The main reason we were going to Shiraz was Persepolis, the last remainin ruins from the Achaemenid Empire. About 2 500 years old.

So we left very early in the morning, by public transportation to reach the place.

And you expect something huge. A-la Baalbeck, or Petra. Some bigger-than-life vestiges. And you just arive in the middle of nowhere. The driver just tells you “Here you are”. A desert alley brings you to the entrance. You walk up some stairs and here you are.

I was impressed how quiet the site was. OK maybe because is was not that crowded. But anyway, all of you who’ve been to those archeological sites know how many people you find, especially salesmen with crappy touristic stuff.

Here nothing. Just a few european tourists (we’ve previously met in Esfahan), and some Iranian families.

So silent as you can guess. And it adds some mystic to the scene.