After Iran I am to travel to Azerbaijan and from Tabriz the border is only a few hundred kilometres away. Having been lucky enough to obtain one of the world's trickiest visas, I felt that I should at least do justice to Iran and make the most of it. With this in mind I have decided to make a detour from the main Silk Road and head south to Shiraz - formely of wine-making fame - and then work my way back up through Yazd, Esfahan, Zanjan and Rasht. All of these cities have been enormous trade centres in the past and some continue to do so to this day, making for an interesting detour.

 For the first time in Iran, the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm. Having checked into the hotel I went for a wander around town, not quite sure what to do. As seems to be happening more and more in this country I needn't have planned anything. I hadn't walked more than 10 minutes when a group of young Tehrani engineers on holiday apporached me and wanted to practice their English. I was happy to oblige, having nothing better to do. An hour later, they decided that I should go with them and continue to see Shiraz's sights. It was getting late by now and I wondered how much sight seeing we might actually be able to do.

In a country where the words "night life" hardly exist and the idea of a Disco and drinking tea instead of a vodka and coke haven't quite caught on, what life exists after dark is to be found in a city's monuments. I was taken on a whistlestop tour of 5 different mausoleums, museums and statues. Each person wanted to share their knowledge and educate me about Iran's amazingly cultured and diverse past. One guy, Sepehr, who descibed himself as "crazy man" and was an actor and poet, decided that I should learn about Hafez one of Iran's most famous and loved poets. As we visited Hafez's tomb (he was from Shiraz) Seupper began to recite some of his poems and gave me a book of his poetry so that I should become better acquianted - the fact that it is in Farsi means that I will have to learn that first!

We spent the evening sitting in the various monuments, singing songs and chatting up the Iranian girls - these are the stomping grounds for Iranians looking for partners! Every time we went into a monument they guys would lend me some of their clothes and a hat, trying to make me look like a local. I was instructed not to talk in English or Farsi but just to walk straight with them and look like I was reading my Persian Hafez book . This way I got in for a tenth of the price of what a foreigner has to pay - a neat trick.

At about 10pm they decided it was time to eat. They instructed one of their friends who was a commander in the army to go home and make some food while we sat having Iranian Icream - a kind of spaghetti mixed with chilled rose-water. Half an hour later we arrived at "commander's house" and sat around drinking tea with a Nargileh pipe. A truly wonderful supper followed, eaten on the floor and all sat around central bowls of food. Talking stopped and everyone began to eat furiously. The chef had done a truly splendid job.

It had been a long day and by 1am it was time for me to head back to my hotel despite offers of a space on the floor with them. I said goodbye to the group in the traditional Iranian way for friends - a strong shake fo the hand and then three kisses on the cheek. Adel and Hassan kindly walked me to a taxi and I got back totally exhausted, only to be told that my tour to Persepolis tomorrow was due to start at 7am!