Day 4 pt2 - Pasargadae 🇮🇷

Maka, berjimpit2 lah kami berenam (the 5 of us plus our driver cum tourist guide, Mr Ashkan) in one small car (I told ya... we could not find any big car here in Iran). It's a 4 hours drive from Syiraz to Fars. On the way there, we had to go through a kind of police block... and we were stopped by the police because our car was overloaded... haha 👮 

Suspense dah... ingatkan kena saman dah! Then another policeman (probably a higher position policeman) came and checked our car. When he opened the car and saw the 4 of us at the back of the car, he smiled and say hello... we smiled and said hello to him back of course. Then he said (in Persian language), 'welcome to Iran'... our driver translated it to us... and the policeman juat smile and let us go... hahahaha! Super cool this senior policeman!! And the junior policeman who stopped us just now gave us an unhappy look when we drove away... lol!! 😂🤣😂

Scenery along the way... dessert of Iran.

And our first destination was, Pasargadae.

Pasargadae, the capital of Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great, is located in 130 km distance from Shiraz city on its northeast. It was the first dynastic capital of the Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus II the Great, in Pars, homeland of the Persians, in the 6th century BC. Its palaces, gardens and the mausoleum of Cyrus are outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture and exceptional testimonies of Persian civilization. 

Pasargadae was the capital of the first great multicultural empire in Western Asia. Spanning the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt to the Hindus River, it is considered to be the first empire that respected the cultural diversity of its different peoples. This was reflected in Achaemenid architecture, a synthetic representation of different cultures.

This complex is well known for its most famous monument espeically the Tomb of Cyrus,  Tall-e Takht, a fortified terrace; and a royal ensemble of gatehouse, audience hall, residential palace and gardens. 

First stop... Tomb of Cyrus

The Tomb of Cyrus is the monument of Cyrus the Great.

According to Greek sources, it dates back to 559-29 B.C.

This is the most important monument in Pasargadae. It has six broad steps leading to the sepulchre, the chamber of which measures 3.17 m long by 2.11 m wide by 2.11 m high and has a low and narrow entrance. Though there is no firm evidence identifying the tomb as that of Cyrus, Greek historians tell that Alexander believed it was. When Alexander looted and destroyed Persepolis, he paid a visit to the tomb of Cyrus. Arrian, writing in the second century AD, recorded that Alexander commanded Aristobulus, one of his warriors, to enter the monument. Inside he found a golden bed, a table set with drinking vessels, a gold coffin, some ornaments studded with precious stones and an inscription on the tomb. No trace of any such inscription survives, and there is considerable disagreement to the exact wording of the text. 

 Next, we visited the 'private palace of Cyrus'. 

Private palace of Cyrus with an area of 3427 km2 is one of the largest palaces of Pasargadae. The creeks in the surroundings of this palace indicate the existence of Persian gardens in this area.

Can you imagine the beautiful green garden that used to be here??🤔
Hmm.... now it's just a dessert

When we were here, we met 2 fellow Malaysians. They were shocked when I said Izzay and Izzat are my kids. He said I looked 22... hahahahhahaa... ini memang lawak!!😂🤣😂
But you guys really made my day... hehe.


Walking to the next area... 

Next stop, the Audience Hall... 

Now we see the remnants of the Audience Hall of the palace with 30 white columns.

Us with our guide cum driver, Mr Ashkan

 Next stop was Gate House/Gateway palace

 Very hot and sunny here. It's a dessert... what dya expect kan? 

Anyway, I can't write much... in a rush now as I am catching a flight to Perth tonight (aiyoooo.... trip Iran and India also belum habis blogging... nanti Perth pulak!!). 

Will continue later...

*** To be continued ***

Day4 pt1 - Syiraz - Taha Hostel 🇮🇷

We arrived at Syiraz bus station early next morning. The Taha Hostel staff was kind enough to come and pick us up at the bus station. They SMSed us to ask if we need transport from the bus station the day before... excellent service! 

As usual, the car was a bit too small for the 5 of us (including driver from Taha Hostel)... so mmg berhimpit le kan... haha. And one bag kena ikut on top of the car... lol!😅

Welcome to Taha traditional house aka Taha Hostel :)
Located at a strategic place at the center of Syiraz old town,  Taha Hostel was recommended to us by a Zamri's friend who recently visited Iran and stayed here.

As we reached here very early, our room was not ready yet... but they were kind enough to offer us a temporary room for us to freshen up before breakfast - yes, they served us breakfast although we are not officially  checked-in yet... so nice of them!
If you noticed on the above picture, there is a small cabin-like area where people like us, who reached here early and could not check-in yet... to sit (or sleep)...
So yeah, we sit there while enjoying our breakfast 😀

Typical Iranian breakfast.

The tea was local tea added with roae petal... yummeh!!

 
See the rose petal? 🌹 

Somehow it added this unique taste in the tea 👍

On this day, the PT3 result was announced. Of course Izzat could not go to his school to pickup his result.
A friend of mine messaged me to tell Izzat's result. Alhamdulillah... walau pun tak dapat straight As.. mama and ayah are happy and bersyukur with his result - 7As and 3Bs... alhamdulillah... good job Izzat!

Sibuk getting in touch with his friends on PT3 results update :D

And this was our room (well, it's like a dorm actually haha) during our stay at Taha Hostel 😊

A room or dorm with 5 beds...

Tapi agak glamour la kalau nak dipanggil dorm kan.. haha.

And look at the ceiling.... wow!

After breakfast, we waited for our driver and transport to go to Pars to visit Pasargadae, Naqsh-e Rustam and Persepolis. Taha Hotel arranged for this trip for USD70 per transport. So kami berlima (plus one driver) in a car...

 

While waiting for our taxi... everybody was busy with their smartphones (duh.. free wifi at the hotel! 😀) and the hostel PR, Ilham (dressed in black) was busy entertaining us 😀 Yes... all the hostel staff were very friendly! 😍

Okay lah dulu... so busy lately.. nak berblog pun x de masa 😩

*** to be continued ***

 

Day 3 pt7 - Khajoo Bridge and Isfahan at night 🇮🇷

Our last destination before the sunset in Isfahan was Khajoo Bridge.

Khajoo Bridge was said as one of the most beautiful bridges of the world. Khajoo is a name of small district in the neighborhood of bridge. It was built by the Persian Safavid king, Shah Abbas II around 1650.

The bridge is about 132 meters long and 12 meters wide. The Khaju Bridge is made of two decks. This bridge was built to work for different purposes. Serving as both a bridge and a dam, it connected the old Isfahan to villages located on the southern side and also connected Isfahan to the main road to Shiraz. It was also built as a wonderful recreational place. Lots of tourists and local people lepaking here enjoying the view... probably waiting for sunset... 

But we could not wait for sunset...
We had to hurry back to the hotel as we had not perform our jamak-qasar Zuhur and Asar prayers. In our hurry to get a taxi, a local people asked "Are you from Malaysia?" and he quickly explained that he had been to Malaysia recently and love our country.... awwww... so nice of him. He later guided us on where to get a cab for a cheaper fair/nearer route to our hotel. (taxi fare about IRR100,000)

Told ya.... Iranian people are bunch of friendly and helpful people! 😍

Had dinner at our hotel (tapau from a nearby restaurant) and after Maghrib and Isyak prayer, we went out for our last adventure in Isfahan. 

When my FB friends knew I was in Isfahan... a few of them highlighted to find 'Jalan Kuala Lumpur'.

At first, tak kuasa nak layan la kan... but when everybody was saying 'tak complete la your trip kalau tak jumpa Jalan Kuala Lumpur in Isfahan tu'... and even Yousef highlighted about it! Haishhh.... tak boleh jadi lah... jom cari Jalan Kolumpur kat kota Isfahan nih! 😜

So here we were... 

Apparently, Isfahan is the twin city of Kuala Lumpur. So there is one road in Isfahan that is named after our capital city.

 

And there is one road in Kuala Lumpur that is called 'Jalan Esfahan' (the road beside SOGO).

Okay... mission accomplished! Penat cari jalan ni... and with the help of a local people, we found it! 😀

After posing the Kuala Lumpur Avenue signboard tu... we took a cab (taxi fare about IRR100,000) and went to Naqsh-e Jahan Square again. Saja jalan2 waktu malam pula at this area... 

 

And the main goal to come to this square was to do some last minute shopping at the bazaar...  hehe

I just love the traditional setting of this bazaar... it has this vintage aura that you could not find anywhere...

So, jom cuci mata...😘

We bought this...

Iran Pug...Made of copper.. local specialty here in Iran.
We bought it for USD11

 We later stopped at a carpet shop... ada orang nak cuci2 mata... (not me 🙄)

We were served tea in this carpet shop!


Watchout the teapot with the picture of Nasereddin Shah Ghajar on it.

The tea is without sugar. Those yellow thingy is called pulaki... to replace the sugar..

This pulaki is made of honey, coconut and safron.

You are supposed to bite the pulaki... and then swallowed it with the sugarless tea.

Izzat seemed to enjoy it 😀

The mini carpet that we bought (the size of a foot mat).

This carpet is from Qum.

It's small... but it cost us USD 170 (sila convert sendiri ya!).

  On the other hand.... Zamri was eyeing for this thing... 

A poem by a famous Iranian poet, Hafiz

and he bought it... (can't remember the price)

One pic with the tokeh carpet before we leave this place... 

Naqsh-e Jahan Square nightview... 

Leaving the square....

Tak puas jalan2 @ Isfahan 😔



 Later that night, we took a cab to Isfahan bus station (taxi fare about IRR250,000) to catch a bus to Syiraz at 11:55pm. (Bus ticket IRR1,800,00 per head).

Getting comfy in the bus

 Jajan supplied in the bus...

 The journey is about 6 hours from Isfahan to Syiraz...

*** to be continued ***