We arrived at the only hotel complex near Persepolis, right on dark, stand alone units in a nice green grassy area with trees. They also had camping spots which was great as the whole place was booked out by a Japanese tour group although we didn't understand that until they arrived some hours later.
We visited Persepolis the next day, plenty of photos of this amazing historical place. The Achaemenid Empire was certainly grand, this city was built some 2500 years ago then lost, covered by dust and sand for centuries.
Then it was a short bike ride to see the impressive 4 rock tombs, Naqsh-e Rostam, carved out of a cliff high above the ground. Photos.
If you are into history these are must sees.
Persepolis - Saadat Shahr, 70 km
It is very desert like now, the odd small village with not much to buy, we cannot even figure out why they are there, but we were given a bag of bread, cheese and honey from the restaurant as we left which kept us going.
Iranians love picnics and always seem to have a flask of tea with them. They spread out a blanket and sit by the side of the road. As we pass by we get invited to join them. We enjoyed a cuppa and snacks with some men today, turning down the offer of the water pipe! (photo) We are glad we carry a box of fresh dates, great to share on these occasions! Then we joined a tour group at a traditional restaurant, for what we thought was another cup of tea but ended up being a great lunch.
But no hotels. We were directed to the mosque at the far end of town, behind it there were a number of empty rooms, with just a dusty carpet on the floor. These are for people to stay in, very cheap, there was water available and toilets way across the road. So we set up our beds, had the bikes in the room with us, could lock the door and once again added another interesting 'experience' to our trip. Most of the rooms were full by evening. The main town was just a short walk away, with a few fast food places, no restaurants, they have been in short supply everywhere, it is not an eat out culture. And very little coffee found anywhere.
It is a very family orientated country. Children stay home with their parents until they get married and if they don't get married they just seem to stay there. It seems rare for them to move away from home even for work. Unemployment is very very high. Young people are very well educated with many studying at university but there are no jobs for them after they are qualified. So then they study more, masters, phd etc. It is even worse for the women with many never working at all and having no opportunity to use their education. There is compulsory military training for males for 2 years after they are 18.
It is a society where most often, the women stay home looking after the house, the children, doing the cooking. They have a long lunch break having their main meal then and take a rest afterwards. Then it is back to work for the men till late and dinner is sometime between 9.30 and 11 pm. It gets extremely hot around this area in the summer, 45 - 50 degrees, hence the siesta time. But nice now in late autumn.
Saadat Shahr - near Safashahr 100 km
We rode to Pasargadae first, another historic city interesting but not as well preserved as Persepolis. Lots of tour buses. After lunch we were off the highway enjoying a quieter road. We were a bit unsure of the way at a roundabout but it took us another 15 km totally in the wops to realize we had gone the wrong way, - (photo of me consulting the ipad) eventually figuring out the railway line was on our left instead of our right... Back we went and then up and over a steep hill. By this time the sun was disappearing and we were not going to make it to the next town, which may not have had a hotel anyway, so we found a place to pitch the tent well off the road behind an old fort, in a small orchard. We had actually read about this spot in someone else's blog and taken notes on it just in case, it was exactly as described with running water from a spring as well. Amazing that we got there just on dark. We heated up water to wash off the desert dust and grime, cooked and ate dinner and were asleep before 8 pm! It was really chilly outside.
Safashahr to Abarkur 115 km
We were up and away just as the first farm worker arrived and rejoined the main highway for a while until we found a quiet road that ran parallel. (Photo) Right where we turned off there was a fenced off building and nearby some contractors working. Just as Trevor took the photo someone came out of the building and told him no photos. It must have been a military area. The contractors asked us over for chai, as we headed over this guy comes out again indicating he wanted us to move along so we did, not wanting to upset anyone. Then one of the contractors came running down the road after us, handing us 2 cobs of bbq'd corn including the salt shaker!
About 20 km of this lovely road. A car was parked up further along, a young guy and his dad, we dug out our cups and joined them for tea. The young guy spoke English, his dad was driving him back to Tehren to university. He was a petrol chemical engineer and hoping to get to Australia to work. There are a lot of young people hoping to leave and go to another country to work but it can be difficult to get a passport and even more difficult to get a visa to other countries.
Back on the highway and about the 100 km mark we stopped where there was supposed to be a hotel. Yes a closed one! Just as we were contemplating our next move a car pulled up, Hamed, who ran a travel agency and whose parents lived just 15 km further on. He called them and it was quickly arranged that we would stay with them. What a fun time we had with this lovely family. Made to feel so welcome. There seemed to be a never ending supply of food to eat, a late lunch when we got there, cups of tea, plates of fruit and dates. Hamed's sister and daughter lived there as well and his other sister and children came for dinner. The kids were great fun (photo) and I was pleased to be able to pass on the gifts the Japanese ladies had given me a couple of days back!
We were still chatting when I realized their father had simply rolled himself in a blanket, laid down on the carpet and gone to sleep. And their mother a short time later. No bed or mattress, just a blanket and pillow. We felt a bit precious putting up our air mattresses but I guess it is what you are used to.
Next morning Hamed organized a bus to take us to Yazd as it was too far to bike in one day, all desert and we didn't want to waste another day camping out. A hurried breakfast and we were on the bus at 8.15.
Just a few hours on the bus. We were getting ready to ride the 8 km from the bus terminal to the old city when a guy offered to show us the way. This time we were following a white pick up truck, after the first round about we could see 7 white pick ups in front of us, we just continued until the truck found us! 8 km of intense traffic, ready to go our own way but no, our guide had phoned his wife and invited us to his place. I asked if he lived close, not really was the reply... But it is very difficult to refuse hospitality in this country so we continued, for quite a while, then enjoyed a cuppa with his wife and young children and chatted. He was an interesting character. His mother was from India and Father Iranian. He explained he belonged to a minority religion called Zoroastrianism. There are about 150000 followers in the world with 20000 in Iran and 4000 in Yazd. This is Iran's pre - Islamic religion. This is all such new stuff to us... Fascinating!
Eventually we made our way back into the city, we struggled to find a hotel, they seemed to be hidden in the maze of back streets but settled on a lovely traditional styled place, all the rooms surround a central courtyard. Photo.
We did a bit of sightseeing, a big brown ancient city, the mud brick walls still hiding the houses all surrounded by desert. Very little water, no grass, just dirt where grass could be. The desert landscape is so vast, spectacular in its own way.
Another amazing few days.
