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crested ridges leading up to Kuh-e Kamtal (Chamtal Dagh, Tiger Mountain). Sixty kilometres from Jolfa, the canyon widens slightly at Norduz, the modern Irano-Armenian border terminal (see boxed text, above). Four kilometres further east, picturesque Duzal village rises on a hillock dominated by a distinctive octagonal tomb tower and Imamzadeh. Behind the next rocky bluff the road passes through the gate towers and sturdy mud-topped stone walls of the once huge Abu Mirza fortress (Kordasht Castle). When viewed from the east, they frame an impressive spire of eroded rock on the Armenian side. One kilometre further east is a large, lovingly renovated historic hammam (Kordasht village; by request) with newly marbled floors and attractive ceiling patterns. Two kilometres further east, at the end of Kordasht village, look west for a particularly inspiring view of saw-toothed craggy ridges.

After another 25km, a side road rises steeply to the south beside a police post. This leads to Ushtebin (Oshtabin, Oshtobeyin) village after 5km (the last 2km un-asphalted and muddy when wet). Ushtebin has been touted by local tourist information offices as a ‘new Masuleh’, but virtually no visitors seem to have come, let alone any rubbish collectors. Despite the trash, the hamlet is a very picturesque huddle of stone and mud homes rising steeply in a fold of ‘secret’ valley famous for its white pomegranates.

The main road continues via photogenically stepped village of Qarachilar (7km from Ushtebin junction) to Eskanlu (88km) where you could cut inland through nomad summer pastures to Kaleybar (opposite).

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AHAR

0426 / pop 89,000

Set on high, windswept plains, Ahar is worth a 10-minute stop en route to Kaleybar to see the imposing Sheikh Shahabdin Ahari mausoleum ( 222 4310; Sheikh Shahabdin St; admission IR3000; 9am-1.30pm & 4pm-5.30pm). Incorporated into its front iwan (barrel-vaulted hall opening onto the courtyard), one of two giant exterior columns retains the original blue glaze. Inside, beyond displays of Safavid Qurans, candlesticks and keshkul dervish ‘coconut handbags’, is an inner courtyard where the sheikh’s simple black slab tomb lies behind a carved stone perimeter screen. The mausoleum lies in a park 400m south of central Ragaei (Shahid Bajlari) St. Turn at Police Sq, northeast of which is the renovated 1906 covered bazaar. Around 600m east, facing the vegetable market and friendly, four-room crash-pad Mosaferkhaneh Reza ( 222 4724; Ragaei St; s/tw IR25,000/40,000) is the savari terminal for Kaleybar (IR10,000, one hour), Meshgin Shahr (IR10,000, 1¼ hours) and Tabriz (back/front IR12,000/14,000, 1¼ hours). A block north is the small, simple but relatively comfortable Hotel Razavi ( 222 2482; Imam Khomeini St; tw IR150,000) and simple teahouse Azizi (Imam Khomeini St; qalyan IR1000; 7am-9pm) where craggy old grey-beards puff on some of Iran’s cheapest sheeshas.

The bus terminal is 1.5km southwest of town via Basij Sq with its flag waving soldier monument.

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KALEYBAR & BABAK CASTLE

0427 / pop 17,000

Set attractively in a wide, steep-sided mountain valley, unassuming Kaleybar town makes a great starting point for random hikes and visiting nomad camps en route to the upper Aras River Valley. But by far its biggest draw is the extensive crag-top ruin of Babak Castle (Qal’eh Babak). Known to some as Bazz Galasi, the castle has a unique emotional resonance for Azari people as the lair of their 9th-century national hero Babak Khorramdin. Occupying a cultural position somewhere between King Arthur, Robin Hood and Yasser Arafat, Babak is celebrated for harrying the anti-Shiite Abbasid-Arab regime between 815 and 837. Beware of visiting Kaleybar during Babak’s controversial ‘birthday celebrations’ (last week of June). While culturally fascinating, all accommodation will be packed full and authorities might suspect you of being involved in stirring up political unrest amongst the high-spirited Azari nationalists.

There are several access paths to the castle. The most