This week's dream:

Esfahan is a wonderful place to get lost in, said James Vlahos in The New York Times. A city of 1.3 million in central Iran, about 200 miles south of Tehran, this old Persian capital so entranced British travel writer Robert Byron in the 1930s that he rated it “among those rarer places, like Athens or Rome, which are the common refreshment of humanity.” Although “pollution-spewing motorcycles” now clog the streets and anti-American billboards are not uncommon, I found a mostly friendly welcome in its bazaars, teahouses, and even a madrasa.

Why would anyone visit Iran? The bureaucratic red tape is a formidable obstacle, the wait a long one. But the rewards are worth the effort—pre-Islamic ruins, glittering mosques, deserts “vaster than those of the American Southwest,” and mountains that dwarf the Rockies. Many Iranians, recognizing me as an American, approached to talk politics. Most had friendly attitudes toward the U.S., though I had to be wary of secret police. Admittedly, dining offers little in the way of variety. Most meals, whether at “a highway truck stop or at an expensive traditional restaurant,” offer identical choices of lamb, chicken, or mince kebab.

The highlight of my trip was a leisurely amble through Esfahan. It began at the Madrasa-ye Nimurvand, where robed students mingled in the courtyard as a mullah and I, with the help of a translator, talked for an hour about God and politics. Later I wandered into the Grand Bazaar. Some parts date back to A.D. 700, “with covered passages extending for miles.” Here vendors sold everything from ice cream and jeans to Persian carpets and gold platters. Ultimately I emerged onto the 20-acre Imam Square, “one of the largest plazas in the world.” It contains the Imam Mosque, with its onion-shaped domes; the six-story Ali Qapu Palace; and the Sheik Lotfollah Mosque. This is “possibly the most stunning assemblage of Islamic architecture” in the world.

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Contact: Irangashttour.com