Persepolis

Early next morning I rode my bike to Persepolis, about 60 km northeast of Shiraz. My only official camp site in Iran, Ittic runs a nice hotel there, just beware, they are watering the gardens in the afternoon :-)

At about 9.30 a.m. I had already my tent set up and cycled that few hundred meters to the entrance of the ancient city Persepolis. At the Gate of all Nations a group of tourists from all nations...

in the past visitors brought presents

the big buildings are destroyed

but the amount of detail carved in the stones is amazing

professional tourists.

when the lion is victorious and drives the taurus away, the spring defeats the winter...

an overview of Persepolis.

Naqsh-e Rustam

Just a few miles away: Naqsh-e Rustam a necropolis of the Achaemenid dynasty (500–330 BC).

If you prefer to arrive in Persepolis with style...

trainspotting not far away the next morning

and on my way to Yazd some very dry and hilly terrain.

again a wonderful place for my tent, just behind a 50m hill in a little valley.

Ice house in Abarkuh

Ice house in Abarkuh, as early as 400 b.C., Persians engineers mastered the technique of storing ice in the middle of summer in the desert.

70km desert in the middle of the day, 45 deg Celsius. In Dehshir I had to buy a new tire for my bike, because the sidewall began to rip, I noticed that 2 days ago in Persepolis but thought that I may be able to finish the journey with that tire. 15min and I had a new tire for my bike and enjoyed a long break in the shadow reading a few books before I climbed the last mountains on the way to Yazd.

My place for the night, again about 500m away from the main road and quite hidden behind hills.