Mohammed, our driver for the day, picks us up at 9 am to drive us to Shiraz, stopping at Pasargadae and Persepolis along the way. Even though he is studying Tourism Management, Claude and I quickly come to the conclusion that he is not a ‘natural’...
He gets lost getting out of Yazd, taking an hour and a half to leave the town, but then decides he has time to go shopping for a new pair of trousers in the town of Abarqu, where we stop briefly to visit a crumbling traditional house and a mosque. In the photos I have included a Zakat donation box I saw in the town. These boxes are found in all Iranian cities and are there to help the faithful fulfil their ‘Zakat’ obligation, alms-giving to the poor, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Before Claude and I have time to digest Mohammed’s statement he disappears. 20 minutes later I hunt him down in a store and explain to him that we had paid for a private driver to have ample time to visit Persepolis and not to accompany him on his trouser shopping. Never mind ample time, the question now was whether we were going to get to Persepolis at all before closing time... Mohammed promises we will... Have you ever raced through the desert valleys of the Zagros Mountains at 170km/h? We have, as the police stops us 3 times for speeding and Mohammed gets fined. At the end of this part of the adventure ride (2 hours car ride, Iranian dance and R&B music blasting, windows rolled down and our hijabs constantly getting blown off) we manage to reach Pasargadae (the tomb of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great, the founder of the First Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, spanning Iran, Iraq, parts of Turkey and Pakistan) and Persepolis.
Persepolis is a monumental city built by Darius the Great, the third Persian king, as a ceremonial centre in honour of Ahura Mazda, the same god worshipped by the Zoroastrians. The Empire had in the meantime extended to modern day Egypt, Sudan, parts of India and reached the Danube in Europe. The historical site was to a large extent destroyed, following Darius’ defeat at the hands of Alexander the Great of Macedonia and the town burning down, and then disappeared covered for centuries by dust and sand. What remains of the grand staircases, gateways, halls, columns is nevertheless very impressive, set as it is against a barren mountain backdrop housing the tombs of Antaxerxes II and III. I am amazed by how well-preserved the bas-reliefs of kings, nobility and their subjects are portrayed on the walls of the Apadana Palace. Persians, Medians, Ethiopians, Arabs, Thracians, Parthians, Cappadocians, Elamites, Egyptians, they are all accounted for...
Night is approaching and we unfortunately have to leave Persepolis... we would have happily spent another hour getting lost amongst the ruins of this historical jewel.
NB For the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy, in 1971 Shah Reza Pahlavi invited the rich and mighty from all over the globe to celebrations lasting several days in a tent city built for the occasion at Persepolis. Many say that the extravagance of this event (catering flown in from Paris every day!) was one of the triggers, amongst others, for the events that followed in 1979 when the Shah was ousted in a popular uprising.
... We head back to the parking lot. There is no sign of Mohammed. We spend about half an hour looking for his car, followed by several Iranians very worried about our well-being, asking us how they can help. There are very few countries where in a similar situation the locals would have been so protective and helpful... The donkey man has found Mohammed, who had parked in the far corner of the dark (and now empty) parking lot. It had not occurred to him that we may be at the main exit of the parking... No comment... At this point we are just hoping to get to Shiraz soon, as we have had our fill of adrenaline thanks to Mohammed’s antics. Another 45 minutes of racing along the motorway praying for our lives, music blaring, windows rolled down until we finally reach Shiraz. Alhamdulillah! The guy has some lessons to learn if he wants to be successful in the world of tourism...
NB For the 2500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy, in 1971 Shah Reza Pahlavi invited the rich and mighty from all over the globe to celebrations lasting several days in a tent city built for the occasion at Persepolis. Many say that the extravagance of this event (catering flown in from Paris every day!) was one of the triggers, amongst others, for the events that followed in 1979 when the Shah was ousted in a popular uprising.
... We head back to the parking lot. There is no sign of Mohammed. We spend about half an hour looking for his car, followed by several Iranians very worried about our well-being, asking us how they can help. There are very few countries where in a similar situation the locals would have been so protective and helpful... The donkey man has found Mohammed, who had parked in the far corner of the dark (and now empty) parking lot. It had not occurred to him that we may be at the main exit of the parking... No comment... At this point we are just hoping to get to Shiraz soon, as we have had our fill of adrenaline thanks to Mohammed’s antics. Another 45 minutes of racing along the motorway praying for our lives, music blaring, windows rolled down until we finally reach Shiraz. Alhamdulillah! The guy has some lessons to learn if he wants to be successful in the world of tourism...
We are only too happy to step into the safety of Jaci (an ex-colleague of mine from Siemens) and Mansour’s flat in Shiraz. They now live half of the year in Shiraz to escape from the English winter and spend some time in Iran, where Manosur originally comes from (he is an Azeri Iranian from Tabriz). They are excellent hosts and it is a pleasant break to be staying at somebody’s home rather than be moving into the next hotel...
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