Continuing on our way through Iran we’ve had the time to meet many more locals by visiting traditional workshops and handicraft stands. We’re doing a good job of blending in apparently. Having bought some Zoroastrian goods, Simon was invited to tea by some Iranian cloth workers simply because he wore “the symbol of their old civilisation”. It seems I have been continuing with my theme of being mistaken for being Middle Eastern too, not quite how I’d hoped though as people have been thinking that I’m an Arab…I don’t think the scarf helps.

Shaun and Simon have also both earned a new nickname from our guide – topul, a descriptive term in Farsi regarding a person’s belly size. Our guide Hamid does not deny that he’s not in much of a position to judge though, as he continues to sample every food he possibly can.