Lonely Planet Iran

378 Pages·2012·9.08 MB·English

by  Andrew Burke

Iran
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
“All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” Get the right guides for your trip
TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET
PAGE PLAN YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT
2 Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions
YOUR TRIP
to help you put together your perfect trip
Welcome to Iran .............. 2
Map ................................... 4
Welcome to
16 Top Experiences ......... 6 Iran
Need to Know .................. 14
If You Like ......................... 16 CCCCCOOOUUUNNNNNTTTTRRRYYY &&&&& CCCIIITTTYYYYY
•• TTThhheee ooorrriiigggiiinnnaaall
Month by Month .............. 18 • Comprehensive
• Adventurous
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Looking for other travel resources?
PAGE UNDERSTAND GET MORE FROM YOUR TRIP
265 Learn about the big picture, so you
IRAN
can make sense of what you see
Iran Today ........................ 266 266 poIRpANulationU pKer sq kUmS
History .............................. 269
≈ 32 people
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PAGE ON THE YOUR COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE
32 In-depth reviews, detailed listings
ROAD
and insider tips
Tehran
p34 Northeastern Iran
p236
Western Iran
p74
Central Iran
p142
Southeastern Iran
Persian Gulf
p220
p204
PAGE SURVIVAL VITAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO
323 HELP YOU HAVE A SMOOTH TRIP
GUIDE
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THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY
Andrew Burke
Virginia Maxwell, Iain Shearer
elcome to
W
Iran
In the Footsteps of ing fi gures. And certainly you won’t fi nd
yourself crowded out of any sights. Which
Empire
is fun.
Before you come to Iran, you might be These highlights, together with the at-
thinking the main reasons to visit the mospheric teahouses, bustling bazaars,
Islamic Republic are because it’s a bit ad- deserts punctuated by historic oases and
venturous and there’s a lot to see from the rugged mountain ranges, gives Iran more
years when Persia was a great world pow- than its fair share of fantastic places to see.
er. At some levels you’d be right. Walk- But to think of Iran only in terms of ‘sights’
ing around the sublime, turquoise-tiled is to miss the real story.
domes and minarets of Esfahan’s Naqsh-
Redefi ning Hospitality
e Jahan (Imam) Square, the awesome
power and beauty of the Achaemenid’s If you like people, you’ll like Iran. The
ancient capital at Persepolis, the mud- Iranians, a nation made up of numerous
brick alleys and rooftops in Yazd, and the ethnic groups and infl uenced over thou-
wonderfully immense Elamite ziggurat sands of years by Greek, Arab, Turkic and
at Choqa Zanbil will put you in the foot- Mongol occupiers, are endlessly welcom-
steps of some of history’s most outstand-
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(left) A Qashqa’i nomad girl looks out from her family’s tent, Zagros
Mountains (below) The skyline of Yazd.
TIBOR BOGNÁR/CORBIS ©CREDIT
ing. For those who have grown up on an Politics & Safety –
endless diet of images depicting Iran as a
Should You Go?
dark, dangerous place full of fundamen-
talist fanatics, discovering the real Iran is If you make your travel decisions based
the most wonderful surprise. Before long on what your friends and family say, you’ll
you’re asking yourself: how can some- probably never make it to Iran. This is a
where supposedly so bad be so good? country whose politics are impossible to
Beyond the stereotypes is a country des- escape. For most travellers that will mean
perate to been seen for what it is, rather little more than some pre-departure
than what it is depicted to be. Sure, not questions about their sanity, but it can
every Iranian you meet is going to invite make getting a visa a challenge. Except
you around to dinner. But if you’re open for Americans, who must be accompa-
to the idea, you probably will be, and nied, once in Iran independent travel is
through it experience the ancient and so- easy and, through the people you meet,
phisticated Iranian culture fi rst-hand. It’s rewarding and sometimes sobering. How-
these experiences that will live longest in ever you chose to plan your travel, a jour-
the memory. ney in Iran will change the way you see
this part of the world.
›
Iran
Doÿubayazit M(51t 3A7rAmarR)aMt ENIA A Z E R B A I J A NBAKU 40ºN Turkmenbashi
Gürbulak
Bazargan AZERBAIJAN Tabriz Masuleh
Lake Van MKhaokyu JolfaCulfaANgoarrdaukz liWsteodrl db aHzaearirt a(pg8e–4) Iran'sM stoesptp aecdc evsilsliabglee so (fp106)
T U R K E Y RaziSeroMarand Tabriz Ahar Ardabil AAssttaarraa C A S P I A N
YüksekoOvarumiyeh Lake MaM(r3a7qt 0eS7hamha)nd M(t4 8S1a1bmala)n Bandar-e Anzali S E A 38ºN Gyzyl-EtInreckheh
Orumiyeh Borun
Miyando'ab Masuleh Gonbad-e Kavus
Mosul Takht-e Rasht Ramsar Bandar-e Azadshahr
Mahabad Soleiman Zanjan Torkaman
MaTraivkaanb DBainjadrySoltaniyeh QazAvKlianamCArauhltj aVbluaolslKeryelNzarodsahsBahahDtb(ra5om6lM7a1vtman)dSarMi o u n tDaaimGSnghosharghaanrund
Firuzkuh
Takht-e Soleiman Sanandaj Ali Sadr Caves TEHRAN Semnan
Lonely, windswept Zoroastrian
temple complex (p118) Qorveh Hamadan Saveh
Bisotun Qom Lake
ERuipvherrates BAGTRHiigvDerirAsDKhosravIilamKermKahnosrhBraaomhruajberadd MDaolrauyder Arak KashanNamak DashtKh-ure
Mehran Mt Oshturan Natanz Garmeh
I R A Q Andimeshk Zardkouh(40M70mou)ntains ArdestanNa'in
Kashan Dezful Shahr-e Kord Esfahan
NajLafow-key town with Shush Ardakan
exquisite old mansions (p146) Shushtar Qomsheh Yazd
Choqa Zanbil Z Mt Sir
a
g (4074m)
IncreCzdihigbgoleuq r3aa0t Z 0(pa01-ny3be8ai)lr-old S(AhArahvtvataanzld-A-rruadb) RiKvearrun RanDgreenoas Abadeh Abarqu Bafgh
Bandar-e Yasuj
MajesticE Ssaffaahviadn capital –AKlh-oBKrarUasmrWashAahIrTKCUITAWYbaAdIaTn3PIE0mRºNam KIKs5Bhhl0aauonºrsmEdkheeihnNriurD AobgaBodAonKhrbaraaazzdmjeaaSrPnnuhanisraargzadaeMFPaeosrasuepnBoLtalaivaskLaeain kTaneat sBshakNkShBehtiaearSbgihziaarrj-nkaen
a must-see (p153) S Firuz Abad
I
A Khormuj Jahrom
N
28ºN
Yazd
Desert city with romantic Kangan Lar
traditional hotels (p175) G
UL
F Bandar-e
Lavan Charak Bandar-e
Shiraz Island Lengeh
The heartland of Dhahran Kish Island Qeshm
Persian culture (p187) MANAMA Island S
BAHRAIN 26ºN
S A U D I
A R A B I A Persepolis DOHA UNIDTuEbDai
Ruined but still glorious 52ºE 54ºE ARAB
RIYADH Achaemenid capital (p198) QATAR EMIRATES
ABU DHABI
Top Experiences ›
K a r a k u m D e s e r t
T U R K M E N I S T A N U Z B E K I S T A N TAJIKISTAN
Alamut Valley Alborz Ski Fields
Hike among the Castles Cheap, steep, untracked
of the Assassins (p112) slopes (p71) DUSHANBE
ASHGABAT
Ashkhaneh Bojnurd Bajgiran
Dargaz
Shirvan Quchan Kalat Naderi Shrin eM oaf sImhhamad Reza,
Esfarayen Tus Sarakhs Saraghs Iran's holiest site (p248)
Neishabur
Sabzevar Mashhad
Torbat-e Torbat-e Jam ModernT Ireahnr –a ngalleries,
Hedariyeh cafes, restaurants (p34) KABUL
Taybad
Khaf
K a v i r Ferdous Gonabad Herat
Garmeh
Qa'en Desert oasis with
Tabas
memorable homestay (p174)
Birjand A F G H A N I S T A N
Lake Sistan
Da Zabol
s
Payeh K a l u t s ht- KLHuaahkme-eu nKhajeh Camp amKoanlgu t1s0-storey
M Shahdade sandcastles (p230)
KermMaanhanountai uL
Rnasyen t Zahedan P A K I S T A N
Mt Lalezar Mt Hezar
(4374m) (4420m) Bam Mirjaveh Taftan
Fahraj ELEVATION
Jiroft
Mt Taftan
Gahkom (4042m) 3000m
2000m
Kahnuj Khash 1000m
500m
250m
Bandar Abbas Iranshahr 0
Hormoz Island
Laft Minab
Larak Island 0 200 km
56ºE Qeshm Island 0 120 miles
StraitofHormoz aSmleaezpiyn gB ganeodlaorgi yv i(lpla2g1e4s),
OMAN
Karachi
Jask
Chabahar
Gulf of Oma n A R A B I A N S E A
OMAN 60ºE 62ºE 64ºE 66ºE 24ºN
6
16

TOP
EXPERIENCES
Meet the People Esfahan, Half of the
1 From watching the TV you could be World
forgiven for thinking Iranians are scary, 2 There are moments in travel that
America-hating fundamentalists bent on will long stay with you, and your fi rst
destroying the world. Nothing could be fur- sight of Esfahan’s majestic Naqsh-e Jahan
ther from the truth. Indeed, it’s the people (Imam) Square (p 157 ) is one of them. For
that leave the most lasting impressions this square is home to arguably the most
from any journey to Iran. You will regularly majestic collection of buildings in the
be asked ‘What do you think of Iran?’, and be Islamic world: the perfectly proportioned
bought tea and food with intonations that blue-tiled dome of the Masjed-e Shah,
‘You are our guest’. The people (p 289 ) are, the supremely elegant M asjed-e Sheikh
quite simply, the best experience in Iran. Lotfollah and the indulgent and lavishly
Shopkeeper, Shiraz decorated Ali Qapu Palace. Robert Byron
ranked ‘...Isfahan among those rarer places,
like Athens or Rome, which are the common
refreshment of humanity’. Masjed-e Sheikh
Lotfollah, Naqsh-e Jahan (Imam) Square
7
TIM
BARKER/LONELY PLANET IM
AGES ©
TIM
BARKER/LONELY PLANET IM
AGES ©
8
3 4
RICHARD SLATER/ALAMY © GOURMET-VISION/IMAGEBROKER ©
Yazd More than Ancient
3 Few places have adapted Kabab Persepolis
to their environment 4 Like peeling the layers 5 The artistic harmony of
as well as the desert city of the ubiquitous lunch- the monumental stair-
of Yazd (p 175 ). It’s a gem time raw onion ( which tastes cases, imposing gateways
of winding lanes, blue-tiled pretty good and keeps nasty and exquisite reliefs leaves
domes, soaring minarets, bugs at bay), Iranian food is you in little doubt that in its
covered bazaars, and fi ne one delicious surprise after prime Persepolis (p 198 ) was
old courtyard homes topped another (see p 296 ). Once at the centre of the known
by badgirs (windtowers) you’ve tried several varieties world. Built by kings Darius
and watered by ingenious of kabab, khoresht (stew), and Xerxes as the ceremoni-
qanats (underground water ash (soup) and fl at bread, ask al capital of the Achaemenid
channels). Several of these for fesenjun (chicken in wal- empire, a visit to the World
homes have been restored nut and pomegranate sauce) Heritage–listed ruins of the
and converted into marvel- or anything with bademjan city also testifi es to Alexan-
lously evocative traditional (eggplant). Then you can try der the Great’s merciless
hotels. Rooftops, Yazd the shirini (sweets)… And destruction of that empire.
if you get invited to eat in Don’t miss the monolithic
someone’s home, say yes. tombs at nearby Naqsh-e
Iranian treats Rostam (p 201 ). Birds of
Homa Statue, Persepolis