A few sad farewells,packing and a trip to get an ice cream when the shops opened again after Friday prayers before a taxi took us to the airport to start our journey home.
Iran has been a wonderful place to visit as a tourist with fantastic ancient sites,desert architecture and beautifully decorated mosques and churches . The infrastructure has been good too with the main roads newly built and signs of more to come,rail and road. The hotels whilst perfectly adequate all show signs of ageing and in need of extensive updating and refurbishing. The food has been good too but a bit bland and samey. It helps if you like kebabs as that is the default option but the best dishes have been anything with aubergine. One does miss a decent cold beer as the substitutes are all a bit too sweet.
However the highlight of the country are definitely the people. They are the friendliest people we have ever met. They come up to you to shake your hand and welcome you to their country and ask how you like it. The best have been the schoolgirls on their educational trips to the same sites as us,giggling away and asking to be photographed with us.