Shiraz is one of a must visit city in every tourist destinations list in Iran and to explore Shiraz city is pretty straight forward. They said, you can experience Iran architectures here.Well, for me, Shiraz was quite good too. Compared to Mashhad, Shiraz is a little bit relaxing. Even though it is a city, Shirazi are a little bit relaxing and chill out. Maybe because they value life more than just work. However, when I first arrived, I thought it is just another typical city, traffic, busy and everything about it, and I was wrong. She has a lot to offer than just sky scrappers.
The first place I went was Nasr-al-Molk Masjid, or pink mosque. Due to the installation of colourful glass at the main prayer hall, the reflection by the sun gave a very beautiful environment inside it. This building is not too old nor too young as it was built during late 1880s by Qajar dynasty. On the outside, it looks just like ordinary mosque or other persian architecture, but from the inside of the main prayer hall, you will be amazed by the beauty of the architecture. Go early in the morning by 7.30am, as first, the glasses are used to catch the morning sun. If at noon, it will be too late. Secondly, to avoid the whole loads of other tourist who came with agency which then make a picnic inside the hall and you won’t get any good photo of the interior beauty.
Then I headed to Shah Cheragh shrine located just few blocks away from the Pink mosque. Entering the shrine is free, but no camera is allowed. But, photo is fine by using camera’s phone. The shrine is also quite big, not as big as Emam Reza shrine in Mashhad. The fine architecture of the shrine is almost the same with other shrine, but the design is a little bit different. It is good to go both during the day and night for at night, it will be floodlit.
Near Shah Cheragh shrine also located Vakil bazaar. Big bazaar which also attached with it Vakil Mosque, Vakil Hammam, and a caranvan serai. When I visited the bazaar, it was full of people since Nowrooz is just around the corner and they were having a shopping spree. Nowrooz is a New Year celebration for them using the Hijra sun calendar, which is on 21st March. Walking in the bazaar was nice if you enjoy to see how the people in Iran trade and interact and bargain with each other plus, you yourself might spend some amount of money too.
Exhausted from walking in the bazaar, I had my coffee just outside the bazaar on the other side before heading to the Karim Khan Citadel. Karim khan citadel is a citadel which located right in the middle of the city. However as always, I did not go into the castle since it cost around IRR200000. but from outside, the view was already that beautiful.
In the evening, I hiked up Chamran hill to enjoy the city view during sunset. The wind that evening was so strong that wearing 3 pieces of fleece were not enough for me still. Luckily the view was so stunning and no wind can stop me from staying there for quite a while. I went there with a group of couchsurfers from shiraz who organised the hike. The start of the hike is just near the tourist information centre located somewhere along the Chamran Boulevard. The track up was clearly tracked and wide that you would never be lost and just take around 15 to 25 minutes.
There is an old village by the name of Ghalat village. This village is known as a free zone area by locals. Free zone as in they sell weeds openly in the shops. Some Iranian youngster go there to smoke weeds and some to drink alcohol. Yes. Alcohol is actually forbidden in Iran, but yeah, they still find ways to bring in all those stuffs. I went there at night just to see what it really looks like in Ghalat. Well, it was not that bad there.
Persepolis is one of the must go places in Shiraz other than Pasargad. Persepolis is an ancient city centre of Achaeminid empire during the reign of Cyrus the Great. Persepolis is located in Marvdasht around 40km away from Shiraz. To go there, I have to take a taxi which cost around IRR 1,500,000. luckily I shared the taxi with 3 other. The entrance fee for it was also IRR 200000 but I think it was worth it. See the ruins of once was a greatest empire on earth. However, I did not give it a visit to Pasargad.
Quick recap in Shiraz:
- Nasir al-Molk Mosque
- Shah Cheragh shrine
- Vakil Bazaar
- Karim Khan citadel
- Chamran hill
- Persepolis
- Pasargad
