10 – 12 April 2014 – Tabriz, Iran

Tabriz was our last stop in Iran and is famous for it’s heritage listed bazaar

Covering seven square kilometres it has street signs hanging from the roof

Space is at a premium in the bazaar

The entrance to the Mozaffariyeh Timcheh – housing the fine knot carpet bazaar

Iranians told us that Tabriz produced the best carpets

The Dome of the Rock in Al Quds (Jerusalem)

Note the framed carpet of a leopard above the dealer’s head

Traditional Mahi (in and out fish design)

Modern picture quality carpets

Hand finishing the carpet edges

A younger Ayatollah Khomeini

Silk and wool copy of the earliest carpet ever found, the famous Pazryk carpet

Carpet illustrating the history of Iran – only $100,0000!

A super quality old carpet with vegetal dyes – not for sale

Dyed silk for carpets

Beautiful copper helmet on display at the Azerbaijan Museum

Even the pavement looked like carpet

The Jameh Mosque in the bazaar was buzzing with mullahs

The mosque had hand knotted carpets on the floor, donated by the faithful

Islamic stained glass

Movie sales on the street – no copyright laws in Iran

Armenian church from the eleventh century

Outside the Tabriz Blue Mosque

The Three Stooges

7 – 9 April 2014 – Zanjan, Iran

We used the city of Zanjan as a base for visiting Soltaniye and Takht-e Soleiman

The historical Karvansan Sangi Restaurant was located in an old caravanserai with domed ceilings and octagon shaped holes to let the light in

We caught a public minibus from Zanjan to the village of Soltaniyeh

The impressive brick Mausoleum of Oljeitu

At 25 metres in diameter and 48 metres high, the turquoise tile covered dome is one of the world’s tallest brick domes

We climbed two floors up a steep spiral staircase to the terrace which had beautifully carved ceilings

1½ kms away from the mausoleum and in the middle of some farmland we found the much smaller Mullah Hasan Kashi tomb

Back in Zanjan we paid a visit to the Rakhatshor Khaneh – a historical laundry house with some strange Iranian wax mannequins performing various laundry operations

Handmade Iranian leather slippers for sale at the Rakhatshor Khaneh

Fresh trout for sale in the Zanjan Bazaar – once we discovered how delicious they were, we ate them every day for the rest of our stay in Iran

The Haj Dadash Teahouse and Restaurant, an old converted hammam (bathhouse) inside the bazaar

We hired a driver and a car for the 2½ hour drive to the ruins of Takht-e Soleiman (Solomon’s Throne) which lay in a broad and remote mountain valley

Takht-e Soleiman was the main centre of Zoroastrianism in the 3^rd century AD and was surrounded by impenetrable stone walls

The site was largely in ruins but at its centre was a stunning turquoise blue crater lake

4 km away was the Zendan -e- Soleiman (Solomon's Prison), a volcanic core rising out of the plain.

It was a 15 minute climb to the top of the cone and from there we had amazing views of the surrounding countryside

We peered into a huge hole which was 65 m in diameter and a dizzying 80 m deep. The hole was full of mud and was emitting a strong sulphuric smell.

On the way down, we stumbled across a small snake sunbathing