Geo: 32.6525, 51.6746Or, as my Farsi speaking ex-colleague Maryam has already pointed out, the proper anglicisation of the Farsi (rather than a translation) is Esfehan nesfe jahan. Sounds betterIt owes its splendour to one Shah Abbas I, in 1587, who arranged for the construction of the great central square Naqsh-e Jahan which is home to two glorious mosques (Masjed-e Shah and Masjid-e Sheik Lotfollah - the latter a private family mosque) and the palace Kakh-e Ali Qapu. Also the starting point for the 8 kilometres of Bazar-e Bozorg.But that isn't all, there are more palaces, beautiful gardens, the 800 year old Masjid-e Jameh (mosque) which having been continuously developed and enlarged is a living history of Islamic architecture. There are also beautiful bridges, the earliest dating back to the 12th century, though sadly not a drop ... read more

Geo: 29.602, 52.5313Shiraz is a large and sprawling city and the things of interest to the traveller are somewhat scattered. But it figures on the UNESCO World Heritage List thanks to its gardens. But Iran is desperately short of water, too little has fallen and too much is being used so the water features in most gardens have been turned off and they are dry and dusty.Iranians also have a saying that all homes must have two things - a copy of the Quran and a copy of the poetry of Hafez, their most famous poet. Though others would support the claim of the poet Sa'di who wrote of his love of roses and gardens. Both were from Shiraz, both have their burial places here, both are in gardens.Yes there are mosques and shrines (one to ... read more

Geo: 34.7946, 60.5005My crossing into Iran was easier than expected except it's a way complicated border. My driver took me to the first Turkmenistan checkpoint, where there was a queue - so he spoke to the guards and I jumped the queue (grumbly rumblings from the natives - quite right too - and if I had stood in the queue it might have prevented later problems). All they do at that checkpoint is write down, in a ledger - the IT revolution hasn't reached Turkmenistan yet - your passport number and your name. You then wait around for a minibus that takes you the 30kms through the mountains to the frontier proper Easy enough getting past Turkmenistan immigration (except for all the ladies who go back and forth trading stuff who are expert queue jumpers). Then ... read more

Geo: 37.9502, 58.3802Originally developed by the Russians in the 19th century Ashqabat ('City of Love' in Arabic) is certainly the oddest city yet. It was completely demolished by an earthquake (9 on the Richter scale) on 6 October 1948 which also killed over a third of the population. A certain amount of rebuilding was done in the Soviet era but since independence in 1991 and the acquisition of huge wealth through gas (mostly) and oil and the influence of mad presidents the place has been completely transformed. Huge highways and boulevards lined with glistening white buildings - apartments, government ministries, some private companies - lots of Turkish construction companies. But no shops - they have all been put into centralized bazaars and shopping centres. Loads of monumental parks and buildings - the Constitution Monument, Independence Square, ... read more

Geo: 41.3806, 60.3595Khiva is an ancient Silk Road town - it operated a slave market for 3 centuries on which its wealth was based. They point out the places in the East Gate where slaves for sale were displayed but otherwise there isn't much evidence of its trading past. The caravanserai and bazaar are 'closed for restoration'.So what is there - and why Disneyland. It is a walled town - actually there were two sets of walls. The area inside the inner walls known as Ichon-Qala and the bit inside the outer walls Dishon-Qala. With the exception of one infrequently visited palace Dishon-Qala doesn't figure in this tale, that's Uzbekistan, remote from its capital. That means broken roads and pavements, holes in the pavement big enough to fall down, litter and rubbish everywhere.Inside Ichon-Qala there is ... read more