Picnic Time at a Desert Fortress

The mosque in Aran, Iran, the complex dominates the dusty town, south of Qom the most holy city of Iran. We stopped at a caravansary, a fortress built 400 years ago to defend the camel caravans along this important trading route.

Iranians took the Friday holiday to picnic on the grounds, and this man offered me a puff from his hubbly bubbly as he enjoyed time in the sun.