Iran: Day trip from Hamadan

Today, after 13 hours of much-needed sleep, it was time to take a trip out of the city. But first, we stopped at one more site of Hamadan that we tried to visit yesterday, but was closed: the Alavian Dome. It was once a Dervish monastery and then was later turned into a mausoleum. The entire facade of the building was stucco decoration in high relief. It was a neat old building, but no longer has a dome (it collapsed several centuries ago). Next door was an artesian shop, where this local guy made jewelry and other goods out of carved stones and gems. I am not the biggest jewelry wearer, but I saw a silver ring with a huge sapphire (my birthstone) in it, tried it on (it fit perfectly), so I bought it (the price was ridiculously cheap for what it was)...

After our shopping spree, we all piled into the van for a long drive to Kermanshah, where we had lunch. It rained along the way, but we were able to enjoy the scenery regardless! Once we arrived in town, we stopped at the local bazaar, where we were tempted with a local cookie just about everywhere we went. They were made of rice flour and colored with saffron and were so light they literally melted in your mouth! So good! We then made our way to the restaurant where we had lunch.

After lunch, we walked the short distance to the Taq-e Bostan, or the Arch of the Garden, which were two grottos featuring beautiful carvings and bas-reliefs cut into the mountain. The sculptures represented various scenes of hunting, coronation ceremonies, adoration of Ahuramazda, and more. They dated back 1500-1700 years.

We piled back into the van and then drove to Bisotun to the UNESCO World Heritage site, which is a unique bas-relief dating back to 480 BCE. The carving represents Darius and his royal prisoners, and the carving itself is located a few hundred feet high up the mountain. There are inscriptions above and below in cuneiform in three languages of Babylonian, Elamite, and Old Persian, which explain how Darius captured his enemies. However, when we reached the site, we saw that due to restoration, scaffolding had been erected in front of the relief so it was impossible to see. With a little sweet talking of our guide and a promise of a "donation for restoration", we were able to gain permission to climb up the side of the mountain and the stairwell to the top of the platform and view the relief from literally a foot away. Normally, the closest you can get to the carvings is a couple hundred feet, but because of the restoration and the resourcefulness of our guide, we got to see the thing close up. It was literally like being in an Indiana Jones movie... Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

After that experience, we had tea and cookies from the bazaar before getting back into the van for the ride back to Hamadan. We had dinner at the hotel not long after arriving back, and then called it a night!