Shiraz
Shiraz is known in Iran for the laziness of its inhabitants, however it is known internationally because of the many historical sites in the city and in close proximity to it (including Persepolis). My visit to Shiraz went over two nights but no more than one and a half days (long bus rides).
In my short time I've seen some historical sites but also the new Shiraz. Nightlife in Shiraz means to drive in a car down a well-known street and trying to impress the women to an extent that they want to climb in. Shiraz is, as already described, rich in historical sites and I visited mosques, gardens, palaces, shrines, etc. However, I dared to visit Shiraz and not to go to Persepolis. While the reaction of an Iranian girlfriend has been very negative, I see it more as a reason to come back in the coming years.
Yazd
After another long bus ride from most southern place of my travel, so far, Shiraz, I arrived in Yazd. The place has not only one, as I think was very ingenious name, it is also in a surreal landscape from a Central European point of view. Yazd is situated in a desert. When I asked when it had rained the last time, I got two months ago as a response. Moreover, it would not rain again until three or four months. The seasons are therefore different from those in Germany. Instead of spring, summer, autumn and winter there are winter, summer and the sand storm season. I was glad that I was in there in sand storm season (35 + degrees Celsius) and not in summer (40 + degrees Celsius).
Navid and his wife were excellent hosts to me and a recently retired couple from New Zealand. The couple had a rich repertoire of stories from almost 50 years of traveling.
In the evening we (all the above-mentioned persons) went into town to eat. After eating Navid managed to move his car through the narrow old streets, to show us a beautifully restored old house. The distinctive feature of many old houses in Yazd is the existence of a wind tower. Wind towers use the thermals and typical winds in Yazd to create a pleasant breeze and a good temperature in one room of the house. They don’t need external power supply.
On the next day Nooshin, a friend of Masoud (my host in Tehran), was willing to show me the city. Since I had only limited interest in long walks at 38 degrees Celsius, I've seen most sights of Yazd only from a safe distance. The Tower of Silence, an old tower on which the corpses were laid out traditionally, was the only tourist spot of Yazd, which I saw on that day. After that we drove to the nearby town of Taft. En route we stopped in a small town where I have a visited a Zoroastrian (traditional Persian religion) the temple. The City of Taft is known for its gardens. We spent some time in the garden of the father of Mohammad, a friend of Nooshin. The garden was a pure orchard; in a few minutes I was able to fill my vitamin depots for the coming 20 years. After a brief discussion among the locals, the proposal for the afternoon to go to a nearby village was appreciated by me. A little later we drove through a spectacular landscape in the direction of the village, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. In the weekend home of Mohammad's parents, we spent the afternoon. Later that evening we went back to Yazd. I had not seen, the outstanding tourist attractions, but spent a good time with nice people. In the night I took a bus to Tehran.
Shiraz is known in Iran for the laziness of its inhabitants, however it is known internationally because of the many historical sites in the city and in close proximity to it (including Persepolis). My visit to Shiraz went over two nights but no more than one and a half days (long bus rides).
In my short time I've seen some historical sites but also the new Shiraz. Nightlife in Shiraz means to drive in a car down a well-known street and trying to impress the women to an extent that they want to climb in. Shiraz is, as already described, rich in historical sites and I visited mosques, gardens, palaces, shrines, etc. However, I dared to visit Shiraz and not to go to Persepolis. While the reaction of an Iranian girlfriend has been very negative, I see it more as a reason to come back in the coming years.
Yazd
After another long bus ride from most southern place of my travel, so far, Shiraz, I arrived in Yazd. The place has not only one, as I think was very ingenious name, it is also in a surreal landscape from a Central European point of view. Yazd is situated in a desert. When I asked when it had rained the last time, I got two months ago as a response. Moreover, it would not rain again until three or four months. The seasons are therefore different from those in Germany. Instead of spring, summer, autumn and winter there are winter, summer and the sand storm season. I was glad that I was in there in sand storm season (35 + degrees Celsius) and not in summer (40 + degrees Celsius).
Navid and his wife were excellent hosts to me and a recently retired couple from New Zealand. The couple had a rich repertoire of stories from almost 50 years of traveling.
In the evening we (all the above-mentioned persons) went into town to eat. After eating Navid managed to move his car through the narrow old streets, to show us a beautifully restored old house. The distinctive feature of many old houses in Yazd is the existence of a wind tower. Wind towers use the thermals and typical winds in Yazd to create a pleasant breeze and a good temperature in one room of the house. They don’t need external power supply.
On the next day Nooshin, a friend of Masoud (my host in Tehran), was willing to show me the city. Since I had only limited interest in long walks at 38 degrees Celsius, I've seen most sights of Yazd only from a safe distance. The Tower of Silence, an old tower on which the corpses were laid out traditionally, was the only tourist spot of Yazd, which I saw on that day. After that we drove to the nearby town of Taft. En route we stopped in a small town where I have a visited a Zoroastrian (traditional Persian religion) the temple. The City of Taft is known for its gardens. We spent some time in the garden of the father of Mohammad, a friend of Nooshin. The garden was a pure orchard; in a few minutes I was able to fill my vitamin depots for the coming 20 years. After a brief discussion among the locals, the proposal for the afternoon to go to a nearby village was appreciated by me. A little later we drove through a spectacular landscape in the direction of the village, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. In the weekend home of Mohammad's parents, we spent the afternoon. Later that evening we went back to Yazd. I had not seen, the outstanding tourist attractions, but spent a good time with nice people. In the night I took a bus to Tehran.
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