Day 21 - Shiraz

Yasna arrived with her driver at 8 this morning as arranged. Today was to be our day for visiting Naqshe Rostam and then the ancient city of Persepolis. We arrived at Naqshe Rostam an hour or so later and began our visit to this site with four well preserved wall tombs. The scale of these has to be seen to get a true feel for them and they are all the more impressive when one realises the present day ground level is so much higher than it was back then. How these tombs were carved out of the rock so high above the ground defies imagination. One has  clearly been identified as the tomb of Darius the Great. There is also the remains of an earlier Elamite relief of a man's head that dates back to around 1000 BC. We then headed to Persepolis, perhaps one of the best preserved of the cities of antiquity. The stunning reliefs looked as though they might have been created yesterday. The scale of the city is huge and again high above the city one finds a couple of wall tombs. We would have easily spent 3 or 4 hours here including a welcome break for tea and cool drinks. Eventually we headed back to Shiraz and bid farewell to our lovely guide Yasna and her driver. Iranians are such friendly, lovely people. After a short rest we decided to visit the tomb of the celebrated Persian poet Hafez. A quick taxi ride across town and we found ourselves in the beautiful gardens that surround the tomb and memorial hall. A great many Iranians also were here paying their respects no doubt. This evening we also headed out to try an upmarket restaurant that Yasna had suggested - Haft Khan or Seven Stages if I understood her correctly. Arriving early by taxi the Maitre-De showed us around all seven different sections that make up this restaurant stretching over several floors. Each section is tailored to different tastes and different sized wallets. In the end we opted for the traditional and enjoyed a delicious meal before taking our leave and heading home.