We arrived home from Dubai last night. Persia Overland was a great trip, the geographic differences as we traveled from Baku in the north to Bandar-e Abbas in the south surprised me greatly and the friendly and hospitable Iranian people is something I won’t forget.

The trip report and the select photos will be posted on exerro.com soon, but in the meantime, it’s time to plan “Africa - Right Hand Side”!

A long (600+km) drive today from Shiraz to Bandar-e Abbas, the port where we’re due to leave Iran from by boat tomorrow.

We broke the journey by stopping at Sarvestan, briefly as the traffic was held up be the sacrifice of a cow on the main road into town in honor of the Leaders (Ayatollah Khamenei) visit. We then stopped at the Sasanian Palace, just outide of Sarvestan, a lovely domed building from around the 5th Century CE.

Afterwards, the trucks pwnd the road. We saw hardly any cars for 300km, but loads of trucks heading to and from Irans main port. Ironically, being in Iran, there were no gas stations and we arrived at our final Iranian destination running on fumes…

We started the day with a stroll around the Shiraz Botanical Garden, hugely busy with locals, as friendly as ever, and impressive for its collection of Roses.

Back in the city center, we parked and walked past the Arg-e Karim Khani (Citadel of Karim Khan), complete with its own leaning tower (apparently the sewers couldn’t cope with the volume when the purpose of part of the citadel became a prison and leached out, softening the foundations), en-route to the Bazaar.

The Bazar-e Vakil is a classic Persian Bazar. Kristy was shopping again, but bazaars are always interesting places to wander around in. I’m always on the lookout for a good astrolabe, and I saw a couple here but they were not in great condition.

In the bazaar I was introduced to a new treat! If you ever get the chance, try faloudeh, it’s made from little bits of wheat like mini-spaghetti and frozen rosewater. I added ice cream which made it even better! Shiraz is apparently famous for this - highly recommended!

Right next to the bazaar is the Masjed-e Vakil, or Regents Mosque. It was a pretty enough building, and remarkably empty but I must confess to be getting a bit mosque-ed out at the moment…

After a few hours back at the hotel, we ventured out to see another mosque (yayyy!), the Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque. Actually, despite not feeling up to seeing another mosque, I’m glad I saw this one. It’s built on a far more intimate and human scale than many of the others we’ve seen, and the craftsmanship is exceptional.

After visiting the extremely popular tombs of the poets Sa’di and Hafez, we had dinner and retired for the day.

Finally, I have to say I can’t recommend this hotel. Amongst other things, they switched the A/C chillers off overnight leaving us waking up in a sweat in a 90F room. And they promised that they wouldn’t do that…

Today was a day that belonged to the long-dead Achaemenid Kings. After stopping in Aberkouh to see something that pre-dates Cyrus the Great, a 4000 year old Cypress tree, we made our way to Pasargadae.

Pasargadae is mostly in ruins now and sees far fewer visitors than the later, and better preserved Persepolis. However, Cyrus left his mark here and it was great to see both the remains of his quite modest private palace. His tomb is also in great shape, thanks to Alexander leaving it well alone - the story goes that Cyrus had carved inside “I know one day you will come, begrudge me not this small amount of land on which I lie”. I’ll have to remember that one.

Next up, Naqsh-e Rostam, and the tombs of 4 Achaemenid Kings, including Darius the Great and his son, Xerxes.

Finally onto the highlight of the day, Persepolis. Wonderfully preserved and looking wonderful after almost 2500 years in the evening light, the city which is believed to have been used only once a year for the Spring festival is worth a visit. We even saw Stanleys signature (no Livingstone though) - carved into one of the great pillars on the main gate, bloody vandal!

After a late start, we toured the sights of Yazd today, starting with the Zoroastrian Fire Temple. I was a little disappointed as the atmosphere wasn’t overly spiritual, blame the tourists for that and the fact that the flame, the “Ateshkadeh”, was burning behind a piece of glass. The flame has been burning for over 1500 years, which is quite impressive. I imagine the High Priest has many alarm clocks!

Still, it was interesting to see a temple of the worlds oldest monotheistic religion, to which Judaism, Christianity and Islam all owe a debt.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m reading Paul William Roberts book, “The Journey of the Magi“, which is ideal ready for a journey through Iran. It’s particularly interesting if you’d like to know more about the Magi, who were Zoroastrian, and the influence of Zoroastrianism had during the early days of the three major religions.

We also visited the “Highest Minarets in all of Islam”, at the Jameh Mosque. At almost 50m high, and soaring up from the beautiful tiled portal, it does send quite a message - and as it was also built over a Zoroastrian Fire Temple after the Arab invasion, I suppose that was the idea…

After a quick trip to the water museum, which was crawling with tourists and is quite basic, we visited the Amir Chakhmaq, a takieh that you can climb for great views of Yazd, where it’s possible to see dozens of windtowers. I felt a bit like I was in a game of “Assasins Creed“, but I declined to take the “Leap of Faith“, and made my way down the narrowest and steepest staircase I’ve ever climbed.

After a quick bite at the Hamum-e Khan Restaurant, a converted bathhouse, or Hammam, in the bazaar, complete with all the original blue and white tilework, we returned to the hotel for a well deserved siesta.

An easy day today, through the desert from Garmeh to Yazd. We arrived in Yazd just as daylight was fading - a perfect time to visit the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence. Nice light, but anything but silent - a group of very friendly and very noisy Iranians made it more like the Tower of Babel! Still, after they left talking to Kristy with their 5 words of English, I was left alone in the Tower where once upon a time, the Zoroastrians left their dead to be picked over by vultures - and thus not polluting any of the primal elements (earth, fire, water, air).

My messing around taking low-light photos unfortunately got us all locked in to the compound. And the 80-something year old guardian is obviously as deaf as a post! Amir came to the rescue by climbing over the 2.5m wall, and unlocking the gate. Top bloke!

I’ve never been a fan of riding something with legs and not wheels and something that you merely influence rather than control. Still, Kristy, being a horse trainer, loves riding camels. I always forget how big the blighters are.

So we got up early to make the most of the cooler temperatures and had an enjoyable, though uncomfortable (more padding in the saddle please), couple of hours riding in the desert and into the village of Mesr.

We were invited, yet again, into another locals house and were entertained by a baby camel, baby goats and some worried looking turkeys. After more tea, we retired back to “our house” and had an easy afternoon dozing in the heat.

As the evening cooled, and before the mozzies started biting, we had a walk around the farm. A great contrast the green fields of maize and alfalfa with the sand dunes behind.

One strange thing was the number of dead palm trees, which we’d noticed earlier. It seems this last winter (2007/2008) was the worst for 50 years, with snow in the desert and temperatures as low as -18C (0F). This cold killed most of them, but a few will recover (well, maybe they’re not quite dead, there’re just resting, or something) in the next 5 years.

Finally, we drove to Garmeh, where we would be spending the night in another local house.

After briefly stopping to admire the Khaju Bridge in Esfahan, we made our way to Na’in.

First stop was the millennium old Jameh Mosque. Complete with cool underground tunnels (much appreciated now we’re in the desert), the mosque was in use as we arrived ahead of 2 coach-loads of German tourists.

Next stop in Na’in was a place a bit off the beaten track. Hard to find without a guide, there are some old workshops carved into the hillside in the old center of Na’in. Cool and dry and also about a thousand years old, one was occupied by two gents well into their eighties. Weaving rugs on old-fashioned looms from sheep and camel wool, we couldn’t resist buying one to support them.

Nearby, we scrambled up the hill to the Mohammadiyeh castle, perched in an ideal defensive position with a 360 degree vista. Unfortunately, the castle’s door was bricked up, so we couldn’t get inside.

Driving into the deep Lut Desert, we continued onto the town of Jandaq where we were invited into another house, drank a very sweet cherry juice and ate more wonderfully succulent Iranian fruit (what do we do to it back home)?

After a short while, we headed up the dusty dirt track to the town to Mesr, a town named by Joseph (not sure which one), as it reminded him of Egypt. Mesr is Farsi for Egypt.

Hasham and his sons, Hussein and Ali, made sure we were looked after. After some welcoming drinks served in the alcove in the north side of the courtyard of this traditionally shaped desert house, we heard much low rumbling from outside - a flock of camels, including some very cute babies. Pick of the bunch was the crazy camel that was raised by a cow, man, I’ve never seen a camel jump so much!

And tomorrow we ride them…

Esfahan is a truly beautiful city. Tree-lined streets, fountains and flowers and wonderful architecture make it an incredible place to hand out for a few days. At it was our designated stop for souvenir shopping…

After an experience that started last night, our wallets came away much lighter, and our bags became much heavier, laden with the finest silk carpets Esfahan has to offer! We came away poorer, but with some wonderful pieces of art that we’re extremely happy with. We also picked up some miniature artwork on camel bone, that Esfahan is also famous for (Shah Abbas was a big fan apparently) and a tablecloth. We got on with the sightseeing…

After Amir knocked over a cyclist (he was ok!), we managed to park - it seems we found the only downside of Esfahan, getting parked is difficult, but it’s nowhere near as bad as London or New York.

We had a quick look at the Shahs Summer Pavilion or Chehel Sotun place - the place of Forty Columns. There are 20 columns here, the other 20 are the reflections in the lake. It’s a lovely place, decorated inside with hunting and battle scenes. Cut off his head!

We centered the day around Imam Khomeini Square, formerly known as The Maidan, where the Shah would watch Polo matches, executions and other things that amused him from a beautiful grandstand at the Ali Qapu Palace at the west side of the square. Today it provides the rather more peaceful view of people enjoying the gardens and fountains and shopping around the edges.

The Royal Mosque, whoops I mean the Imam Khomeini Mosque, is a building so big you really don’t process it. Shah Abbas the first knew how to impress, but apparently he had corners cut when it had been under construction for a couple of decades and he began to worry he wouldn’t see it completed. Not much sign of that today, it looks like the Department of Cultural Heritage are doing a great job in keeping it maintained. Just a shame that they’re also keeping the scaffolding there…

Back to ancient history today, with a trip to the Sialk Hills, a settlement from 5500BCE.

We then hit the road to Esfahan, via the Nantaz Nuclear facility which is apparently causing a bit of a fuss. We saw a couple of military bases and a number of anti-aircraft emplacements - the Iranian Government are clearly taking its security seriously, and there’s no doubt in my mind they’ll bring the reactor on-line just as soon as they’re ready. As for the Iranian military, all I’ve seen are well prepared, disciplined soldiers supported by reasonably modern hardware and a good infrastructure. It would be no “Iraqi Freedom” taking these guys on…

Anyway, after a tour of the plant (only joking!), we drove to the mountain village of Abyaneh, recognized by UNSCO for its unique ochre colored mud-brick buildings. The women here wear brightly colored headscarfs and there seems to be no-one under 70 living here at all!

The temperature up here was far more pleasant, and we spent a couple of hours wandering around the village, visiting a small, disused Zoroastrian Fire Temple and the Zeyaratgah shrine. We also visited an old house, which doubled as a traditional clothing store and Kristy bought some jewelry.

After lunch, we visited the peaceful, tree-lined town of Natanz. We saw the 14th Century Jameh Mosque and the shrine of a local Sufi mystic, the Imamzadeh-ye Abd al-Samad.

On the way out of Natanz, I noticed a small dome-shaped building atop a mountain some way south of town. Amir knew a story about it, and the story of the dome goes something like this. Shah Abbas was riding with a small detachment of his army near Natanz. While resting by a stream, his men attempted to drink. The Shahs eagle, which was flying up ahead, dived at the men, screeching and flapping in their faces. Shah Abbas, not know for his patience, killed the eagle. His men started to drink, and immediately died. The eagle had been able to see the wicked serpent upstream that had poised the stream. Filled with remorse (which it seems he never showed his subjects), the Shah built a dome on a nearby mountaintop in remembrance of the eagle that tried to save their lives.

After a bit more driving and some traffic on the outskirts of town, we arrived at the Ali Qapu Hotel in Esfahan.

http://www.aliqapuhotel.com/