Another pool, Rob?!!

Yes, I know, there's already a picture of a pool in an earlier post, and this one doesn't even have water in it. But this was the SHAH'S pool!

My first full day in Iran was spent riding about 50 kilometres from Imam Khomeni International Airport to my hotel in Tehran. Traffic in the city is harrowing, I got lost, and ended up frantically following a very generous man on a motorcycle who took it upon himself to guide me to my destination.

But on the second day I toured the palaces and summer homes of the country's deposed royalty. I saw bedrooms and dining halls with walls decorated with thousands and thousands of tiny mirrors. I was led by a guide through the Shah's former office, which if you can believe, had a fully-functioning dentist's office though one door for the royal family's private use. I even got to peek through the doorway of the Shah's bathroom. (The toilet wasn't visible so I cannot say if it was actually golden, as some reports during the revolution suggested.)

Today I will take an all-night bus to Shiraz in southern Iran, which is the jumping-off point for the ancient Persian ruins at Persepolis. I was only granted a ten-day visa so I hope to get that extended there. If not, as Han Solo would say, this is going to be a really short trip.