Lost in the adobe colored city!
We wander around for probably a half hour and are thoroughly lost. We know the two attractions we’ve come
to see are here somewhere, but where??
I spot a sign for an ‘English Language School’ – if anyone can help us
find our way, it should be someone in here! Two elderly Indians sitting in the lobby know enough English
to go find the ‘teacher.’ She
appears, trailing a group of about a dozen children, wide-eyed at the
distraction from their lessons! Lots of Hindi flying around, and the
teacher tells us ‘He will take you.’ and points to one of the elderly Indians,
an old man who looks like he can barely walk! Teacher shoos the children back into the classroom and off
we go.
We might have been able to find it on our own, but I doubt
it. Three minutes later, and about
a dozen turns and alleyways, our guide stops and points and, voila, there we
are at the shah’s observatory.
LP describes is as ‘ . . . a bunch of weird sculpture/instruments for
astronomical observations.’ It’s a bit of a tourist attraction and
filled with tour groups – decent audio guide. Could have taken a bye.
Last stop, the Zamana – what I’ve dubbed the women’s velvet
prison. The audio guide talks
rather rhapsodically about all the wonderful things the women could do in here
– ‘in here’ being the operative phrase.
They never got to go out.
In fact, the front door is set so that even when the door is opened, you
can’t see outside and no one can see inside. On two sides of the upper stores (it’s 5 stories tall)
there are viewing ports onto the surrounding streets.
I get this strange feeling standing where these women stood
– or sat, since there are a number of ports fairly close to the ground and I’m
sure there weren’t any midget wives – what must that life have been like? Did they feel privileged to be in the
raj’s harem? Did they even think
about the narrowness of their lives?
Were the women constantly plotting and scheming to ensure that their son
was the heir? I almost gag on the
audio guide narrative describing the wonderful, exuberant celebrations
here. ‘the women could paint, play
an instrument, play games’ – they
just couldn’t go anywhere!!
And this place is crowded – about a half dozen light-skinned
tourists, the rest Indians (something we’re finding more and more).
Spectacular view over the city from the upper story.
The sky is clouding over; it looks like rain. Time to find a tuk tuk and head
‘home.’ Just in time – 5 seconds
after we get in (after negotiating with three or four drivers) the skies open
up. Wait, this isn’t monsoon
season – what’s going on?? No, it's not just rain, it's hail!! And the
tuk tuk is open on the sides – the one day we brought neither ponchos nor an
umbrella! And it’s getting dark,
fast. After a couple of minutes,
it’s obvious the driver either has no idea where our hotel is or he’s
completely lost. Yikes – it’s
dark, it’s hailing, and we’re in a tuk tuk going who knows where. Some photos from the wet back seat . .
. (when in doubt, take pictures!)
