Shiraz Flights

There is a small older bus station in the centre of Busher, and that’s where I went to buy a ticket for the 13.00 bus to Shiras. It was an air-conditioned Volvo bus and the ticket was IR 25 000 (July 2006). The bus left from the big bus station outside town (Terminal Bozorg). To go there I paid 10 000 for the taxi.
On the bus I got a seat next to a man, which surprised me. I said I thought men were sitting next to men and women next to women. They said they were going to sort it out when the bus was leaving, which they didn’t. The bus left the terminal 13.30. Once the bus stopped for the passengers to get something to eat or go to the bathroom. The bus journey took about 5 hours. In Shiraz the bus arrived at Amir Kabir Terminal and from there I took a taxi to the hotel. The taxi driver wanted IR 15 000 ( I hadn’t negotiated about the price before arriving to the hotel, which I should have done).

I booked my bus ticket for Yazd via Pars Tourist Agency, which was very easy and it didn’t cost any extra. I took the morning bus, which leaves at 7.30 from Carandish Bus Terminal. It was an old Merzedes bus without air-condition (the 2pm bus is a better bus) the price was IR 18 000 (July 2006). Unfortunately I got a seat on the sunny side and not close to a window that could be opened. It was a very hot journey! During the seven hours the trip took the bus stopped only once for passengers to go out and buy things and visit the bathroom.
A taxi from the bus terminal in Yazd to Silk Road Hotel was IR 10 000.

In Shiraz I asked at the hotel for a tour to Pasargadae, Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab. They called a driver, who picked me up outside the hotel at 8.00 the following morning. The driver talked non-stop all the way about his life and life in Iran. It was very interesting, but I missed the scenery along the road. At the sites he asked if I wanted him to come along to guide, but I prefer to walk around alone.

We first drove to Pasargadae, which is more far away. In Pasargadae it is good to have a car as the ruins are spread out. At Naqsh-e Rajab it took about 15 minutes and at Naqsh-e Rostam I got 30 minutes (had to hurry back). I got two or three hours at Persepolis (can‘t remember), but if I wanted to stay longer I was going to pay more. For the tour I paid IR 350 000 (July 2006).

In Yazd I met some people who had taken a tour from Shiraz in the morning and during the day visited all four sites and after drove on to Yazd. The price was IR 500 000 (July 2006), and I heard it was the same going the other way round.

Seeing the sites along the way between Yazd and Shiraz, instead of making a daytrip from Shiraz and another day take a bus between the cities, will save you a day.

From Shiraz I took a tour to Qal’eh-e Doktar (Maiden’s Palace) and Ardeshir’s Palace near Firuz Abad. I know I could have arranged it from Anvari Hotel but went to Pars Tourist Agency to book a bus ticket for Yazd. At the same time I asked for the tour and it sounded to be good. It was IR 320 000 (35 dollars) and that included both a driver and a guide. The guide spoke good English and that was good as there was not much information about the sites in the guidebook.

Before leaving Shiraz we first went to a shoemaker who could repair my shoe. Then we went to Qaleh-e Doktar first and after to Ardeshir’s Palace. On the way back we stopped to see a Sassanian bas-relief and by it there was the remains of an old bridge. In other seasons they also visit the nomads.

We left Shiraz in the morning and I was back some time in the afternoon.

From Bushehr to Shiraz I went by bus. It cost 25 000 rials for 5 hour journey in very good Scania bus. There were very good sceneries along the road when entering Zagors mountains. Also you can see a lot sheeps in this region.

I rented the car in Pars tourist office - http://www.key2persia.com/. I highly recommend dealing with this company as they are highly professional and honest. I paid 32 usd for a half day individual tour with guide to Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab. The guide was perfect in his knowledge about Persepolis and spoke perfect English. My advice is not to save money for the guide - this is not the case you need to stick to your tight budget.

I rented the car in Pars tourist office - http://www.key2persia.com/. I paid for 60 usd for the trip. The driver was very nice man speaking average English. In Pasargade he explained some facts about the places we visited. He even made a quick stop in Abarqu, so I was able very quickly to see few interesting places there.

3 more images

We reached Shiraz from Isfahan by car... all the flights were booked and we tought it would be interesting to enjoy the scenery along the way and stop for photos here and there - so we asked the guesthouse owner if she could organize a car with driver for us.

The drive to Shiraz took about 6 and a half hours and we paid roughly 70 US dollars; which is about the same price we would have paid by plane - the scenery was not as stunning as we had thought... most of the way it was a bit monotonous and barren, so we stopped only twice.

Returning to Isfahan we managed to find seats on an Iran Air flight and it was a lot faster, if not exactly comfortable: flying through a desert storm is not exactly my idea of a fun flight. As far as I know, there's only one flight a day on a Fokker100, leaving in the late afternoon. The flight takes just over an hour - and continues to Tehran afterwards.