Dave Tapsell
Overland Buses (xvii)
Persepolis, Iran: 25 December 1971
The almost 600 mile journey from Tehran down to Persepolis took two days; the first day we got to Isfahan in the early afternoon and spent the night there. An early start on Christmas Day enabled us to have a few hours looking round the spectacular ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis. Rather surprisingly, the place was deserted, not a soul to be seen – we had the whole site to ourselves. That night we stayed in Shiraz before heading back north towards Tehran, with another night in Isfahan on the way.
Considering that the giant stone blocks in the main terrace had laid there over two-and-a-half thousand years they were in remarkable condition. The joints between each block were so well made that you couldn't have slid a piece of paper into the gaps. Sometime in the first part of the fourth century AD the city had been sacked by the invading armies of Alexander the Great. Today can be seen evidence of the destruction and damage, but even so there is still a lot left to see.
The enormous bazaar at Isfahan had been very quiet; it was quite different to the one at Istanbul where you can be endlessly pestered to buy this and that. In Isfahan there was also snow on the ground; I hadn't expected to see it this far south in Iran, but the city is on a plain at over 5,000 feet elevation.
Overland Buses (xvii)
Persepolis, Iran: 25 December 1971
The almost 600 mile journey from Tehran down to Persepolis took two days; the first day we got to Isfahan in the early afternoon and spent the night there. An early start on Christmas Day enabled us to have a few hours looking round the spectacular ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis. Rather surprisingly, the place was deserted, not a soul to be seen – we had the whole site to ourselves. That night we stayed in Shiraz before heading back north towards Tehran, with another night in Isfahan on the way.
Considering that the giant stone blocks in the main terrace had laid there over two-and-a-half thousand years they were in remarkable condition. The joints between each block were so well made that you couldn't have slid a piece of paper into the gaps. Sometime in the first part of the fourth century AD the city had been sacked by the invading armies of Alexander the Great. Today can be seen evidence of the destruction and damage, but even so there is still a lot left to see.
The enormous bazaar at Isfahan had been very quiet; it was quite different to the one at Istanbul where you can be endlessly pestered to buy this and that. In Isfahan there was also snow on the ground; I hadn't expected to see it this far south in Iran, but the city is on a plain at over 5,000 feet elevation.