We didn’t sleep at Orient Hotel, but enjoyed the great Iranian cuisine offered by friendly staff up on the rooftop terrace. Dining delicious food with a beautiful view over Yazd next to the mosque is more than recommended! It’s a wonderful place, very hospitable and good value for money.
When hanging out there, we got to know Balal, a super chilled and friendly guide from Yazd. He helped us a lot with planning our next stops (we always travel independently/spontaneously and rely heavily on locals’ suggestions, which he had plenty of!).
In the end, he drove us from Yazd to Shiraz the next day, stopping at all the important sights on this route, spending a lot of time in Persepolis of course.
The trip was big fun! Balal explained all the important information, his English is impeccable and we had a fantastic time going from place to place and having great conversations in the car. He even drove through all of Yazd for us, because we asked to see the shrine - which was totally opposite of our direction... Sorry about that again :-) But he didn’t mind! He drove very carefully (especially in comparison to many other Iranians) and made sure at all times that we were comfortable. We can highly recommend taking a trip with Balal!
He told us about trips to the desert which he is offering as well to tourists - unfortunately we hadn’t had time, but if we ever came back to Iran, we would surely want to explore the desert with Balal!