Earthlooping at one of Shiraz's shrines
Yes, the city where wine was once the best in the Middle East is now a totally alcohol-free area, as the whole of Iran, so no chance for any wine tasting. Still, Shiraz and its surroundings have some of the most beautiful sights you can see in all Iran, such as Shah-e-Charagh Shrine Complex, Nasir-al-Molk Mosque and the ancient city of Persepolis, an hour away by car. After Yazd and Esfahan, Shiraz comes next in terms of sihghtseeing in Iran.
We arrived in Shiraz around 5 in the evening after a 6-hour bus ride from Yazd. From the bus station we took a taxi to Golshan Hostel, close to the main sights of the city. First problem: the taxi driver dropped us in a totally different place. Yes, it was called Golshan but there was no hostel there, so after a few phone calls by some shopkeepers we took another taxi and finally we got to the place. This practice is quite common in Iran: You take a taxi, ask to go somewhere and normally they have no clue where the place is, so they keep asking and asking until they finally find it. But it doesn't always work.
Anyway we made it to the place and after bargaining the price and convincing the guy at the reception that we must stay with a photocopy of the passport and of the Iranian visa (first place they didn't want to check us in without the original passport), we left the luggage in the room and went to explore a bit the city, but not too much as with all the taxi issues it was quite late.
Shiraz Bazar
The hostel was located in one of the main streets of Shiraz, between the two main bazars and walking distance from almost all the main sights. We also tried to eat something and it was like coming to real life again after Yazd: kebab, pizza, hamburger. At least the hostel was nice and resembled a bit those in Yazd, with a small courtyard where to hang out but no people at all until we met a French guy who was spending 12 days in Iran and his main goal was visiting Persepolis. We actually had some doubts about going to Persepolis, being afraid that it would be yet another pile of ruins with not much else. As the French guy was going there the following day, we waited for a review, and actually he came really impressed and convinced us to visit it. In addition, the selected day to visit Persepolis was a Friday, the day off in Iran, so nothing else to do but to visit the ancient city.
Nasir-al-Molk mosque courtyard
But before Persepolis, there was a day devoted to Shiraz. We started early morning by going to an exchange office to have some more rials as we were running out of them. On the way to the office we could have a glimpse of the main bazar, really crowded with people and with nice ceilings. Later we could see the fortress (nothing special) and a couple of mosques nearby the bazar. Back to the hotel as another Skype conference was awaiting with the students from Barcelona.
After the conference we decided to visit the Holy Shrine, described as really beautiful in the books. It is only a five or ten-minute walk from the hostel through the bazar. We had already been in quite a lot of shrines in Iran, all of them with the impressive mirror-covered walls inside. But this one looked different from the beginning.
After the conference we decided to visit the Holy Shrine, described as really beautiful in the books. It is only a five or ten-minute walk from the hostel through the bazar. We had already been in quite a lot of shrines in Iran, all of them with the impressive mirror-covered walls inside. But this one looked different from the beginning.
Shah-er-Cheragh Shrine
Actually it is one of the most important shrines in Iran, as two of the brothers of Imam Reza (the one buried in Mashhad) are buried here. It is not an isolated shrine, but a complex with a square and two shrines inside. To enter there, you have to leave your camera and bag at the entrance and then you are checked by the security guards, you cannot get into the complex on your own.
Once you get inside the complex you realize this is not yet another normal shrine. What you see is really jaw-dropping: a big square with a pool in the middle and a really big shrine with a blue-tiled dome behind the pool. On the other side, another smaller shrine. It feels like Disneyland. But without time to admire the view a young girl approached us: "hello, welcome to the shrine. Where are you from? We have a foreig pilgrims office and we can show you around and explain you everything about this place. Come inside please."
Once you get inside the complex you realize this is not yet another normal shrine. What you see is really jaw-dropping: a big square with a pool in the middle and a really big shrine with a blue-tiled dome behind the pool. On the other side, another smaller shrine. It feels like Disneyland. But without time to admire the view a young girl approached us: "hello, welcome to the shrine. Where are you from? We have a foreig pilgrims office and we can show you around and explain you everything about this place. Come inside please."
Shah-er-Cheragh Shrine by night
With not even time to answer her, we were sitting inside the office having a cup of tea and cookies. Not bad. In some minutes a guy came and took us inside the shrine and gave us explanations about the guys buried there and stuff. The big shrine is simply impressive. Mirrors everywhere, people praying, colors... the most beautiful one so far.
After the explanations and leaving some comments in the guestbook of the office, the guy set us free and we could wander around freely, get into the other shrine and admire the whole thing. One of the best single sights in all Iran.
Still impressed about the shrine, we headed to wander around the bazar, really nice one with some caravanserais scattered around and shops selling the usual stuff plus some t-shirts from Shiraz. Then we crossed the river on the way to Hefez Tomb, the most famous Iranian poet. On the way there we came accross another shrine. And yet another beautiful one. It has a really nice courtyard, a blue-tiled dome and as it was Muharram we could enjoy some free tea and cookies.
After the explanations and leaving some comments in the guestbook of the office, the guy set us free and we could wander around freely, get into the other shrine and admire the whole thing. One of the best single sights in all Iran.
Still impressed about the shrine, we headed to wander around the bazar, really nice one with some caravanserais scattered around and shops selling the usual stuff plus some t-shirts from Shiraz. Then we crossed the river on the way to Hefez Tomb, the most famous Iranian poet. On the way there we came accross another shrine. And yet another beautiful one. It has a really nice courtyard, a blue-tiled dome and as it was Muharram we could enjoy some free tea and cookies.
We got to the tomb of the poet to decide just to take a picture from outside, as it was pricey and it's just a garden with the tomb of a guy we don't even know a single thing about him.
It was already dark and before going back to the hotel we decided to go again to the shrine complex to see if it was nicely lit or something. And oh my god it was! If the view in the morning was jaw-dropping, by night it was everything-dropping! All the complex was fully lit, and the view with the pool and the shrine behind it was unforgettable, like from a fairytale. We spent around an hour taking pictures and just admiring the whole place and back to the hostel.
There we met the French guy again who was back from the trip to Persepolis. He really recommended us to go there no matter what. Actually he only was in Shiraz for Persepolis, he hadn't seen any single place in the city, so we told him he could try to go to the shrine, and by showing him a picture taken a few minutes ago, he rushed to it.
He came back and really thanked us for the good tip of the shrine, a bit of chatting and to sleep. Next day it was the turn of Persepolis.
It was already dark and before going back to the hotel we decided to go again to the shrine complex to see if it was nicely lit or something. And oh my god it was! If the view in the morning was jaw-dropping, by night it was everything-dropping! All the complex was fully lit, and the view with the pool and the shrine behind it was unforgettable, like from a fairytale. We spent around an hour taking pictures and just admiring the whole place and back to the hostel.
There we met the French guy again who was back from the trip to Persepolis. He really recommended us to go there no matter what. Actually he only was in Shiraz for Persepolis, he hadn't seen any single place in the city, so we told him he could try to go to the shrine, and by showing him a picture taken a few minutes ago, he rushed to it.
He came back and really thanked us for the good tip of the shrine, a bit of chatting and to sleep. Next day it was the turn of Persepolis.
Persepolis relieves
We woke up quite early and headed for the bus station, where we took a shared taxi for quite a good price straight to Persepolis. It takes an hour to get there. Once on the site, you pay an entrance fee of 150000 rials and you are free to explore the whole site. I didn't have many expectations about it, as not being a history lover, normally all these ruined places look like a pile of stones and nothing else. But to be honest, Persepolis really surprised me.
The city is really big, you can easily spend there at least 3 hours. You enter by climbing the main stairs and from there you cross the main gate and start seeing really well preserved ancient sculptures, columns.... and yes, it is everything in ruins, but still there are really beautiful relieves in a lot of walls (the most impressive of whole Persepolis), you can climb up to a couple of tombs and admire the whole city, walk around, even stop for a juice... All in all a totally recommended visit.
The city is really big, you can easily spend there at least 3 hours. You enter by climbing the main stairs and from there you cross the main gate and start seeing really well preserved ancient sculptures, columns.... and yes, it is everything in ruins, but still there are really beautiful relieves in a lot of walls (the most impressive of whole Persepolis), you can climb up to a couple of tombs and admire the whole city, walk around, even stop for a juice... All in all a totally recommended visit.
Persepolis
Now it was time to get back to Shiraz and this time it was a bit more difficult as there were not shared taxis, but after waiting a bit we could get a ride to the nearby town of Marvdasht and from there by minibus to Shiraz. Pizza and to the hotel to have some tea and shisha in the courtyard before going to bed.
The next day was our last one in Shiraz before returning to Tehran to pick up the passport and the visas. In the morning we went to Nasir-al-Molk mosque, and what a great decision! This is the most beautiful mosque in all Iran, but only if you are lucky to go there in the morning in a sunny day. This is because when the Sun shines through tyhe stained-glass colourful windows, the whole interior of the mosque becomes totally colorful. Really beautiful! In the beginning there was a crowd of Japanese people takig pictures and making the place looking like a school playground but luckily these Japanese are always rushing to places with an organized tour, so soon they were off and we had the place for ourselves.
The next day was our last one in Shiraz before returning to Tehran to pick up the passport and the visas. In the morning we went to Nasir-al-Molk mosque, and what a great decision! This is the most beautiful mosque in all Iran, but only if you are lucky to go there in the morning in a sunny day. This is because when the Sun shines through tyhe stained-glass colourful windows, the whole interior of the mosque becomes totally colorful. Really beautiful! In the beginning there was a crowd of Japanese people takig pictures and making the place looking like a school playground but luckily these Japanese are always rushing to places with an organized tour, so soon they were off and we had the place for ourselves.
Nasir-al-Molk mosque interior
At 12 they closed the mosque for praying, so we went out and headed to a garden north of the city. It is a botanical garden with a quite nice palace inside but taking into consideration the price foreigners have to pay, is a totally missable place, nothing really worth the taxi ride.
Some food and back to the hostel to make some time, as we wanted to take an overnight bus to Tehran around 8 in the evening. At the hostel we were having some tea, chatting and taking pictures with the recepcionist and then to the bus station. In Iran you can just show up at most of the stations and buy a ticket on the spot to your desired destination, which in this case was Tehran, where we should pick up the passport from the Chinese embassy (hopefully with a nice Chinese visa in it), go to the Uzbek embassy and get the visa and then go to the Turkmen embassy and apply for the visa. Quite a lot of stuff to do.
All in all, the days spent in Shiraz were totally fulfilling, with the visits to the Holy Shrine Complex, Nasir-al-Molk mosque and Persepolis as the highlights of the trip. If you add the chance of spending some time talking to a tourist (they are a really rara avis in Iran), it was quite a perfect journey before going back to hated Tehran.
Check the Shiraz Travel Guide for more details!
Some food and back to the hostel to make some time, as we wanted to take an overnight bus to Tehran around 8 in the evening. At the hostel we were having some tea, chatting and taking pictures with the recepcionist and then to the bus station. In Iran you can just show up at most of the stations and buy a ticket on the spot to your desired destination, which in this case was Tehran, where we should pick up the passport from the Chinese embassy (hopefully with a nice Chinese visa in it), go to the Uzbek embassy and get the visa and then go to the Turkmen embassy and apply for the visa. Quite a lot of stuff to do.
All in all, the days spent in Shiraz were totally fulfilling, with the visits to the Holy Shrine Complex, Nasir-al-Molk mosque and Persepolis as the highlights of the trip. If you add the chance of spending some time talking to a tourist (they are a really rara avis in Iran), it was quite a perfect journey before going back to hated Tehran.
Check the Shiraz Travel Guide for more details!
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