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TEHRAN | CHALOUS | NAMAK ABOUD | | | HAMEDAN | KASHAN | ABYANEH | ISFAHAN | YAZD | SHIRAZ Meal Plan : Preferred Hotels: Preferred Flights: 13 Breakfasts • Tehran: 2 Nights Espinas Palace or Similar • Isfahan : 3 Nights Parsian Kowsar Hotel or QR 945 SIN-DOH 0200 0535 • Chalous : 1 Night Parsian Azadi or Similar Similar 14 Lunches QR 482 DOH-IKA 0800 1135 • Rasht : 1 Night Kadus Hotel or Similar • Yazd : 2 Nights Parsian Safaiyeh or Similar QR 477 SYZ-DOH 0555 0540 14 Dinners • Hamedan : 1 Night Amiran Hotel or Similar • Shiraz : 3 Nights Grand Hotel or Similar QR 944 DOH-SIN 0715 2015 41 Total Meals • Kashan : 1 Night Saraye Ameriha Bou�que Hotel or Similar

DAY 1 in . (Approximately 4 hours’ drive. Winding • A�er lunch, con�nue our journey to Hamadan on the mountain road). Along its curvy narrow asphalted central-west of the country. (approximately 5.5 hours’ SINGAPORE TEHRAN route are rivers floa�ng, endless green forests home drive) The magnificent landscapes from the hills of Welcome to a unique experience! to wild animals, dams crea�ng ar�ficial lakes and Hekmataneh and the palaces of Laodicea are the trademarks of Hamedan. • Assemble at Singapore Changi Airport. scenery that is nothing short of ethereal. • Drive through the famous Kandovan Tunnel. • Picture stop at the Stone Lion Monument, a remains DAY 2 • Picture stop at Dam. of the ‘Lionsgate’ of Hamadan. TEHRAN • Arrive Namak Abroud for lunch. • Dinner and overnight in Hamadan. Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner • On arrival, transfer to local restaurant for lunch • Take a cable car ride to mountain top (700m above sea • A�er lunch, visit the lavish Golestan Palace Museum level). The short ride offers a unique view of DAY 7 (UNESCO), a masterpiece of the Qajar era, Mazandaran and its surrounding mountains with the embodying the successful integra�on of earlier behind you. Some free �me to enjoy the HAMADAN LALEJIN KASHAN Persian cra�s and architecture with Western fresh air and panorama of the surrounding. • A�er breakfast, a short 1 hours’ drive to influences. (Opens 8.00am-2.30pm, closed on • Dinner and overnight in Namak Abroud. Kabudarahang township. Thursday and Friday) Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner • Visit Ali Sadr Water Cave (UNESCO), world’s largest • Visit the Na�onal Museum to see Iran’s valuable in-cave lake. The cave walls can extend up to 40 archaeological collec�ons. (Closed on Mondays and DAY 5 meters high, and it contains several large, deep lakes. Na�onal holidays) NAMAK ABOUD SARAVAN A river flows through it and most travel through the • Visit Azadi Square and view the beau�ful cave system is done with a boat. architecture - Azadi Tower, the symbol of Iran. Each RASHT • Depart for the province of Isfahan, via Lalejin, the city sec�on of this unique structure refers to one of the • Drive along the coast of Caspian Sea to the city of of po�ery. This ancient and tradi�onal art has been historical periods in Iran. Rasht, the capital city of . Also known handed down from genera�on to genera�on in Lalin. • Dinner and overnight in Tehran. as the "City of Rain". (approximately 4 hours’ drive) Their products and materials are well known for it good quality. Lunch | Dinner • A�er lunch, visit Gilan Rural Heritage Museum. Located in the forest park of Saravan with an area of • Arrive Kashan for dinner and the night. DAY 3 253 hectares; about 45 hectares of this forest park (approximately 4.5 hours’ drive) have been devoted to the construc�on of the Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner TEHRAN museum complex. There are 28 collec�ons of rural • A�er breakfast, drive along the scenic Royal Way, the houses and buildings reflec�ng the rural life such as DAY 8 longest road in Middle East, to Saad Abad Palace tradi�onal cafés and restaurants, mosque, school which is in the northern part of Tehran. The palace was and blacksmith workshop. You will enter a genuine KASHAN ABYANEH VILLAGE built during the Pahlavi dynasty and occupies a vast world of customs and tradi�ons and have the ISFAHAN area of over 110 hectare. It is currently converted to opportunity to sightsee and explore rural living • Visit Fin Garden (UNESCO), a beau�ful sample of many museums. We will visit the Green Palace and environment. Iranian historical gardens. the White Palace. (Closed on Monday and religion • Proceed for an orienta�on tour of Rasht and mingle • Visit historical Borujerdi House, a genuine samples of holidays) with the locals in the vegetables bazaar, one of Iran’s Iranian tradi�onal desert house. Its crescent-shaped • Visit Milad Tower where you can have a panoramic biggest bazaars. view of the city. wind-catchers on the roof reveal one of the most • Dinner and overnight in Rasht. beau�ful Iranian architectural influences. • Visit the Treasury of Na�onal Jewels which is housed Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner within the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. • Take a short and scenic drive towards the slopes of Here is the most dazzling collec�on of gemstones and DAY 6 Karkas Mountain, where the red tradi�onal village of jewellery known to the world. (Opens 1400 - 1630 Abyaneh (UNESCO) sits. Enjoy the serenity of this during Saturday to Tuesday only) RASHT MASULEH HAMEDAN quaint village with its unique na�ve architecture and • Depart for via the town of . diverse historical monuments, and meet the dwellers • Visit Tajrish Square with some free �me to shop in the Masuleh Fuman (approximately 1.5 hours’ drive) who s�ll speak, live and dress in the original Persian local bazaar. • Visit , one of the most popular tradi�onal clothes. • Dinner and overnight in Tehran. Masuleh Village tradi�onal villages in the north of Iran. It is • Con�nue to Isfahan, once the dazzling capital of Breakfast | Lunch | Chinese Dinner surrounded by all the wonderful a�rac�ons of Gilan ancient Persia. It was once one of the largest and most Province. In addi�on to great weather and superb important ci�es in Central Asia, posi�oned as it is on DAY 4 natural beauty of the village, what a�racts most of the crossroads of the main north-south and east-west TEHRAN CHALOUS the tourists to Masuleh is its peculiar rural trade routes that cross Central Asia. The city was the splendid capital of the Seljuq and Safavid dynas�es, NAMAK ABOUD architecture. Houses are painted in a yellow-brownish color. The village is built on a hill so steep that the roof and is renowned for its beauty, which has given rise to • Set off in the early morning to the village of Chalous, of one house is the pathway for the next. Explore the the Iranian saying that “Isfahan is half the world”. right before the Caspian Sea in the north of Tehran. unique culture of the Masuleh people and heritage. • Dinner and overnight in Isfahan. This curvy and winding road around the rocky Alborz Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner Mountains is said to be one of the most scenic drives

35 New Bridge Road Dynasty Travel Hub Singapore 059395 Mon-Fri 10am - 8pm | Sat- Sun 10am - 6pm www.dynastytravel.com.sg 6338 4455 DAY 9 DAY 12 DAY 15 ISFAHAN YAZD SHIRAZ • Begin your day exploring the complex of Naqsh-e • Today, we will take an excursion towards the outskirts • A�er breakfast, embark on an exci�ng city tour of Jahan Square (UNESCO). Literally transla�ng to of Ardakan and drive to the mountain region to visit Shiraz – the city of roses, poets and nigh�ngales. “pa�ern of the world”, the square was once a royal Zoroastrianism Mountain Shrine - Chak Chak (Pir-e • Visit the beau�ful Nasir al-Mulk Mosque. Every polo court aVnd was the official city centre during the Sabz). At the base of the mountain, visitors and morning, this stunning mosque is illuminated with all 17th century Safavid era. At 512m long and 163m pilgrims have to walk up a trail and flight of steps past the colours of the rainbow through its stained glass, wide, it is the world’s second largest square a�er some buildings to the shrine itself. The gro�o-shrine hence it is also known as the Pink Mosque. is dedicated to the royal princess Nikbanu. Tiananmen in Beijing. • Visit the Garden of Eram (UNESCO), one of the most • Visit the famous Imam Mosque (Royal Mosque). • Descend the mountain and con�nue to Meybod. beau�ful and monumental gardens of Iran. Along with Naqsh-e Jahan Squre, the mosque was • Visit the Pigeon House. The 200 years old towers • Visit Hafezieh and Saadieh, the tomb of the 2 famous also registered a UNESCO World Heritage site. were nes�ng spaces for 4000 birds. It was a giant poets Hafez and Saadi. roost for the collec�on of guano; precious fer�lizer in • Con�nue to visit Sheikh Lo�ollah Mosque (or Ladies • Visit Narenjestan-e-Qavam which literally means The Persia before the introduc�on of chemical Mosque), another famous masterpiece of Iranian Qavam’s Orange Garden, one of the historical equivalents. architecture. buildings of Shiraz that dates from the Qajar Dynasty. • Visit the . These ancient • Visit the mul�-story Ali Qapou Palace where the Old Ice House (Yakhchal) • Dinner and overnight in Shiraz. Safavid Kings used to view the polo games and refrigerators were used primarily to store ice for use Breakfast | Lunch | Chinese Dinner ceremonies. in the summer, as well as for food storage, in the hot, • Walk through the tradi�onal coppersmith and dry desert climate of Iran. DAY 16 goldsmith bazaar. • Dinner and overnight in Yazd. • Proceed to visit Chehel Sotoun Palace (UNESCO) Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner SHIRAZ DOHA SINGAPORE (meaning “Forty Columns” Palace), situated in the • Early morning call a�er midnight. central of a park, at the end of a pool. It was built by DAY 13 • Check out and transfer to airport for your Shah Abbas II for his entertainment and recep�ons YAZD ABARKOUH PASARGAD homebound flight (0500hr). use. SHIRAZ • Arrival in Singapore. • Dinner and overnight in Isfahan. • Visit Amir Chakhmagh Complex, an ancient square in Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner Yazd that includes several old structures such as a We hope that you had an enjoyable vaca�on with DAY 10 bazaar, mosque, water storage, and a mausoleum Dynasty Travel, and we look forward to bringing that are all listed as Na�onal Heritage Sites. ISFAHAN you to your next holiday des�na�on! • Visit the Jameh Mosque. • Another great day to explore Isfahan. • Visit the Zoroastrian Fire Temple and see the oldest Note: The sequence of the itinerary is subject to • Visit 2 of the most famous historical bridges of burning fire in Iran. change without prior notice. During major Isfahan, Si-o-se-pol Bridge (33 arches) and Khaju • View Dakhmeh, the Tower of Silence where corpses conferences, fairs and festivals accommodation Bridge. of dead were placed to slowly disintegrate or picked may be located outside the city or in an alternate • Proceed to Jolfa, the Armenian and Chris�an quarter apart by desert vultures. This burial tradi�on had city without prior notice. of Isfahan. been since 3000 years un�l the tradi�on stopped 40 • Visit Vank Cathedral also called Holy Savior Cathedral years ago. or The Church of the Saintly Sisters, one of the • A�er lunch, drive approximately 2.5 hours along AZERBAIJAN earliest churches in Iran. desert road to Abarkooh to see the legendary 4000 TURKMENISTAN • A�er lunch, visit the Jame Mosque (Friday Mosque) year-old cypress tree. CASPIAN SEA and or “Eight Paradise” Palace, RASHT 1 Hasht Behesht Palace • Con�nue approximately 2 hours’ drive to Pasargad MASULEH CHALOUS 1 a 17th century pavilion. (UNESCO World Heritage) - the ancient capital of

• In the a�ernoon, you will have some free �me to Cyrus the Great. TEHRAN 2 1 HAMEDAN shop in the Grand Bazaar. • Visit the Tomb of Cyrus the Great and remains of 1 KASHAN • Dinner and overnight in Esfahan. Achaemenian palaces and edifices. ABYANEH AFGHANISTAN Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner • Con�nue to Shiraz for dinner and the night. 3 ISFAHAN YAZD 2 Breakfast | Lunch | Chinese Dinner DAY 11 N ISFAHAN NAEIN YAZD DAY 14 SHIRAZ 3 PERSIAN GULF • Approximately 5 hours’ drive into the central high SHIRAZ (PERSEPOLIS) desert plateau of Iran is Yazd. Yazd has a history • Enjoy a full day excursion exploring some most dated since 3000 BC. It is recognized by UNESCO for important archaeological sites of Iran. PAKISTAN holding one of the oldest architectures in the world. • Visit Persepolis (UNESCO), the highlight of any tour It is also the centre of Zoroastrian culture. to Iran and the most magnificent city of the ancient • Visit Nain Castle, probably one of the oldest world. Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the START/END BY FLIGHT military castles in the world. Persian Empire during Achemaenian era. The site, • Visit Saheb A Zaman Zurkhaneh, the “House of 125,000 sq. m in area, is composed of various NIGHT STAY BY COACH Strength”. Unique to Iran, it is a combina�on of recep�on halls and palaces, private palaces, royal Mithrai sm rituals, Sufism spirituality, sport, religion treasury and for�fica�ons. and theatre. The actual zurkhaneh itself is a • Visit Naqsh-e Rajab and Naghsh-e Rustam, the rock tradi�onal gymnasium which is o�en decorated like a cut tombs of the Achaemenian royals. shrine. Visitors are permi�ed to sit around the • Return to Shiraz city and visit Vakil Complex, which central exercise area (shoes should be removed) and group some of Shiraz’s most historical monuments watch the exercise sessions. These are accompanied including the Vakil Mosque, the traditional bazaar by rhythmic drumming that helps the whirling and bath house. individuals to reach almost religious heights of • Dinner and overnight in Shiraz. concentra�on. Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner • Dinner and overnight in Yazd. Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner