TEHRAN TO YAZD, MARCH 2, 2017 Today we are on our way out of Tehran to drive to Yazd. We are first going to stop at the National Archeological Museum. It is here that you really appreciate the history of Iran. Mr. Hadi guided us through the various civilizations that have inhabited Iran and their contributions to the culture. The artifacts on display were fascinating covering a period of about 5000 years. As the civilizations progressed the artifacts increased in complexity and new techniques were discovered. It was really fascinating. One of the most interesting displays was “salt man.” This is the head, complete with hair and beard, and the leg still in a boot, of a 20-30 year old man who was killed in a salt mine accident and was buried in the salt mine. ... read more

TEHRAN, IRAN February 28, 2017 Well, we woke up at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep. We’ll get this all sorted out in a day or two. We met our guide Hadi today and went to see the Niavaran Palace. This is a huge complex that covers 500 acres and has multiple parks and buildings The palace was started under the rule of the Qajars but completed under the Pahlavis. We toured two of the buildings which had been restored to their former glory and were filled with objects from the Pahlavi’s time. We then stopped for a cup of tea and then got back on our minivan and rode back toward the center of town for lunch. We stopped at a pizza place and had a good pizza and then went next door to ... read more