Locally registered XUV500 from Azim Khodro leads our convoy.

Alturas’ were dwarfed by the ‘Dakhma’ or ‘Tower of Silence’ in Cham.

Spectacular landscape makes drive unforgettable.

872-litre boot swallowed all our luggage.

It didn’t feel like we did 1,600km.

Highway tolls are dirt cheap.

Like our three guides, Iranian women are known for their beauty which they flaunt even with a restrictive dress code.

That’s 1,000 USD in Iranian rials.

Iranians are known for their hospitality.

Geometrically perfect dome inside main building at Dowlatabad Garden in Yazd dates back to 1750.

Iranians love their bread.

Intricate stone carvings of soldiers at Persepolis.

Iranians are great tea-drinkers.

Si-o-Se-pol bridge with 33 arches is the longest of the 11 historical bridges in Isfahan.

Naqsh-e-Jahan in Isfahan, the second-largest square in the world.

Seldom seen interior of the Tower of Silence.

Camel meat is a delicacy.

Famous Agazadeh Mansion with its wind catchers on 20,000 rial bills.

Koobideh kebabs and saffron-flavoured rice integral part of diet here.

This is a land of dry fruits.

Pink mosque at Shiraz known for its stained glass.

Milad Tower can be seen from almost any part of Tehran.

Overloaded Zamyad pick-up trucks a common sight.

The Mashahir carpet at the Niavaran Palace in Tehran has faces of 109 kings of Iran.

The only Zoroastrian Atash Behram outside India is in Yazd.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae.

The Gate of All Nations at the ancient city of Persepolis is symbolic of the Iranian civilization.

300-year-old Abbasi Hotel was once a caravanserai.

Stunning memorial of poet Hafez at Shiraz.

Azadi Tower in Tehran is an architectural marvel.