Bagh-e Tarikhi-ye Fin (Fin Garden) outside the city of Kashan, fed by a natural spring. Very tall Cyprus trees truly make this an oasis in the desert.

Note the woman with the red purse -- she has a bandage on her nose. Nose jobs are very popular in Iran where it's common to see women each day sporting their dainty white bandages on the bridge of their noses as a status symbol.

One of the many "jubs' or canals that run from the "Lasegah,' or octagonal pool which is the source of the underground spring.

A typical Hammam, or bath house on the grounds of the Fin Garden.

In a typical Iranian tea house, patrons lie on carpet covered divan-style beds and sip tea, eat kababs, and then have a little smoke from the qaylan pipe. This one is outdoors with the water from he natural spring running right through the restaurant.

Michele and I are chatting up the handsome young engineering student, not for his looks of course, but for the sake of field research!

Khan-e Tabatabei, one of the restored traditional houses in Kashan, built around 1880, renowned for intricate stone relief, stucco, and stained glass.

Agha Bozorg Mosque and Madraseh, or school built in the late 1700's, considered one of the most authentic styles of Islamic architecture.

A typical door on restored Iranian homes has two door knockers, round for women which makes a lighter, hollow sound, and a phallic looking one for men which makes a deeper sound. This was to identify gender of person knocking so the women know whether or

A "badgir," or wind tower, which catches the breeze and provides natural air conditioning to the room below the tower.

This lovely Kashan resident was 96 years old. He serenaded us for about 15 minutes with traditional Persian songs, then followed up with a marriage proposal to Michele, one of the women on our tour.

A typical Iranian gas pump. Gasoline is ridiculously cheap in Iran -- about 10 cents per gallon.