Argentina & Chile

(2009)

Canada

(2007)

Canary Islands

(1999-2008)

China

(2009)

Cyprus

(2003)

Germany

(2002, 2005, 2007)

Greece

(2001)

Iceland

(2003)

Indonesia

(2009)

Iran

(1999)

Jordan

(1997)

Morocco

(2008)

Netherlands

(1990-2007)

New Zealand

(2005)

Spain

(1989-2002)

Switzerland

(1999)

Turkey

(2003, 2005, 2006)

Vietnam

(2008)

UK

(1994, 2001, 2005,

We always like to visit miniature cities and sights, especially when we have already seen some of them in real. Miniatürk isn't an exception. A large part of the park is dedicated to Istanbul, so we recognize a lot of buildings. And we have also seen some of the other famous sights of Turkey during our earlier trips. It is a pity there isn't much decoration, like people-figures, cars and so on. In the brochure we find that they are usually there, so perhaps they are removed for the winter.

The Topkapı Palace and the surrounding parks and building take a lot of space in the historic centre of Istanbul. The palace itself is formed by several buildings, like the kitchen which was used to cook for several hundreds of people every day. Now, here you can see exhibitions of gold, jewellery and ceramics owned by the sultan. There are pavilions were the sultan could have a cup of tea while looking over the Bosporus. There are other buildings were you can now see costumes (of the sultan), weapons (of the sultan) and so on. Strangely, there is also a building with religious items, like some teeth of the prophet Mohammed, some dust that laid close to his chest and so on. This is a place of worship inside the palace, and all the time some-one is reciting verses from the Q'uran.

You can also visit the harem. You have to join a guided tour, but because the group is very big, guided means mostly you are not allowed to stay behind.

We did manage to hear some of the information the guide gave. Like at one time there lived about 1,000 women in the harem. They came from all over the country the sultan possessed, so at the best times from Persia to Spain. And they lived for 7 years in the harem. After that, they could either retire and leave to marry some guy who didn't mind, or go to the palace for retired harem-girls somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

In the middle of the 19th century, sultan Abdülmecit thought the Topkapı palace was a bit out of fashion and he decided to build a new palace: Dolmabahçe palace. It is situated on the shore of the Bosporus. Strangely enough, the architect didn't make great use of that aspect. There are some places where you can look outside the window over the water. But the palace is symmetrical over the axis along the water, so at the other side there must be a window looking against a boring hill. At least, at the time the palace was built. Now it looks towards some ugly office buildings.

After the changing of the guides, the one who has to guard the palace for the next couple of hours is inspected to the last detail. Well, it has to be done, but in front of fifty annoying children ??? We would buy our military time off, even if it has to cost 20,000 euro.

The name of the Yerabatan Sarayı translates as 'sunken palace'. This underground water deposit is built in the 6^th century and can hold 80.000 m³. In the water live all kinds of fish, big and small, grey and orange. The Osmans, who captured the city in 1453, didn't know the cisterns were there, until they saw people catching fish through small holes in the street.

You can walk between the dim-lit columns over wooden walkways. At the end you find two heads of Medusa, one upside down and one tilted. No-one knows why, but they are sure this was done on purpose. You can read all the stories when walking to them. 

The Sultanahmet mosque is better known as Blue mosque. Not an original name, as lots of mosques are called that way. On the outside it is vaguely blue because of the roofs, but it is supposed to be called blue because of the tiled dome on the inside. We think Sultanahmet is a better name.

Because the mosque is well known and in the historic centre, there are a lot of tourists. Actually, it is pretty crowded here. And you have to carry your shoes in a bag, because you leave through another exit than you came in. Both contribute to a less-liking of this mosque. But the doorknobs are great. 

North of Mustafapasja the landscape for which Cappadocia is famous really starts: sharp cones of rock, formed by erosion. The rock varies from pure white to pink to grey, this region is not by change called Scarlet Valley. 

Between Cavusin and Avanos the greatest rocks are found: with a little roof still standing on top. This area is more touristy than around Ihlara. That means that at a car park you can sometimes see two or even three buses at the same time ! Although in summer it will probably be even busier than this.

Out first night was in Ankara, and at the end of our vacation we stay there for almost two nights. Unlike Istanbul, there are not many tourists in Ankara. So when you visit the Roman Baths, you are likely to be the only one wondering why every column in a Roman bath seems to be filled with text.

One of the two mosques you really should have seen when visiting Ankara, is the one next to the temple of August. It looks like part of the temple is used for the building of the mosque. In a small building standing next to those two is xxx buried. When you see many people here, praying and crying, you might think he passed away only recently. And compared to eternity, he did, about 500 years ago.

The other mosque can be seen from most parts of Ankara, with its four minarets. The inside is even better than the outside, with paintings, stained glass and decorated lamps.

Shops are highly specialized and in any street you usually find only one type of shop, like jewellers, sellers of dried fruit, bathrooms, flowers and so on.

Most Iranians really love to be photographed (always ask first !!), so we came home with a lot of pictures of Iranian people. On this page you'll see a selection of Iranians in everyday situations.

In Iran, there used to be over a thousand caravanserais. About every 40 km along the old caravan routes, you could find these places, where you could eat, sleep and drink and where was a place to put your camel.Just like a motel. Today, there are only 128 left, and most of them are in ruins. We visited one of them, in the middle of the desert a few hundred meters from the road from Yazd to Kerman.

This caravanserai had recently been restored in its old glory. We could imagine easily it had once been a very lively place, because the day before we had lunch in a restaurant that was reconstructed from a ruined caravanserai.

On the airplane to Tehran there was an Iranian lady sitting next to me. She asked if I was one of those tourist who would expect Iran was full of camels. I did my homework, so I was not. She told me anyway that I wouldn't see any camels at all. But we did see them and funny enough it was only a few 100 meters from the caravanserai. I hope one day the lady will see this page and remember me.

Just ask someone "what do you think the Iranian landscapes will be like ?" You probably get the answer "desert, just a lot of sand". And indeed, there is a lot of desert in Iran. But there are other landscapes too!

Especially in the North, near the Caspian Sea, the climate is very moderate (read: it rains a lot) and there are a lot of green landscapes to admire. And of course, there are mountains. Iran is not a flat country and it shows. This page was created to show you the beauty of the Iranian landscapes.

One of the most beautiful landscapes we've seen was this salt lake near Shiraz. During sunset this lake was almost explosive with all sorts of colours.

Persepolis or Takht-é Jamshid as the Iranians call it, was built in about 500 BC by the Achaemenian Kings Darius, Xerxes and their successors. There are no words to describe Persepolis. On the other hand, if this page wouldn't have any text, it would appear quite strange, so at least we'll tell about some of the things we saw here.The site of Persepolis is very large, over 125.000 m². Besides that, there are hundreds of interesting details. That means you can easily spend a whole day here and still be able to discover things you haven't seen before.

The Gate of All Nations, also known as the Gate of Xerxes, is one of the first things you see. This gate bears inscriptions in three languages that you should be kind to travellers and must respect other peoples' cultures.

The original Persepolis stood on a platform about 10 meters higher than the surrounding plains. You can get the idea what it looked liked when you walk to Persepolis from the car park and have to climb those magnificent stairs before you can see a thing.

After entering the platform, you see there is another platform that is a bit higher. This second platform holds the Apadana Palace. This is the place where the King held his receptions.

In 331 BC, Persepolis was destroyed by Alexander the not-so-Great

The best kept reliefs can be seen along the staircases of the Apadana Palace. There are 23 different scenes showing us the representatives of 23 different countries in the Achaemenian Empire, how they dressed, what weapons they carried and what treasury they brought from their homelands to please the King.

When the Achaemenians travelled to Egypt, they saw the pyramids of the Pharaohs and were very impressed. When they were back home, they dig up the bones and started to make something impressive for their own kings. Probably they have also been in Petra in Jordan???

On the way back from Bam to our hotel in Kerman our guide suddenly announced we were going to make a stop in Mahan to see a palace and a mausoleum. It was almost dark and we had absolutely no idea what to expect.

It isn't completely dark when we get there, but it's already too dark to make any photographs. I managed to make this one below, but it required a very steady hand (and a little bit of help from a sturdy wall). The mausoleum is the burial place of Shah Nur od-Din Nematollah Vali. He was the founder of the Nematollah order of dervishes. Dervishes are a special kind of Muslim, very religious and very peaceful.

The citadel and city of Bam were supposed to be one of the major highlights of our visit to Iran. Molded over 2000 years ago out of the red clay of the Dasht-é Kavir desert that surrounds it, this stronghold still looks proud today to those who stand outside the walls.

For some unexplained reason, Bam was abandoned about 150 years ago. Almost unbelievable after all those years, the walls and the 28 towers are still intact, the small gate near the car park is the only entrance. Although the walls are intact, the city inside has had a lot to suffer from all those years.

When you consider the material that is used to construct Bam, it is even a wonder so much of the city still stands. The red desert clay, mixed with straw and "other organic materials", looks like it will come apart if anyone just looks at it. And perhaps it's a good thing it doesn't rain here very often.

The citadel is in better condition, a lot of restoration has been carried out in the last couple of years. In fact, they are still working on it. Inside the citadel there are lots of buildings: stables, a public bath, a prison, military barracks, two mosques, a caravanserai and more, all molded out of the same red clay. The highest point is the outlook tower. From here, you have a great view. Outside of the walls you see palm trees and the orchards of the new city of Bam, which is surprisingly green in the middle of the desert.

When it's time to leave, we have one last look at the citadel. This was great, indeed a major highlight. Wow.

Too bad the earthquake in December 2003 has destroyed the city of Bam completely. Still, we're glad we've seen it before it was destroyed.

Yazd is a relaxed city surrounded by a lot of desert. The city has numerous interesting sights. Too bad, the first day we were here the only thing I've seen was the toilet in my hotel room.

The second day, I was feeling alright again and eager to see the other sights of Yazd. We started with a visit of the Mashed-é Jameh or Friday Mosque. This mosque has the highest minarets of Iran, which can be seen from far away.

In the middle of the court is a stairway which leads down to the qanat-system. Unluckily, the caretaker of the mosque was away and the man who replaced him couldn't find the key. The key to the roof also happened to be missing, so we didn't see the pretty view over the old city.

Yazd is the center of present day Zoroastrian religion. There are about 150.000 Zoroastrians in the world, of which 65.000 live in Iran and 20.000 in Yazd. The Atashkadeh is the most important fire temple. Zoroastrians from all over the world come here to see the sacred fire that has been burning without interruption for 1500 years.

A year after we returned form Iran, we received an entry in our guestbook from Mozi, who works in the Internet Café. Great to hear from him. Keep up the good work, Mozi !

Kashan is a city in the desert of the Esfahan province. The city is world famous for its carpets. But besides the carpets, Kashan also has a name for silk, ceramics, copperware and rosewater. This is why we started our visit of Kashan in the bazaar.

We mentioned the rosewater before. The famous rosefields of Qamsar are near to Kashan, so you'll see rosewater stalls everywhere. This is one of the stalls, just outside of the Fin gardens. Rosewater is used in a lot of Iranian desserts, but the spaghetti-like ice cream is our favorite.

We asked this man if his name was Lulletje, but very predictable he didn't understand this Dutch joke. It doesn't translate very good in English and we didn't even try it in Farsi.

The Borujerdis Old House is a 19th century merchant house. The building itself is a masterpiece and so are the paintings inside by the famous Iranian painter Kamal ol-Molk. The house is famous for its bad-girs, towers designed to lead the high winds to streetlevel, thus keeping the temperature low: very useful in the hot desert.

The Fin gardens are one of the highlights of Kashan. This garden, with pools and fountains among fruit trees, has a wonderful lazy atmosphere. The fountains get their water from a natural spring. After flowing through the gardens, the water is used as drinkingwater.

The town of Qom is best known for its religious university Howzeh-ye Elmieh. It attracts a lot of students from all over Iran and the rest of the world who want to become a mullah. Imam Khomeini is probably the most famous among those who studied the Quran here.

The Shrine is located in the center of Qom.When you walk around it, you can admire the wonderful mosaics, the minarets and the beautiful golden dome.

If you look the other way, you'll probably see a lot of aspirant mullahs. If you're lucky, you might find one who speaks English and wants to tell you something about what it's like to study here

It is said in most travel books that it is forbidden for non-Muslims to enter the Shrine. And it is!! Don't try to enter by yourself. However, according to the Iranian travelbook "A travel guide to Iran" by MT Faramarzi (buy it !!!), visits to the Holy Shrine can be arranged by the Islamic Culture and Guidance Office, located at Dowr-é Shahr Avenue, tel 0281-744205.

A few hundred meters from the Holy Shrine is the cemetery for the Iranian warriors in the Iran Iraq war. The cemetery is decorated with beautiful wall paintings like the one on the right. Walking around in this place demands for some time to remember those who got killed in this nasty war.

The Alisadr Caves are located about 75 kilometers north of Hamadan. After one in the USA and one in Indonesia, it is the largest cave in the world. And according to our guide, the one in America doesn't have water in it, so that one doesn't count.

Because there is water in the caves, the tour is by boat. These boats are pulled by watercycles. Of all the surprises we had in Iran, the idea of waterpedaling was probably the least expected.

Almost at the beginning of our tour, we saw a picture of Khomeini hidden between the rocks. We expected there would be more, so we started looking for them, but it was the only one we discovered.

In the caves, there are of course a lot of stalactites and stalagmites. Erosion by the water, that sometimes had a higher level, has created some strange effects.

Halfway of the tour we could get out of the boat and do a bit of walking on one of the so-called islands. The cave reaches a height of 40 meters here and looks absolutely fabulous.

Then, we go back into the boats. We take a different route and see many other spectacular rock-formations.