Day 37 Persepolis and Shiraz

8:10 am. Hostel in Shiraz. Proper bed, but pillow lacks any softness - like a bag of cement. Need coffee. Will spend today doing internet, post office etc and try and find a phone. Did some washing (clothes) last night in my bucket. Good thing is that the washing dries really quickly here.

Yesterday afternnon we visited Persepolis, about 70 km from Shiraz. In my ignorence I hadn't realised that Persepolis is uninhabited and is essentially ruins - I assumed that there was a modern Persepolis also; although I did know that it was the capital of the Persian Empire. [Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date from about 515 BCE]. Smaller than I imagined, given its historical importance. One thing which caught my attention was the graffiti from western visitors, carved into various parts of the monuments, some of it clearly dating from before the first scientific excavations at Persepolis in the early 1930s. I assume that the name Stanley pictured here is that of the American journalist and adventurer, (Henry Morgan Stanley) who took New York Herald's mission 'to go and find Livingstone', which he duly did on November 10th, 1871 at Lake Tanganyika - so the inscription here predates his discovery of Dr Livingstone by a year.

12:30 pm. (8th July) visiting Karim Khan's Citadel (also know as Arg of Karim Khan) in the north east part of Shiraz. Dates from 1766. Basically a fort-like structure enclosing beautiful walled gardens, citrus fruits, water in rectangular pools. Like many of the Iranian sites of interest, inexpensive (2000 rial, or about 11 pence) entrance fee. Once again spent some time talking with a group of Iranian students (aeronautical engineers), they are generally interested in what we think of their country, and how Iran is perceived by the west. Often they are keen to say that they are not the same as the government. There was a small, but interesting exhibition of old pictures of Shiraz, including this strong-armed man and his friends.

5:30 pm and sat on carpets in the Nasir-al-Molk mosque. Relatively cool inside the mosque. Peaceful too. Beautiful coloured glass windows; vaulted ceiling supported by ten pillars - tiled; lots of Persian carpets; quiet. Tiling turquoise, dark blues, creams, Naple's yellow. Have the place virtually to myself: a space for contemplation at the very least and time for a quick sketch in my diary.