Iran is one of those countries that most people hear of and instantly jump to conclusions about. Generally complete misconceptions based on media bias involving terrorists and Ayatollahs. My experiences in Iran were very positive, I found the people warm, helpful and hospitable and the country has a fascinating cultural wealth dating back thousands of years.
I have borrowed the following image from Frank and Peggy a couple of Dutch friends of mine, it shows the political feeling towards the United States in the form of a mural on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran. For some reason i did not take a photo myself.
Esfahan is home to what is quite possibly the worlds most beautiful mosque. The Blue Mosque of Esfahan is covered in tiles and is extremely large (first three pictures). It is at one end of Emam Khomeini square which is extremely large and as well as housing the mosque also houses a palace, the bazaar and another mosque (shown below), the dome of which changes colour during the day as the sun moves and the light alters.
Persepolis is the ancient remains of what was the Persian capital. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, some say due to envy, some say maliciously and others claim it was probably just an accident. Whatever it was, the remains give a glimpse of how impressive the city must once have been.
Not far from Persepolis are the tombs of several former Persian rulers, generally called either Xerxes or Ataxerxes. The detail of the rock carving in the picture below does not give any scale. In fact this detail is several metres high and larger than life, carved directly into the cliff face. Next to these tombs is a Zoroastrian fire temple, shown in the second picture.
In some places one is fortunate enough to see the things of fable. The Arg-E-Bam in the east of Iran is one such place. It appears just like the mud brick cities of film and stories such as the Thousand and One Nights. The place is now quite serene, when I visited there were about four other tourists in the whole city. It is quite interesting to note that people lived there up until quite recently.
This is more of the Iran that many people think of, women wearing Chadors. The majority of women in Iran apparently want to do away with the Chador, but at the moment it is a legal requirement. This aside women in Iran have many more opportunities than in many other Middle-Eastern countries, although it is far from equality.
