MIR Corporation's Travel Blog:
Ancient Persia, Modern Iran
Follow along with MIR Corporation Tour Specialist Meaghan Samuels as she explores beautiful and enigmatic Iran on MIR's Ancient Persia, Modern Iran small group tour.
- Day 1: Arrival in Tehran
- Day 2: Tehran
- Days 3-4: Tehran, Bandar-e Anzali, Masuleh Village
- Day 5: Tehran, Yazd
- Day 6: Yazd
- Days 7-8: Yazd, Kerman
- Days 9-10: Kerman, Shiraz, Persepolis
- Days 11-12: Shiraz, Firuzabad, Yasuj
- Day 13: Yasuj, Isfahan
- Day 14: Isfahan, Tehran
Days 9-10: Kerman, Shiraz, Persepolis
April 14-15, 2008
Today we head further west to Shiraz, with a stop en route at the Sassanian ruins in Sarvistan. At dusk, as we approach Shiraz, we pass by large salt flats which are almost impossible to discern from the appearance of snow in the low blue light. The road into Shiraz is lined with homes and shops that are inlaid with cut mirrors, which shimmer as we pass them in the moonlight. Tonight we enjoy dinner on the outdoor patio at the hotel, along with live music in the warm night air.
The next day we depart for one of the most anticipated sites on the itinerary: Persepolis. The scope of the site is immense, and we run into the most diverse crowd seen on our Iran journey thus far. Languages from all over the map can be heard: English, German, French, Chinese, Japanese and so on. As I stand between monolithic columns it seems we are at the gateway of Persian history.
The Sassanid rock reliefs at Naghsh-e Rostam are magnificent. Here we also see tombs of four Achaemenid kings, like giant stamped impressions in the cliff side in the shape of a cross. From our view of the crosses, we can see that in the center of each there are small entranceways to the tombs, leading into the cliff. Legend purports that the face of the tombs were built high up so that thieves could not get inside easily.
We have lunch outdoors at the lovely Peacock's Nest before returning to Shiraz. Upon our arrival back into the city, we stop at the Nasir-ol-Mosque and the beautiful garden Narenjestan. Here at the garden we make more young friends. They are learning English in school and tell us they would like to practice with us. The conversation soon becomes a picture exchange as we talk about their school and compare family lives. Young people in Iran seem very interested in American culture, and soak up any and all information they are given.
Photos from this leg of the tour (click to enlarge):
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