Northeastern Iran - Iran - page 486

had good experiences with humorous, if vaguely manic, Ali Fagoni (with relatives in
Kondab), and Mohammad Reza (who runs a small Kordkuy carpet shop).
IRAN'S TURKMEN PEOPLE
Turkmen people (2% of Iran's population) have a truly extraordinary range of facial features, from Asiatic (Kazakh-
Mongolian) to startlingly blue-eyed Caucasian. Their clans are predominantly Sunni-Muslim and speak their own
Turkic dialects. Turkmen women have little patience with black chadors, favouring heavy, full-length dresses in
bright colours over trousers and shawls with floral designs. Some older men wear white turbanlike headscarves but
once-iconic telpek hats of shaggy sheepskin are pretty rare these days, as are traditional yurt-style nomad-tents
called öy .
In the last generation most Turkmens have become settled, swapping their famous horses for motorbikes. Al-
though sheep farming remains an economic mainstay, pasture-lands have increasingly been ploughed up by Zaboli
immigrants, leaving Turkmen villages among the most disadvantaged in post-revolutionary Iran. See
www.turkmensahra.com for more about their region.
The Turkmen towns and villages such as Bandar-e Torkaman and Ashuradeh are pretty sleepy places but the
Thursday market at Aq Qal'eh is worth hunting out; all make a great place to meet Turkmen Iranians, unwind and
experience their famous hospitality.
Semnanنانمس
0231 / POP 129,000 / ELEV 1131M
Capital of an eponymous region, booming Semnan lies on the northern edge of the vast
Dasht-e Kavir desert, 240km east of Tehran. Since Sassanian times it has been a key stop
on the silk route, attracting wealth and regular destruction in equal measure. At first
glance it's a diffuse, nondescript city of low-rise modern buildings and wide boulevards.
But around the appealing covered bazaar is an interesting complex of historical buildings.
A short drive to Shahmirzad reveals an impressive hinterland of arid mountain peaks.
Sights
OLD SEMNAN
The key sites can all be accessed from within the unusually tall covered bazaar via the
log-pillared Takiyeh Market Hall .