For the Iranian shepherd, wolves, bears and angry donkeys are never as bad as the bad economy. And now global warming threatens what’s left. Here’s an interview with someone we met on our Iran travels who experiences all this on daily basis.
Badab Soort hot springs is a unique must-sea tourist site in the rocky and arid part of the southwest Mazandaran province of Iran. We visited on our road trip through the Caspian Coast region.
The beach at this 2-million-year-old lake in the middle of an Iranian forest is the perfect camping site for a road tour of the Iran’s Caspian Coast – even if it gets bone-chillingly cold this late in the fall.
In the words of this former mobster: “I didn’t even have to ask for protection money. Shopkeepers just came out in the street and gave it to me because they knew what I would do to them if they didn’t. But I have asked forgiveness from everyone of them.”
For the tourist, train travel inside Iran is fast, comfortable and inexpensive. You can see much of the country from inside a private sleeper, wifi and meals included.
On our road trip from Tehran to Mashhad, we passed through Sari, one of the largest cities in Iran’s Caspian Coast region.
I’m a happy man in an Iranian traditional home because everything – eating, sleeping, receiving of guests – happens not on furniture but on floors covered with nothing but Persian rugs. Empty rooms are peaceful.
Getting non-industrial food in Iran is as likely as running into Joe Biden at the supermarket – unless you specfically ask for farm-fresh food. And beware of Iranian hotels many fake stars.
Filband is a village in northern Iran in the middle of the clouds so dense, you would swear you’re at beach not on top of a mountain. Were having a blast touring Iran’s Caspian Sea area.
“You haven’t even hit the jungle yet!” our host cried on the phone. Just the foggy climb to the 10,700-foot Filband village in northern Iran is an adventure during our Iran Caspian tour.
The infamous Haraz Road north from Tehran offers lots of danger and bad roadside restaurants. It is, however, the shortest most beautiful and interesting path from Iran’s capital Tehran to the the Caspian Sea coast. The breathtaking views of the Alborz mountains are unbeatable.
The first sight of the snow-covered Mt. Damāvand was so unexpected and thrilling, that I just slammed on the brakes. Saeideh jumped out and ran.
