Iran - Andrew Burke [298]
The tower is in a field, 1km northwest of Qiasabad hamlet or 3km down an unsurfaced road from Radkan village. Radkan village is itself surrounded by a quietly fascinating scattering of old mud ruins, 9km north of the Quchan–Mashhad highway (it’s possible to hitch hike). The village taxi agency charges IR10,000 one way to the tower, or IR25,000 if continuing on to Chenaran afterwards. Chenaran–Mashhad savaris (IR5000) are very frequent. If you offer IR40,000 dar baste, they’ll make a side-trip to Tus en route, stopping for long enough to visit the Ferdosi Mausoleum.
Mashhad to Neishabur
Two minor sites, each just 1km north of the busy Mashhad–Neishabur motorway, are easy to tack on as short side visits when chartering a Mashhad–Neishabur savari dar baste (IR80,000).
FAKHR DAVOOD
Visible from the main road this Timurid robat (all-weather caravanserai; donation expected; 7am-4pm) has an impressive tower-flanked exterior that would make a great movie set. The less exciting domed interior displays a small selection of pottery and an incongruous table-tennis table. It was renovated as headquarters for the Binalud new-town extension, a vast housing development for workers of the Iran Khodro car plant 3km away. That’s been shelved for now, sparing the quaint mud-homes of tiny Fakhr Davood village. No taxis available here.
QADAMGAH RAZAVI
In Qadamgah village (98km from Mashhad), a two-block scattering of souvenir shops and kababis fronts this charming 17th-century octagonal shrine (admission free; 24hr) with fine blue dome and attractive tiling. It sits in a pretty garden of ancient plane trees and enshrines a black stone slab indented with what are believed to be the footprints of Imam Reza. Floods of pilgrims find the site very moving so questioning aloud the authenticity of the Imam’s (remarkably large) prints would be rather bad form. Just beside the shrine, steps lead down to a subterranean spring, ‘miraculously created’ by Imam Reza himself. Behind the shrine, older mud-brick village houses rise up steeply. In front there’s a partly restored caravanserai. Minibuses run sporadically to Neishabur. The handy Fajr Taxi-office ( 322 4141) will drive you to Fakhr Davood for IR30,000.
Neishabur
0551 / pop 231,000
An early capital of Khorasan, Neishabur (Nayshaboor) was first settled around the 3rd century AD. By the Seljuk period it was a thriving literary, artistic and academic centre, notable as the birthplace of the 11th-century poet and all-round good egg, Omar Khayyam (see the boxed text).
OMAR KHAYYAM TOMB COMPLEX
Neishabur’s main attraction remains Khayyam’s Tomb (admission IR3000; 8am-9pm). Its present form is a distinctive 1970s-modernist affair with diamond-shaped lozenges of calligraphic tiling (Khayyam’s words, naturally) set in a curved, airy net of criss-crossed marble. Don’t be surprised to find random Iranians bombarding you with recitations of Khayyam’s verses as you ponder the monument. A big part of the tomb’s attraction is its manicured garden setting, Bagh-e Mahrugh, with a gently appealing terrace on which to sip tea (IR10,000 per pot) with Neishabur’s famous crystallised sugar while being serenaded by (caged) birds. Jewellery outlets compete to sell you Neishabur’s equally famous turquoise. In the gardens’ free southern section, the lovely Imamzadeh-ye Mohammed Mahrugh is a fine 16th-century domed mausoleum with an intricately tiled portal. The octagonal tomb tower of Sheikh Attar (admission IR3000; 7am-9pm) sits in another pretty garden, 1km west (a popular horse-and-carriage ride).
The tomb complex is 5km from Neishabur’s central Khayyam Sq: take eastbound bus 10 to the end (IR300, 15 minutes).
OTHER SIGHTS
Central Neishabur is a rather unexciting place, but very close to Khayyam Sq, the restored Shah Abbas Caravanserai (Imam Khomeini St) hosts souvenir shops, the Sofrakhane Sonati Abashah ( 222 5168;