Mashhad: My Cold, Crowded Confusion
mashhad is this city in iran that i somehow ended up in, and i'm still trying to figure out how i feel about it. it's the second-biggest city in the country, sitting between some mountains at around 36.20°N latitude and 59.35°E longitude. i know this because someone told me to memorize it for some reason, but honestly, who needs that many decimal places? it's just... there.
i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the temperature's hovering around 3.79°C, but it feels more like -1.8°C. the humidity's at 65%, which isn't too bad, but honestly, it's cold enough to make you question all your life choices. why am i here again?
so yeah, this place is mainly famous for being the burial site of some imam, making it a big pilgrimage site. someone told me that the shrine is absolutely massive and gets millions of visitors every year, which is both impressive and terrifying. i mean, that's a lot of people in one place. i tried to visit but got overwhelmed by the crowds and just ended up at a cafe instead.
if you get bored, ashgabat in turkmenistan is just a short drive away, about 250 km. or you could head toward the borders with turkmenistan and afghanistan, which are pretty close too. i didn't actually go there, but it's an option, i guess. someone told me the cross-border trade is pretty big here, which explains all the weird stuff in the markets.
the climate here is... interesting. really hot summers that can hit over 40°C, and cold winters with temperatures below freezing. someone told me that it gets about 2,900 hours of sunshine yearly, which sounds great until you remember how cold it gets in winter. the precipitation is minimal, around 250 mm yearly, mostly between december and may. oh, and the humidity goes from super low in summer (~30%) to kinda high in winter (~75%). or something like that. i wasn't really paying attention.
oh, and there's this thing about earthquakes. someone told me the area is prone to seismic activity, with big quakes happening nearby in qāyen (1997) and bam (2008). so, you know, that's something to look forward to. i slept with one eye open, not gonna lie.
the population is over 3.3 million people, which is a lot. it's iran's holiest shi'ite city, which explains all the pilgrims. the culture is apparently influenced by neighbors like turkmenistan and afghanistan, though i didn't really notice much of that myself, maybe because i was too busy trying not to freeze or getting lost in the maze-like streets.
honestly, mashhad is just... a place. it has its shrine, which is impressive in scale, and it's got mountains around it, which is nice. but it's also got extreme weather, potential earthquakes, and way too many people during pilgrimage times. someone told me the city contributes about 5% of iran's provincial gdp, which is impressive but also means it's probably crowded and expensive.
i don't know, maybe i'm just tired. but mashhad is... something. it's not bad, it's just... there. with its cold winters, hot summers, and too much religious tourism. if you're into that kind of thing, it might be worth a visit. but maybe bring a jacket. and check the earthquake forecast. and good luck with the crowds.
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