![Vestiges of Zoroastrianism in Iran](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e95d9b13e6b2f7f177b574b/1610887556691-OJ39IMF0D0D302Q27R1K/5.+Zoroastrianism.jpg)
Vestiges of Zoroastrianism in Iran
Yazd is Iran’s unofficial capital of Zoroastrianism; one of the world’s oldest continuously practiced religions and Persia’s dominant religion before the the arrival of Islam in the 7th century.
![Whirling Dervishes of Beyoğlu, Istanbul](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e95d9b13e6b2f7f177b574b/1609677588817-LKZA1RQLHS45FOLUBXL4/12.+Dervishes+in+Beyoglu%2C+Istanbul+2.jpg)
Whirling Dervishes of Beyoğlu, Istanbul
A whirling dervish performance in one of Istanbul’s few remaining Sufi dervish houses.
![The Hadži Kurt Mosque in Mostar](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e95d9b13e6b2f7f177b574b/1590227933146-RAQ0B3FU2B5VY3FS1Y2F/7.+Ottoman+era+mosque%2C+Mostar.jpg)
The Hadži Kurt Mosque in Mostar
In the Hadži Kurt Mosque, I met Ilma, a young red-headed women with bright blue eyes. She told me about the history of this small Ottoman-era mosque.
![Life and death along the ghats of Varanasi](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e95d9b13e6b2f7f177b574b/1586941008070-15XVCF1J97HEKSLD5ZYL/1.+Along+the+ghats.jpg)
Life and death along the ghats of Varanasi
I had barely slept the last few days so I asked the proprietor of the hotel for a quiet room. He paused briefly and then meeting my eyes said: “this is a very difficult place to find peace.” Ironic, I thought, since this is where people come to die.