the fountain.

On the way out of the square there was a bazaar. I bought a skirt there in one shop. I asked Mohammad to bargain but they didn't even want to hear about it so I had to pay a full price.
Then we decided to go to the Fire Temple. We bought a pie filled with meat and also golab.

I drank it in the bus on our way. We got to the Zoroastrian fire temple in half an hour. The way up the temple is very steep and we had to climb rocks to get on the top. There was noone around and it was safe to remove the scarf. It was hot but very windy.

When we were exiting the temple Mohammad only said: 'hijab' and I put it back on. There was a park nearby where we drank water. There was a meeting of disabled people who were lying on a blanket and there were wheelchairs around. They tried to talk to me but we didn't understand each other and Mohammad had to translate. 

In the afternoon we returned to the city center and we visited Vank Cathedral. There was a group of school boys going inside and Kynsley mixed into them and entered for free. I entered again with an Iranian ticket as Mohammad's wife :).

The interior of the cathedral is covered with frescos and gilded carvings. There is a depiction of the Heaven, Earth and Hell inside the Holy Savior Cathedral. In the courtyard there is a belfry and we visited the Museum of Khachatur Kesaratsi which is the museum of Armenian culture.
While we were visiting the museum Kynsley told me that for the first time in his life he was getting tired from travelling after having visited 50 countries already. I can understand it but there are still many countries that I want to visit.
Later in the afternoon we walked by the river again and then we were found a local restaurant where we could eat Beryani. The restaurant was empty when we got there and it was hot inside so I removed my scarf. Then some people entered including an elderly woman who sat at the table across the room. She smiled at me and beckoned me but she looked very astonished. After 15 minutes she showed me that I should put my headscarf on, so I washed my hands and I put it on because I didn't want to make any conflicts.

When we went out the owner of the restaurant asked me if Beryani was good. I answered that yes but hijab was not good and he laughed.
In the evening we walked in the streets and Kynsley asked me to remove my hijab for 5 minutes. I said that he had my permission to take it off and he did that but he got scared immediately and told me it would be better to wear it. I will cite his status on facebook because he described it very well:

"Had a bit of fun in Iran today. Anna challenged me to pull off her hijab (headscarf - mandatory for all women including tourists to wear outside the home). I pulled it off and she ran off while I chased her through the streets of Ishfahan. In those brief moments, we got so much attention, OMG! People started cheering and laughing. It was like a scene from a Bollywood movie. Later, our Iranian friends who were with us translated the cheers from the crowds. They said people appreciated it and kept saying, "It's cool, it's cool"! What fun!!"

We were lucky that there was no religious police around. Kynsley and Mohammad took a night bus to Yazd while my host Mojtaba picked me up in the city center. He hosted also one German girl that night. We both slept on the matresses in the living room. I knew that Mojtaba wouldn't work the following day and I expected to leave Isfahan in the evening, I already bought a bus ticket, but when he told me that they were going to hike I didn't want to join them. I changed the reservation and I left Isfahan by bus in the morning on 20th April. 

When you are travelling from Kashan to Isfahan then stopping in the village Abyaneh is a good option. It takes around one hour to get there from Kashan by car. This village is situated high in the mountains, its altitude is 2500 meters. It is dated back to 1500 years ago and you can admire its red mud brick houses. The terrain around Abyaneh contains iron oxides that's why the houses have reddish colour. It was cloudy and much colder than in Kashan, it was around 15°C on 18th April.
The Abyanaki women typically wear a white long scarf with a colourful pattern and under-knee skirt.

 You can wonder around the city and admire the beauty of this city, but many houses are abandoned and the population of this village is only 300 permanent residents. I took a video of old ladies dressed in traditional costumes sell souvenirs to tourists, you can watch it here.

We spent around one hour in Abyaneh and then we travelled to Isfahan. I was travelling with a taxi driver who worked for a travel agency in Kashan and we were accompanied by some couchsurfers. The landscape between Kashan and Isfahan is a desert and I didn't put a scarf on until we reached Isfahan. The taxi driver dropped me at a bus station where I waited around one hour for my host Mojtaba from couchsurfing. I asked him to host me and Kynsley but he replied that he hosted only girls which made me a bit suspicious but I had no time to look for another host so I accepted his offer. Kynsley stayed in a hostel with Mohammad from Borujerd who accompanied us for the rest of our travel in Iran. 

Mojtaba picked me up from the bus station around 3pm by car and we went to the Shahrzad restaurant where we ordered several Iranian traditional dishes.

These traditional dishes included Beryani which is made of lamb offal as lung and liver wrapped in a bread. If you are not put off by offal then you should definitely taste it because it is delicious.

Another traditional dish of the brown colour which is in the corner is called Fesenjan. It is chicken stew with walnut and pomegranate sauce. The sauce is sweet but it is also very tasty.

The only Iranian dish which I really disliked was Khoresht Mast (the yellow beef yoghurt desert). It is also sweetish but I found the taste similar to a burnt tyre and I could eat only a few spoons.

We drank also Ayran which is the white salty yoghurt beverage. I tasted it and it was ok but it probably won't become my favourite drink.

After we finished eating we walked along the river Zayanderud which is the largest river in the central Iran. There are famous historical bridges like the Khaju bridge on the picture. There were a lot of Iranian people near the river but we saw only a few tourists. Several Iranian people greeted me and tried to have a short conversation with me. I was also offered an apple and pumpkin seeds. Then we sat next to the river and watched the sunset. Khaju bridge is a popular meeting spot for Iranians and when it got dark they listened to a singer under the arches of the bridge.

Then we went home and drank black tea. We went to sleep late and the following date I got up early because I was going to meet Kynsley and Mohammed and we visited Isfahan together.