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Snapshots of Iran, August 1999

About 5 years ago some friends and I decided to go to Cornwall in August 1999 to see the eclipse. As the time approached, I did a bit of Internet research and discovered that the chances of cloud in Cornwall would be 60%. Further research showed that the clearest skies would be in Iran, so I went there instead, on a 11-day trip which included visits to five beautiful Persian cities. I made comprehensive notes so that I could put a travelogue here, but lost the notes on the last day. So here are a few of my photos.

They are in no particular order. Well, actually they are in alphabetical order of filename, which is how my thumbnail generator lays them out.

Click a picture to see the full size version

The Back Seat Crew
The Back Seat Crew
Some of the friends I made on the trip. Such lovely people.
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bamcourt.jpg
The courtyard in the Citadel at Bam
The Citadel at Bam is a walled city built almost entirely from sun-baked brick.
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bamgate.jpg
The Citadel Gatehouse at Bam
More sun-baked brick.
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chickens.jpg
Live chicks in the market
Young chickens, dyed fluorescent colours, sold as toys for little children.
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crescent.jpg
The Eclipse
If you look carefully, you can see that the spots of light between the shadows formed by the leaves are crescent shaped. This was after totality.
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mosque.jpg
A Mosque
We saw so many beautiful buildings that I cannot remember where this one was. The Emam Mosque in Esfahan was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. The decoration uses hand-painted glazed tiles.
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pinhole.jpg
Not a pinhole camera
This image was produced by pointing a telescope at the sun before totality.
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postbox.jpg
Post Box
Everything is so beautifully decorated. This was the post box in the hotel at Esfahan
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sugarlof.jpg
Sugarloaves
Sugarloaves and granular sugar for sale in the market
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tripods.jpg
The Eclipse-chasers Convention
About a third of our group setting up their tripods and experiments before totality.
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