Yazd: Where the Wind Catches You Off Guard

you ever land somewhere and feel like the air itself is trying to tell you something? that’s yazd. stepping off the bus, the first thing i noticed wasn’t the adobe skyline or the smell of saffron-it was the wind. not just any wind, but the kind that whispers through ancient badgirs like it’s got secrets to spill. i just checked and it’s 22°c there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. dry as a stand-up comedian’s first gig, but in a good way.

now, i’m not the type to follow the crowd, but even i couldn’t ignore the chatter about the yazd atash behram. someone told me that if you visit at sunset, the fire inside has been burning for over 1,500 years. sounds like drunk advice, but locals swear by it. and honestly, standing there, watching the light bend through the stained glass, i believed it.

"you think you’ve seen wind towers until you’ve seen yazd’s," a guy in a spice shop said, handing me a sample of something that smelled like Christmas and a dare.

if you get bored, isfahan and shiraz are just a short drive away, but don’t rush it. yazd’s got layers-like a *bademjan stew, but less messy. i spent an afternoon wandering the zahir al-din neighborhood, where every corner felt like a photo waiting to happen. and yeah, i’m that guy who takes pictures of doors. sue me.

and then there’s the food. oh man, the food. i ate shuli at a place called khan-e kazerouni, and it was the kind of meal that makes you question every life choice that led you to instant noodles. someone else told me that the best baklava in town is at haj kazem, but i was too full to confirm. next time, i guess.

i heard that the water museum is underrated, but i skipped it. call me shallow, but i was too busy chasing shadows in the dowlat abad garden*. the tallest wind tower in the city is there, and if you stand under it just right, it feels like the sky’s giving you a high-five.

anyway, yazd isn’t a place you ‘do’-it’s a place you feel. like that weird hum in your chest when you realize you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. or maybe that was just the wind. either way, i’m not complaining.

for more on iran’s hidden gems, check out Lonely Planet’s guide to Yazd or TripAdvisor’s top things to do. and if you’re into history, the Iran Culture House has some deep dives worth your time.