Journey to Iran By Mirko and Xi

Journey to Iran
By Mirko and Xiomara Tomassoni © 2002
(continued from page 1)

From Shiraz, it is easier and cheaper to take a taxi trip to visit: Persepolis, one of the most interesting and exciting visits. It was selected as the summer capital of the Empire and has the impressionist Xerxes door (ornamented with the famous lions with wings), the Apadana Court with all the kings visiting Darious the Great, the palaces of Xerxes, Artaxerxes and Darious, the Hundred Columns' Palace, the museum with this minuscule stamps, figures in lapis lazuli, pieces of the original floor, and the original bronze trumpet... It is really a great experience to feel the value and the power of these ancient structures. To find the principal entrance, you must be lifted more than hundred steps, but with the wheelchair you can go inside using the exit pending street, then you will start your visit with the museum and the Hundred Columns' Palace.


Door at the Hundred Columns' Palace	Mirko and Xiomara Tomassoni

You can continue visiting Pasergade, a symbolic place for the Iranians because there's the tomb of Cyro's The Great. Really that place isn't exciting because the palaces aren't well preserved like at Persepolis, but if you get the opportunity, it is good to go there. A very kind guard works at this place, who likes to tell the history of the city, and he is so kind to help with wheelchair.

Cyro's the Great Tomb

We stayed in a comfortable hotel: the Aryo (****), located at 20 minutes from the airport just in the center of Shiraz. The suites are clean and nice, with TV and satellite antenna and a spacious bathroom. The unique difficulty was the entry. It has six steps, but a bellboy was always ready to help us with the wheelchair.

After three days, we turned back to Teheran and spent our time visiting parks, museums (you must visit the Archeological National and the Islamic Museums), shopping souvenirs made in "khatan" (the typical Persian technique to make a mosaic to cover key rings, pens, boxes, jewel cases, combs, etc), original paints with miniatures and a famous and unique Persian carpets. It is possible to admire another kind of carpet: "kilim," which looks like the photo. You can visit a lot of places with the same taxi for about $15.


Kilim technique	Persian Carpet

After our shopping days, we went by car to the west. 340 km from Teheran is the city of Hamedan. This place was the capital of the Medos Empire, and during the Cyro's the Great's government, it was a summer capital of the kingdom.

Mausoleum of Baba Taher (Hamedan)

About 5km from the city, it is possible to visit Ganjnameh a fresh place, famous for its small waterfall and 2 petrographs written in cuneiform characters, belonging to Darius the Great and Xerxes.


Ganjnameh	Mirko at the waterfall	Alisadr Caves

Near to Hamedan, it is possible to visit the Alisadr Caves, the greatest in Iran. It contains a vast lake, which empties into a labyrinth of numerous passages with stalactites and stalagmites, along which one can sail for many kilometers. There are recreational and disabled facilities, including pendings close to the stairs, pedal boats, lifesavers and kind people to help you arrive near the boats and assist with transfers to and from the wheelchair and boat.

At Hamedan we stayed at the Buali Hotel (****), with easy access from the parking lot to the rooms. These are comfortable, and above all, there is a spacious bathroom.

To finish this exciting trip, we went to Isfahan called "the jewel of the Islam" for its mosque. At 390km form Teheran, in this nice city you can visit the "Chejel Sotoon" an ancient palace, called "40 columns," which is famous for the original poetry books of Hafez and Sa'Di'. Outside in the streets, you can enjoy the Islamic art in buildings, squares and parks throughout the Si o Se Pol Bridge, which is the most famous for its tea and smoking rooms, when the nightlife during the holidays, doesn't finish at midnight...


Si o Se Bridge	Emam Khomeini Square

During the day, it is a gift for the senses to visit the Emam Khomeini Square with the Masjed-e Sheihk Lotfollah and its incredible lights and colors play. The buff dome of this mosque is magnificently impressive, and, according to some historians, it is unique in all over the world. To visit these incredible places with the wheelchair, you need two kind Iranians to lift you.

Here we stayed at the Azady Hotel (***) near the center. It had comfortable access, but the bathroom was little, but but enough to take a shower with some help...

And that was our honeymoon in Iran, an incredible place with extraordinary people, many natural resources, which is waiting for tourists and waiting for friends...

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