On The Road

I leave Shiraz very early, hoping to be able to get some good shots of Persepolis right after sunrise. I’m the first one in and enjoy the site by myself for a short time. Persepolis is quite a big site and there is so much to see that I decide to stay for a couple of nights. The fancy Apadana hotel right next to the entrance has secure parking and gives me such a screaming deal that I think the very attractive woman at the front desk must have made a mistake and I ask her to write the number down and even then I clarify that it is in Rials and not Tomans. It must have been my very good looks or maybe it was just my lucky day. Only hitch is the big pool in front of the hotel is empty. I guess it would be a bit much to have such a pool in operation right next to Persepolis for everyone to see half naked bathers.

I won’t bore you with the historic details of the place other than saying that it was the ceremonial capital of the first Persian empire during the Achaemenid period and it was burned to the ground by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Artistically the Achaemenids happily mixed styles and ideas from the areas the conquered. It’s quite fascinating and it let the pictures speak for themselves.

I notice that the Basij, the religious militia defending the revolution has taken a day off.

Sadly, the picture below is only one of many carvings of early western visitor left on the Gate of Nations. Fools are truly international.

Many Iranian families are around and they take the obligatory family shot at the Gate of Nations.

Persepolis is a nice spot to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

At night the place is lit up with barely enough lights working to make it visible.

My hotel has only fish for dinner, a poor choice in the middle of a desert. I walk down the road in search of a couple of restaurants I had seen on my way in and get a lift from a local on a small bike. We talk about the upcoming election and he tells me that he will not vote because he thinks it doesn’t matter. The restaurant turns out to be a psychedelic faux grotto in slime green. What a trip! The food however is excellent.

I arrive at the gate of Pasargadae, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC), at 7:30. I have a chat with the friendly guards and they let me in early. The site is laid out to face the evening sun. So, there is not much to take pictures of in the morning other than the back side of, what most believe to be, the grave of Cyrus the Great.

The different parts of the city are quite spread out and I drive around and hike to various ruins for a while.

A little roadside shop owner evidently is an Ahmadinejad supporter

In Abarqu I stop to look at an old ice house

and a Cyprus tree, supposedly 4000 years old.

There are other interesting things to see here but it is too hot for that at around noon. The town is clearly hoping to attract foreign visitors and they have installed signs in English everywhere. After the city I hit on a 40km stretch of brand new four lane highway and I let it rip.

I stop to explore a crumbling caravansary at the side of the road.

I make it to Yazd in good time and head to the Silk Road Hotel. The guy I check in with is completely clueless and too lazy to even lift his feet. Just like last time. On the plus side that makes him a push over on the price. For parking he just points to a space at the back door and disappears. I maneuver the bike in by myself.

This is a gem of a place and I have stayed here before. Some of the people who work here are super motivated and friendly, others (relatives of the owner maybe?) just couldn’t care less and leave some travelers thoroughly disappointed after all the hype they chose to believe.