On our first day in Iran in the Glass and Ceramic museum, we saw these strange vessels. Their purpose was to collect the tears in funerary processions in ancient Persia or later on of women whose men had departed for war or other purposes. The shape of these vessels is somehow affecting, crouched and bending…

On one of the last evenings of our holiday, I was approached near the square in Isfahan by a man and a woman.  He asked if I would mind taking a photo of him and his wife.  When I asked he didn’t have a phone/ camera so I explained I would have no way of…

Poets (or dead poets) are venerated in Iran. The splendid mausoleums of Hafez (1315-1390) and Sa’di (1207-1291) in Shiraz laid in pavillions set in Persian-style gardens are widely visited by Iranians . Apparently every home has a collection of Hafez and Iranians can quote widely from his work. The monastery of Ne’matollah Vali near Kerman…

As well as cultural excellence, our trip demonstrated the high level of technological achievement in Iran across the ages, frequently fused with a poetic or artistic realisation. The importance of qanats – an old system of water supply from a deep well with vertical accesss shafts – in irrigating the great land mass of desert…

In beautiful Spring sunshine, we strolled around the Edamite site of Susa and wondered at this city and Apadana (open columned hall) which, dating from 3,500 BC, is older than both Newgrange and the Pyramids and which was the capital of Persia until it fell to Alexander the Great in 331BCE. Darius 1 set it…

In any one day of our trip we became accustomed to seeing buildings or monuments that could date from 3000BCE to anytime CE. In fact, dazzled by dynasties, we often sashayed between as many as four periods . We were all too aware that our tour was whistlestop and that even in the most ordinary…

Well, to any man who might feel now that we should ‘get over it’, I would counsel restraint. First, to contextualise issues of attire: in 1926 with the advent of the Shah’s modernisation policies, the police tore chadors off terrified women in the streets. The revolution and the rule of the Mullahs overturned this. From…

Our trip was South of Tehran. Apparently in March the roads to the North may be blocked by snow. We took one internal flight from Tehran to Ahwaz and otherwise travelled hundreds of miles, driven by the largely imperturbable Ali. A cool head is desirable in Iranian traffic. We regularly saw cars doing U turns…

Our stay in Tehran (pop : 8 million) was brief and furnished only just a glimpse of the capital. However it was to be a mini -preview of our trip, comprising antiquity, religion and a bazaar experience. Our spartan hotel room in Tehran contained a Koran and prayer mat and an arrow pointing west to…

On arrival in Tehran and having copied other passengers in donning their headscarves on the plane, we met Banefsheh Farahani who was to be our guide for the trip. From Tehran, Banefshef had a PhD in Tourism Studies from Malaysia, taught courses part-time as well as her guide work. had a wonderful temperament and a…