During our final days we continued off the beaten track, over the snow-capped Alborz mountains and into the Valley of the Assassins, another amazing find which Steve had looked forward to exploring.
Not quite as high as the Himalayas, the beauty of these mountains rivals the scenery we saw in Tibet in 2006 where we took another three-week cross-country trip.
Obviously, this rugged part of Iran is not for everyone, but Steve reveled in being able to climb to the top of a few of the peaks to explore castle ruins, including the Alamut Castle.
I rocked back and forth on the back of a small, struggling pony which carried me halfway up a mountain toward Lambisar Castle. Lambisar Castle (Castle of the Assassins) was considered to be the largest and the most fortified castles of the Nizari Ismaili state. That’s as far as I could go.
I waited for Steve and the dozen or so Europeans fit enough to climb with him, content to take in the expansive view in contemplation. Even perched on the side of the trail, I felt as if I could see the whole world, an exhilarating sensation which brought our last three weeks in Iran to an uplifting end.