Cave complex

We set off today in rain for the Ali Sadr Caves. It’s the largest water cave in the world and consists of deep lakes, huge chambers and is thought to be 11km long. We glided through the network of tunnels on a pedalo. It was pretty impressive. I liked the spiderweb type of feature.

We continued south through agricultural land where the crops had all been harvested and land, where suitable, had been ploughed. In the late afternoon we reached Hamadan, a historically important town due to its strategic location on the route to Iraq.

Here we visited the tomb of Avicenna, a 10th century Islamic scientist whose medical tome was used in western medicine. The museum was interesting, with silver medical instruments and beautiful pots and flasks from 14th. We also visited the Alavian Mausoleum which has stunningly carved stucco with no colouring and may date from 14th century. Last stop was to see a statue of a lion reputed to come from the time of Alexander the Great. It was so worn it looked more like a seal. We chatted to some old chaps who were dervishes, sporting magnificent moustaches, but sadly not whirling.