Fond Farewell From Shiraz To The Friendly Locals
Posted On Saturday, September 24, 2011 at at 2:01 AM by Alvin
Our 7 hours' bus journey took us gradually from the harsh desert scenery in Yazd, to the lush and green territories of Shiraz - our last stop in Iran. Since ancient times, Shiraz had been a fertile region for growing the local "Shiraz" red grapes which made the Syrah wine famous world wide. We saw lots of grape vines and cultivated lands around Shiraz as we travelled towards the coast of the Persian Gulf. We settled quickly upon arrival to this rather commercial city and ventured to the Karim Khan Fort during sunset. Step aside please Rome, as we took 3 buses the following day to the magnificent site of Persepolis - the ancient capital of Persia ! The site was full of rock carvings, fallen stone columns and of course loads of tourists. We also visited the nearby rock tombs of the past Persian Kings in Naqsh-e Rostam before successfully hitching a lift back to the bus station, from the middle of absolutely nowhere !Before we left Iran, we had to stress that the people we met in Iran showed us hospitality aplenty and made the journey so memorable :
- the bus ticket conductor in Tehran running in front (!) to lead us the way to the station toilets;
- Mostafa, the young man from Yazd who drove us around town to the right bus station when we were completely lost (thanks again !);
- the old man in Isfahan, who walked with us for 10 minutes (in the midday heat) to point us the obscure building that was our hotel; and
- the countless Hello's; Welcome's and hand shakes offered to us almost unfailingly everywhere we went; these peoples wanted nothing from us but to show us their openness and hospitality.
THANK YOU AGAIN !
