Iran & south-east Turkey

A four weeks journey to Iran, starting in Tehran on April 6th, and an extra week in Turkish Kurdistan, finishing in Istanbul on May 12th, 2011.

why

In the western media, Iran has been portrayed as 'the bad guy' ever since the Islamic revolution of 1979. The only time you hear about it is when they want to remind you of how 'evil' and 'hostile' this country is. However, the few Iranians I have met in my life, and the people that have visited Iran tell a different story..

One of my main objectives for this journey is to balance the negativity and to get a better idea what Iran is really about. Everyday life, the people(s), the traffic, the rattling of machines, the prayer chants from the mosque, what it looks like, feels like and smells like. Apart from the 'real' Persians, that make up ~50% of the populations, there are many other peoples each with their own languages and culture.

Also, Iran, or Persia, has an extremely rich history that predates the Islamic Era, with sophisticated civilizations and technological inventions, like extensive irrigation canals (qanats).

Many of the Islamic building styles, found in the Middle East and far beyond, find their blueprint in pre-Islamic Persia. Even though many sites and old buildings in Iran have been destroyed by earthquakes and Monghols, there is still plenty left to see: wonderful mosques, palaces, fortresses, cave villages, zoro-astrian temples, ancient bas reliefs, and even churches.

Apart from this culture and history, Iran also has the most amazing landscapes. A large percentage is mountainous, with 2 great mountain ranges: the Zagraz and the Alborz mountains. Both have great hiking opportunities. There are vast empty deserts, salt lakes, also exensive woods and paddy fields in the north. Wildlife includes wild donkeys and goats, bears and snow leopards. Many famous flowers, like tulips, find their origin in Iran.

The reason to end this trip in Istanbul is because I already did a overland trip from Istanbul back to The Netherlands, and it would be nice to have a complete image of how the landscape and people change from The Netherlands all the way to Iran. Because of this, it makes sense to add a couple of days to see a remote part of Turkey that I am less likely to visit on another trip. And the south east of Turkey has a lot to offer.

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itenary

Iran measures about 1,650,000 square kilometer, making it roughly the size of Spain, France, Italy and the UK put together. Clearly, one month wouldn't be enough to visit those four countries and see every aspect of it. That means, it isn't quite enough time to see every corner of Iran and make aquaintance every minority group. It is only enough to scratch the surface, finding a balance between seeing as many different sides of Iran, but taking enough time at each place to really see it.

There are still more things on my itenary than I could possibly see & do! Tough choices still have to be made! If, for instance, I will find an opportunity to go on a 4 day hiking trip in the mountains, I will have to sacrifice some other, equally insteresting, sites..

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AMS 12:55-ANK-IKA 03:15

SAW 10:20-AMS 13:00

Teh~16:00-Yazd~0:00

Tehran-Tabriz,12h

Malatya 19:30 - Istanbul 22:00

1.01 Tehran

1.02 Yazd

1.06 Kerman

1.06 Kerman

2.02 Shiraz

2.06 Esfahan

4.01 Mashhad

4.12 Tehran

4.12 Tehran

5.01 Tabriz

6.03 Van

6.09 Istanbul

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Leg 2

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Leg 3

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Leg 4

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Leg 5

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Leg 6

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places I'll visit

• Tehran. Incredibly large and busy town and complete traffic chaos. It is a modern town and doesn't offer many great sites, apart from some interesting museums and the mausoleum of founding father of the Revolution: Ayatollah Khomeini. Since it is the capital, it is still worth it to get a good impression of it. The northern outskirts of Tehran are the start of the Albroz mountains, and it is possible to do some nice day hikes in the mountains from the northern metro station.
• Yazd. One of Iran's must-see towns, famous for its old mudbrick town with countless badgirs (wind towers). It has a museum about qanats (traditional irrigation and drinking water system). Quite a few interesting sites around i, including the Zoroastrian pilgrimage of Chak Chak, t can be visited on day trips from here.
• Kerman. Another old pretty town, on the edge of the desert. The town is a mix of Persians and Baluchis, who have a more Pakistani way of things. An alternative to the - destroyed - citadel of Bam is nearby Rayen. The Kaluts are impressive rock formations in the desert. Both are possible to visit on a daytrip. Spending one or more nights in the desert in the Kaluts is also an option.
• Meymand is an remote and ancient mountain village where people live in caves. It is inbetween Kerman and Shiraz.
• Shiraz is another must-see town on everyone's itenary. It has amazing mosques, palaces and ancient houses. Close to Shiraz are the ancient ruins of Persepolis, once the centre of Iran's first great civilization, the Achaemenid Empire.
• Zagroz Mountains. One of Iran's great mountain ranges, west of the route from Shiraz to Esfehan. The peaks are well over 4000m and home to some minority groups. If it is possible to organize I will try to some multi-day hiking there, four days would be nice. If not possible, then at least I will arrange a car to drive from Shiraz to Esfehan through the mountains.
• Esfahan. The town of towns in Iran, and possibly one of the prettiest in the world. Marvellous exhibitions of great architecture. This will be my last stop in central Persia, and about half way through my time in Iran.
• Desert road to Masshad. Leaving central Iran for the east will show some really deserted landscapes. It takes about 20 hours from Esfehan to Mashhad, but on the way are several excellent opportunities, eg. Khur or Garmeh, to break the journey and do some touring in the desert.
• Mashhad. For Shi'ites, Mashhad is the holiest of holy towns in Iran, being the burial place of Imam Reza, the 8th (of 12) Imam and the only one which has a burial site. Most of the insides of the gigantic Haram is forbidden for non-muslims, but there is still plenty to gaze at. Although it is the biggest town in Iran after Tehran, it doesn't offer many great sites in town, however it makes a good base to explore some villages and mountains nearby, like Kang. Another option is going north to Kalat, close to the Turkmenistan border.
• Turkmen Ecolodge. A small Turkmen village in the north east, in the Golestan National Park. Sleeping in yurts, and hiking possibilities in the woods. Several interesting sites are visitable from here, like the strange tower of Gonbad-e Kavus.
• The Alborz Mountains are south of the Caspian Sea. It is the wettest part of Iran, therefore also the greenest. If there is no opportunity to do a multi-day hiking trip in the Zagroz mountains, it is a good second option to find something similar here. There are many possibilities f to explore the region: Go to the remote West Radakan tower from the colourful town of Gorgan. Visit mountain villages, like Baladeh or Kelardasht. Or simply travel the road from Chalus to Karaj before returning to Tehran.
• From Tehran take the overnight train to Tabriz, 'capital' of the Azeri's. There is an option of staying a couple of days and visit the village of Kandovan, 'Iran's Cappadocia', before taking an overnight train to Van (Turkey). The other option is to cross the border by bys a bit earlier on, catch a glimpse of the Mt. Ararat, and the Ishak Pasa palace in Turkey.
• There is still some time left to see a couple of places in the south east of Turkey, like the area around the Van lake, Diyarbakir or Sanliurfa. From the town of Malatya I'll be taking a long train ride to Istanbul, where I intend to take a relaxing boat trip up and down the Bosporus. From Istanbul I'll be flying home.