YAZD TO SHIRAZ

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YAZD TO SHIRAZ, MARCH 4, 2017

This morning we left Yazd after spending one night in the delightful Garden hotel. We really enjoyed our little room. After breakfast we set off. Our first stop was to view the ganats. There is not much to see above ground just little hillocks in a row coming from the mountain. However, Hadi explained how the ganats worked. They first dug a hole down until they reached the subterranean water. The then connected that by a long tunnel to the village or its destination. All of Yazd at one time receive its water that way. Now about 50% of the town gets its water through the ganat system.

We next stopped to see a 4500 year old cypress tree. It was about 3 stories high and looked in very good shape. People ascribe mystical powers to this tree and it has become a wish tree.

As we continued our drive to Shiraz we stopped and saw an ice house. This beehive like structure was very interesting. It gets very cold at night during the winter in the desert. So they spray water on two walls and it freezes during the night. They then chip the ice off the wall and put it into the ice house. The walls are made of thick adobe and the roof is pitched. So the ice kept quite cold inside. They are still used by some villages.

We then stopped at a restaurant for a very good lunch with ice cream for desert. After lunch we went to visit Cyrus’ tomb. It is a tall structures with seven layers of stones in decreasing thickness. At the top is a small house-like structure where the tombs of Cyrus and his Wife were interred. The tombs are now empty. Apparently when Alexander the Great conquered this area he asked to be taken to the tomb of Cyrus. He went into the burial chamber and saw the stone coffins. He asked that the lid be removed. Inside was a coffin of gold. He asked that the lid of the gold coffin be removed. That revealed the body of Cyrus dressed in his regal garb. Alexander supposedly bowed to Cyrus and then backed out of the tomb. Soon after, the grave was robbed by the Macedonians and no one knows where Cyrus’ remains are or the gold coffin.

We then continued our drive to Shiraz. Shiraz is a big city and our hotel is beautiful. Built on the side of a mountain it has 16 stories. Dinner here was the best.

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