Iran - Andrew Burke [128]
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Grindingly slow minibuses (IR2000, 40 minutes) and more frequent savaris (IR5000, 25 minutes) to Ardabil’s Bahonar Sq depart from the corner of Valiasr and Imam Khomeini Sts. That’s 400m west of the Hydrotherapy Centre, outside which drivers offer rides all the way to Tabriz in season. Taxis ( 222 4888) want IR60,000 plus waiting time for a Sara’eyn–Alvares return.
Fandoqlu
Turn off the hectic, but patchily beautiful Ardabil–Astara road near Namin and follow country lanes south for 10km through fields thickly carpeted with spring flowers to reach this over-popular ‘recreation zone’. If the thick mists deign to clear there should be magnificently panoramic views down towards the Caspian. No public transport.
Khal Khal
0452 / pop 41,000
A scenic alternative route from Ardabil to Rasht follows a broad valley of sparsely populated nomad territory through the almost-attractive stepped town of Kivi (Chivi, Giwi, Kosar) then climbs a steep-cut rocky valley to Khal Khal. Though rather characterless, this 4km strip-town could make a great trekking base. East of Khal Khal the road wheels through high grassy hills before tumbling down through deciduous forests to Asalem on the Caspian coast with some brilliant glimpsed views en route.
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SHAHSEVAN (ELSEVAN) NOMADS
From the 17th century, various Turkic nomad tribes of Eastern Azerbaijan formed a pro-regime bulwark against foreign invaders, earning them the loose, collective name Shahsevan (‘Shah-lovers’). However, after painful 19th-century treaties divided their traditional grazing lands between Russia and Persia, some turned to brigandry. In 1909, following the Constitutional Revolution, Shahsevan fighters sacked Ardabil – a vicious attack that eyewitnesses remembered as being far crueller than the later Soviet invasion. The Shahsevan continued their revolt until ‘tamed’ in 1923 by Reza Shah who bribed them with offers of considerable autonomy.
During the 20th century most Shahsevans became sedentary farmers, but some semi-nomadic groups (now officially renamed ‘Elsevan’) are still to be found, wintering around Parsabad then moving flocks up to summer pastures around Kaleybar and the slopes of Mt Sabalan.
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A lovely if tough road from Khal Khal to Aqkand zigzags across the Qizil Owzan valley where incredibly isolated, inaccessible villages cling valiantly to the distant canyon sides.
SLEEPING
Mosaferkhaneh Bastan ( 422 3884; dm/q IR20,000/70,000) Ultra-basic unmarked crash pad with no shower. There’s no receptionist: ask for keys at the pharmacy beside Bank Tejarat opposite Coffeenet Novin, 1km west of the bus terminal.
Khal Khal Tourist Inn (Mehmansara Jahangardi; 425 3991; s/tw/tr US$17/20/26) Acceptable rooms with clean squat toilets have been recently redecorated, though some furniture remains ropy. Walk five minutes east of the terminal then two minutes up an unlikely mud track where the dual carriageway ends.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
The terminal is beside an amusingly purposeless pedestrian overpass. TBT buses run to Ardabil (IR6500, two hours) at 6am, 7am and 4pm and to Rasht (IR20,000) at 8am and 5.30pm. From outside, savaris run to Ardabil (back/front IR20,000/23,000, 1½ hours) and to Asalem (IR17,000, 1¼ hours) for Rasht connections. There’s a handy taxi agency ( 425 3070) beside the terminal.
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ASTARA
0182 / pop 35,000
Astara has a wide but litter-strewn beach (Sahel Darya) and could make a base to visit the forested Talesh mountain hinterlands, but most travellers head straight on to Ardabil, Rasht or Azerbaijan.
If arriving from Azerbaijan walk directly south (150m) from the border post to find Hakim Nezami St for midrange accommodation, such as Belal Hotel ( 521 5586; Mo’allem Sq; s/d/tr IR148,000/218,000/270,000) with an English-speaking manager