The most memorable meal which we ate on the tour - and there were many memorable meals organised for us - was our dinner in the yurt. Sadly, a couple of the members of the group were very tired and elected not to come out that night; they missed a great evening - I haven’t laughed so much for ages and the food was superb.

Where the Wild Things Are! These wild carpets were the first things we saw when we entered the restaurant

The restaurant was on the outskirts of Shiraz and was reached via a very bumpy, narrow and winding road. Our bus took us as far as it was able and after that we all piled into a minibus for the remainder of the journey. The minibus had been prepared to do a shuttle but with fewer numbers due to the dropouts, we were all able to do the journey together, albeit with a bit of a squeeze.

The yurt itself was decked out with coloured tassels looped from the roof, and the floor and raised platforms where we sat (some of us even managed to sit crossed legged) …

We all sat on raised, carpeted benches

… were covered with carpets and cushions. … and there was water running in a channel down the centre of the floor.

Water is very important. This channel ran the whole length of the restaurant

A charcoal brazier was placed in the middle of the area where we all sat and it threw out a good heat just in case we felt cold.

A couple of hookas - and they came with removable plastic mouthpieces - were ordered and the smokers and the brave shared them around. I have some great photos which I can’t display here as it is too difficult to make the partakers unrecognisable.

Tobacco, herbs and charcoal are placed in the bowl at the top

Being Nomad fare it was those ubiquitous kebabs but they were very different from the normal run of kebabs. They had quite obviously been cooked over charcoal because they had the lovely smoky taste which goes with barbecued meat and they were very tender and juicy.

Kebabs, yoghurt and bread. Where is the rice?

This was accompanied by the usual flat bread and yoghurt. I am assuming there was also rice as this is a staple in Iran and was always served but looking at the picture I can’t see any. Can anyone put me right on this one?

By the time we left, at the end of a very memorable and fun-filled evening, there were a couple of children holding small white spheres - the phantom golfer had struck again.

Himself about to blow up. No - he is NOT the phantom golfer.