Along the caravan routes, each a day’s journey apart (approximately every 40 km), there was a caravanserai where travellers were able to eat and sleep overnight, feed and water their camels and, I imagine, meet up with other travellers. There were once over one thousand caravanserais throughout Iran but now they are mostly in a state of extreme disrepair.

However, one of them, on the road between Kerman and Yazd has been beautifully restored as a restaurant and hostel.

This is the outside of the caravanserai. It has been restored and modernised.

It was dusk when we stopped for tea there. It got dark at at about 5.00pm during the time we were in Iran and this had been a long day, starting at 8.30am with visits to some shrines and an early lunch in Kerman before setting out for Yazd.

This is the courtyard of the caravanserai. Note the use of curtains to extend the sleeping areas .

We walked through heavy wooden doors to the reception area which had a translucent black and white sunburst cover (It looked like fabric but must have been some hardier material to withstand the weather), into a central courtyard and from there, through the restaurant to a tea house furnished with cushions, carpets on the floor and some beautiful carpets hanging on the walls.

We had tea here with the Lilian carpet. Note the semigeometrical bunches of flowers

There was one which we all admired. It was a “lilian” carpet made in Lilihan which google places in both central and southern Iran, neither of which is correct if it is south of Arak as one source claims. I can’t find it on the map but lilian carpets have “semi-geometrical floral sprays, longer pile and are famous for their bright red colour”. They are very popular in America according to one source, on account of the longer pile.

Some of the tour group relaxing and having tea.

Tea was served to us in very elegant small waisted tea glasses, after which we were at liberty to wander around the building. The sleeping arrangements were interesting with curtained cubicles for singles, couples and families set in a long corridor.

The corridor of the main sleeping area.

Family quarters in the main sleeping area.

The bathroom, which had no artificial lighting as far as I could ascertain, had a skylight which let in ample light. Once again, curtains had been used instead of doors.

The Women's bathroom.

The restaurant was beautifully furnished but empty, as were the sleeping quarters. I am not sure how long the building has been open and it is within driving distance of two major cities so perhaps, and I hope, that we were too early to meet the dinner crowd. It would be a great shame if, after the work and money spent on renovating this building did not bear fruit; and hopefully more of these buildings will be refurbished to cater again for travellers.

The dining area.