From Shiraz to Yazd – Persepolis, Pasargadae and Abarqu

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Sonya

We awoke early for a 7am start to meet our driver who would take us from Shiraz to Yazd stopping along famous sites – Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rostom, Pasargadae and through the small town of Abarqu before reaching Yazd. In total, the journey would take us over 500km. Soon into our trip we realised our driver, Morteza Mehrparvar, was quite a comical character, which made our long car trip much more enjoyable. He had been in the tourism industry for the past seventeen years (which he reminded us a number of times during the trip), and had many stories to tell. He was even listed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 editions of the Lonely Planet – “page 271” he proudly said.

Persepolis

Similar to the sites in Shiraz, Persepolis was packed with local Iranian tourists. We explored the sites in awe of the beautiful creations of the ancient Achaemanid Empire, during reign of Darius the Great. It was clear that Persepolis was once a magnificent city. My favourite features were the staircases – each step consisting of a relief mimicking the ancient customs of bringing gifts to the palaces.

Naqsh-e Rostom

Next we stopped off at Naqsh-e Rostom, a site consistent of impressive rock tombs off Darius I, Darius II, Artaxerxes I and Xerxes I located on a smooth mountain face. A number of detailed reliefs/murals depicting war, victory across the ages are also carved on the rockface surrounding the tombs. Nearby is Kaba Zarosht, a monument that was thought to be a Zoroastrian Fire Temple but is now regarded to be a treasury of some sort.

Pasargadae

The first thing we saw upon reaching Pasargadae was the tomb of Cyrus the Great – a high rectangular tomb. It seemed a little unimpressive for a ruler who was so highly regarded in Persian history. Further along was the Pasargadae site, which was much less reconstructed in comparison to Persepolis but worth the visit.

Sassanian ruins

Morteza also took us on a slight detour to visit an old run down site which was from the Sassanian period. It was completely deserted (unlike all the other sites we’d visited), aside from a local family who had setup a few troughs to feed a group of baby goats inside the building… Apparently they were from the nearby mountains but weren’t getting enough food. We enjoyed a cup of hot tea here whilst admiring the nearby snow capped mountains.

Abarqu

Our last stop before Yazd was in Abarqu – here we visited the icehouse – a massive circular pyramid structure which once stored ice from winter’s snow for the hot summers, a 4000+ year old Cyprus tree (although Morteza suspects it is only 1000 years old) and Gombad Ali Dome built in the 11th century.

Poets and Gardens, Shiraz, Iran

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Travis

After our first day we were fairly comfortable with Iran, its safe streets and friendly people. This day we decided to visit the outer Shiraz sights, which were mainly two tombs and the surrounding gardens. As per the previous day, because of the Persian New Year holidays, all sights were extremely overcrowded.

Tomb of Hafez
Hafez is a famous Persian poet, whose poems are known by heart by all Persians. Hafez’s hometown Shiraz, which he rarely left, was a predominant influence in his poetry. In Shiraz is the Hafez mausoleum which consists of his tomb and memorial hall, all surrounded by lush orange trees and ponds.
One of the interesting things is the sale of verses of Hafez’s poetry which are selected randomly by a canary or budgie; the bird will use its beak to select a single piece of paper from a box of many.

Delgosha Garden
Situated between Hafez’s Tomb and Saadi’s Tomb is Delgosha Garden, one of Iran’s oldest gardens. To the east of the garden is a small mountain which we climbed provides sweeping views of Shiraz.

Tomb of Saadi
Similar to Hafez, Saadi was a famous Persian poet, born in Shiraz, Iran. Whilst Hafez rarely left Shiraz, Saadi spent the majority of his life travelling surrounding countries, after which his learnings were reflected in his poems. The Saadi mausoleum contains vast gardens surrounding the tomb.

Shiraz, our entry to Iran

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Sonya

Shiraz was our first stop in Iran. After a few hiccups with our flights (apparently Gulf Air doesn’t fly to Shiraz from Bahrain, despite having the option available on their website), we arrived via Qatar Airways early on Sunday morning. We made a relatively smooth entry into the country, with a very short line at immigration – it seemed we were the only tourists entering into the country.

We found a taxi driver, willing to take us to our hotel, the lovely Niayesh Boutique Hotel located in the heart of Shiraz’s old city. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the early hour of 4:30am, the hotel was closed and after making a call, we were told to come back at 9am to discuss our booking. Due to our change in flight schedules, we had arrived early and had not informed the hotel of this change, so we patiently waited outside for a few hours. Thankfully, once the lovely reservation lady Nasrin arrived, we were shown the dorms where we were to stay (which were very comfortable, clean and barely occupied). Our trip to Iran coincided with the Iranian New Year – Noruz, which lasts for two weeks and as such accommodation during this time was hard to find.

We rested for a few hours before wandering out to the main square to exchange some money and buy lunch. One US dollar is equivalent to about 18,000 Iranian Riyal so after our money exchange our wallet was a little heavier! Lunch was a simple kebab, which came to something like 70,000IR ($3.50). We then continued exploring the old city area, checking out the following sites (which were all bustling with local tourists from other cities):

Arg-e-Karim Khan – An 18th century fort-like building in the middle of the city centre, which once formed part of the Zand dynasty’s royal court.

Masjed-e Vakil – A beautiful mosque from the Zand period. It showcased the stunning mosaic blue tiles used during that period. Inside the prayer hall are forty-eight marble columns – truly impressive.

Hamam-e Vakil – A classic old bathhouse now used as a museum exhibit, featuring wax figures from various periods. It was here I was ‘spotted’ as being a non-Iranian and consequently asked to take a number of photos with families and ladies and trying to converse in sign language whilst Travis, who seemed to be getting mistaken for a local (being asked directions and questions in Farsi), looked on, amused.

Bazar-e Vakil – Shiraz’ main bazaar located in the main city precinct. The many stalls and shops in the bazaar offered spices, fruit, clothing, household items, souvenirs, much alike to the bazaars and souks we’d visited in cities like Istanbul and Cairo. We picked up some green almond snacks which are served with salt from a young Iranian boy who practiced his English with us.

Aramgah-e Shah-e Cheragh – One of the holiest Shiite sites, this is one of the prettiest mosques I’ve seen. We were fortunate enough to be permitted to enter, I had to wear a chador before going inside – basically a huge piece of material which covered every inch of my body (the word chador literally translates into ‘tent’ in Farsi). I was struggling for a bit to put it on properly, however a number of elderly Iranian ladies came to the rescue! Photos were not allowed, instead we wandered around inside and marvelled at the intricacy and splendour of the mosque’s architecture. An Iranian man offered us sweets inside and welcomed us to Iran. The courtyard of the mosque is filled with Persian rugs which pilgrims sit on and copies of the Quran are made available for all to read.

We headed back to Niayesh for a rest and shower. Later that evening we headed out for dinner – the Shahrez Traditional Restaurant was recommended in the Lonely Planet and we decided to give it a go. The place was buzzing and full of life. Dinner was a unique experience – we tried quite a few different Iranian dishes, washed it down with doogh, a light yoghurt-like drink.

Our first day in Shiraz was a truly lovely experience. Perhaps because the city is not as well-travelled as other we have been to, there is a sense of genuine interest and curiosity from the local Shirazi, those of who we have met have been extremely friendly and kind.

Bahrain – a taste of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Travis

Keen to visit another Middle East country whilst in the region, and prior to our travels through Central Asia, we decided to have a two day stopover in Bahrain, a tiny little island to the north-west of Qatar. In addition, the local budget airlines Gulf Air conveniently flew to Shiraz in Iran, our entry to the Silk Road. It was only two days prior to our departure that we received a call from Gulf Air informing us that the capital Manama to Shiraz flights were no longer running for the past eighteen months. Luckily, Qatar Airways also flew to Shiraz, so we quickly booked the flight, it turned out we hadn’t quite left Qatar when we visited Bahrain.

We arrived in the evening and after checking into our hotel we headed to the Manama Souq. The souk is literally a functional market with many stalls and shops littered along narrow streets, contrasting the beautiful fairytale-like architecture that we were familiar with in Qatar. It was so plain, that as we walked around we wandered if we had reached the ‘souq’ yet.

The next day we spent visiting three main attractions, the National Museum, Al-Fatih Mosque and the Qal’at fort.

Bahrain National Museum

The Kingdom’s National Museum has a vast collection of archaeological finds on the ancient Dilmun civilisation, some of the interesting items were the vast amount of foreign artefacts found on the small island country (e.g porcelain from China), indicating the site of the city as a past trading hub.

Al-Fatih Mosque

The Al-Fatih Mosque, while not the most aesthetic of the mosques we had seen, though was enjoyable and eye-opening due to the very helpful guide that showed us around and answered all of our questions with respect to the Islamic faith, we finally learnt what was being said during the call-to-prayer, how the prayer times were calculated and how to form a tight line shoulder-to-shoulder when praying in the mosque.

Qal’at al-Bahrain

The Bahrain Fort, built by the Portuguese in the 16th century, and located on a tell (layers of ancient sites). The location of the capital of the ancient Dilmun civilisation, the fort and tell are an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort complex is quite large and is surrounded by a moat, it took a little while to walk the circumference. We didn’t spend too much time inside as we were rushed for time.

Saar Burial Chambers

Located close to the fort is a complex of Dilmun burial chambers, still being excavated and restored, the many chamber mud-brick walls and rooms are visible.

Sonya and Travis

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