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We had a quick breakfast at 7am and headed out at 7:30. Overnight, Mori (who is not only a professional driver but also a skilled mechanic) was able to repair the bus. After he had fixed the problem with the exhaust system, we were able to go at full speed. Much of the day was spent on the road, as we covered a long distance from the caravanserai to Persepolis.

At one point not far from the caravanserai, we had to stop at an inspection station briefly. The road we were on was the main highway from Pakistan, and the inspectors were trying to assure that no illegal goods entered the country.

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The day began with cold weather, which turned into cold, rainy weather the closer we got to Persepolis. We saw snow on many mountains in the distance, and passed over one summit which had an elevation of about 2800 meters (more than 9,000 feet).

Our lunch stop was at a small village on the road between Persepolis and Shiraz. Lunch was served to us by the owners of the Ojaghheseyyedkarim Eco Lodge, who belong to a family of nomads. Although the weather was cold and rainy, the fireplace had a glowing fire, and the rooms were brightly decorated with carpets and other handicrafts.

After lunch, the two little girls of the family and their father provided entertainment in the form of music: the older girl played the violin and the younger one and the father played percussion. Suzan gave picture postcards of our Blue Ridge region of Virginia to both of the girls and their mother.

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We reached Persepolis in the latter part of the afternoon. Rain was still coming down pretty hard, so we postponed plans to visit the site until the next morning. We basically just hung around the hotel, either in our room or else socializing with fellow travelers in the lobby.

Since we had been unable to communicate at all with our families and friends in the US for several days, Vahid was kind enough to let us use his cell phone to call several people to assure them that we were all right.

After dinner we got involved in a spirited discussion of politics with Nate and Sheldon, who are extremely well-informed about American politics–much more than we are about the politics of their countries!

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