Aryo Barzan Shiraz

(Jim)<br><br>Shiraz has a reputation as an enlightened city that has been at the centre of Persian culture for more than 2,000 years, and was at one time the country's capital. It was the hometown of the most famous Iranian poet Hafez, and each year huge numbers of Iranians still make a pilgrimage to Shiraz to visit his mausoleum. Shiraz is also renowned for it's parks and green space, and of course the variety of grape that was taken back to Europe centuries ago and is now ...

Hello everybody, it is not Sam writing this, it is instead his friend Ian. As travelpod is banned in Iran, Sam has trusted me with the responsibility of occasionally keeping you up to date on his trip. I won't be able to be nearly as entertaining or as detailed as Sam, nor will I get to show any photos, but I can still keep you reasonably informed. First things first, Sam is alive, he has not been affected by the violence in Iran. He hasn't been in Tehran for the violence, he ...

Another stunning posting from Fiona.<br>10 June 2009<br>Another long driving day, through mountain flanked desert. The tedium was broken by an interesting lunch stop at the home of a couple of Mustapha's university buddies. We made our usual Dragoman lunch of fresh bread, cheese, tomato, cucumber, meats, fruit etc and the boys invited us to join them in smoking the hookah pipe. Very pleasant lemon flavour, with the buzz of about 50 ...

... by Persian pride. He seems to be on a mission to make sure every foreigner he comes in contact with understands that a) Iranians are Persians, not Arabs, and b) The Persian Empire was the greatest empire that ever existed. Abbas is convinced that everything of historical importance originated with the Persians (language, fables, architecture, you name it), and if there were ever any problems it was because of the Arabs. Or the ...

Teheran, le bordel. Esfahan, le bijou. Yazd, le calme. On m'avait vendu la quatrième des grandes villes iraniennes, Shiraz, comme le plus beau ...

... t one of them. Several reasons really. One, if you've seen one mosque you pretty much have seen them all. I really didn't understand the fawning and awe which some seemed to find in every mosque we were in . They are architecturally different for sure, but apart from one mosque they were really just big empty buildings, once you got past the mosaics and differing architectural styles. That's not to say I didn't enjoy most of my ...

... in a very awkward position. When I boarded the train, I found my cabin, which consisted of six beds, five of which were occupied by five snoring Iranian men. When I squeezed myself and my bags into the tiny room, they awoke, turned on the lights, and began to interview me in pantomime about Iran, Canada, and my thoughts and notions about my my travels thus far. The Iranians dont' let something as small as a language barrier get in the way of discussing politics, religion ...

... onto the green lawn surrounding it. During the Zandian dynasty of Karim Khan (c. 1750), Shiraz was the capital of Persia and a major construction project to make the city worthy of that designation was undertaken. During his short-lived dynasty, Karim Khan created the royal palace surrounded by the fortress and the moat, as well as the commercial and residential district around the bazaar. But with about 250 years of decline and neglect under its belt, much like the ...

As big and interesting as Persepolis was, we had wrapped everything up and returned to Shiraz by around one O' clock in the afternoon. After we were dropped off, Peter and Matthias, the two German guys I met on the day trip, suggested lunch together. We walked from the tour agency along the main boulevard under the boiling sun toward the restaurant. We took full advantage of the refreshing juices on offer from the juice bars. These juices are necessary to survival in Iran ...

... groups. Apparently in the northwestern region of Iran, near the border with Turkey and Azerbaijian, there are many ethnic enclaves. Some towns are made up of ethnic Turks entirely, while a neighbouring town is made up of Armenians, Azaris or Kurds. They speak their own ethnic languages in the towns, but they all learn Farsi in the public school system. From the way they immediately identified these towns by their ethnic make-up, I gathered that different ethnic groups do not mix ...