comment of Phil Schafran

I wanted to write to you and thank you and Pazira Travel for a wonderful two weeks of touring Iran. The pace was fairly intense but we were up to the challenge. Having Seyed Ali Mohammad Hosseini as our tour guide was a delightful experience. Ali is a warm, friendly, approachable young man, and a true professional at what he does.  I think that our group of 3 men were not the easiest group to be around and Ali handled himself with courtesy, humor, and patience even when the members of the group were demanding and challenging. Ali did a good job “herding cats” so to speak.  He didn’t leave any of us on top of the Towers of Silence, even though the thought crossed my mind because of some of our behavior J.  We visited wonderful sites that were included in the tour itinerary as well as unscheduled sites such as Pasargadae and Qom. After the Qom visit, one of the tour members thanked me for requesting the visit. Ali arranged for the change in itinerary and private transportation from Kashan to Tehran via Qom and the van was very adequate for our needs and reasonably priced. The opportunity to meet and speak with Imams in Isfahan and Qom were highlights of the trip.  The Armenian section of Isfahan and the beautiful church painted with scenes from the Bible was also a highlight as well as the dinner we enjoyed at Hermes restaurant the same evening. I did my Master’s Thesis on Cyrus the Great, so the visit to Pasargadae and Persepolis were musts for me. Ali provided personal resources about Persepolis from his studies under the late Dr. A. Shapur Shahbazi  of the University of Shiraz that were unexpected and a real treasure. Even on our free days, Ali made himself available and he accompanied me to the Coin and Archaeology museum in Yazd. The restaurants we ate in were all very good and there were no food issues among any of the tour members. Ali had a few days when he was feeling ill but he carried on his duties when he should have been resting, including one of the free days when he accompanied us to sites. Ali went beyond the call of duty several times during our two weeks. Ali is well connected and every place we visited he seemed to know someone or individuals came up to him and renewed their friendship. Ali is a valuable asset to your company and undoubtedly a major reason for the success of Pazira/Uppersia. I hated to say good-bye to him because I feel like he is my new Iranian friend and I look forward to returning to Iran with my wife who was not able to accompany me this time because of her  teaching responsibilities. Ali even befriended her via Facebook and sent her several photos while we were on the tour.  Ali is becoming an experienced camel rider and it was great fun to take a ride with him in the desert! J  I have only fond memories of the trip, and of Ali, and the trip was truly one of the highlights of my travels that include over 50 countries. If Ali is a reflection of the caliber of the rest of your employees, then you are indeed, a very fortunate travel agency owner.

All the best to you,

Phil Schafran