Late day light and visit to the Vakil Mosque
It was the third day into my trip to Iran and my husband and I were ready to take out on our own. The jet lag had finally faded and the streets of Shiraz were becoming more familiar. We were on a “tour” but it was getting a little stifling and we needed to get some air so to speak. The visit to the Valik Mosque the previous day made a big impression on us and we wanted to go and see it again. This time, it wouldn’t be in the middle of the day and without someone patiently waiting for us to move on to the next site on the day’s itinerary.
The Valik Mosque is very colorful and the tile work of its walls is full of flowers, birds and geometric patterns characteristic to the city of Shiraz. When I think back to my visit to Shiraz it’s the one site I felt summed up the beautiful city. It’s best to visit late in the afternoon and sometimes this may coincide with evening prayer. It’s not a working mosque, as mentioned before, but many locals still visit for prayer. The small admission visitors from out-of-town pay goes toward the continuous maintenance of the grounds so don’t feel like you are intruding but be aware of late day worshippers when you are looking around in awe and taking a million pictures. This is when it gets tricky keeping the hijab from slipping off my head and getting pictures of the tall walls at the same time.
farflungistan 