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By Root 1631 0

Fuman itself is a leafy junction town 25km west of Rasht, its boulevards lined with date palms, plane trees and numerous rather tacky plaster-cast statues. The mountains on its southwest horizon stay snow-topped well into April, though it’s often too hazy to see them. Fuman is the most famous place to buy klucheh fuman, typical Gilan cookies filled with walnut paste, available hot from the oven at several bakeries around town. Savaris to Rasht leave from a bizarrely hidden yard at the northeastern edge of town. West of the bazaar at Velayet Faghi Sq, the roads to Masuleh (Blvd Imamzadeh Mirza) and to Qal’eh Rudkhan divide; savaris to either leave from 400m up each respective road.

Masuleh

0132 / pop 1500

At least a millennium old, Masuleh is one of Iran’s most beautiful villages. Rising through mist-draped forests, earth-coloured houses climb a cupped mountainside so steeply that the roof of one forms the pathway for the next. In summer, day-tripping local tourists merrily fill its appealing tea-terraces, seek out its two minuscule museums and peruse the tiny bazaar’s trinket and halva shops. To avoid the coach-tour hordes, stay overnight, hike the surrounding mountains or visit in winter when cold and snow mean you’ll often get the place virtually to yourself.

SLEEPING & EATING

Many villagers rent out rooms (double from IR80,000), which makes for a great way to experience a taste of rural Gilan.

Mehran Hotel (Mehran Suites; 757 2096; apt IR100,000-200,000) At the back of the village, rooms here are great value with bathrooms, kitchenettes, up to six beds and terraces with photo-perfect village views.

Mehmanpazir Navid ( 757 2288, 0911-239 6459; apt IR150,000-250,000) Nearer the bazaar, this place also has surprisingly sizable rooms with fold-out couches and kitchenette.

Monfared Hotel ( 757 2050; s/d IR150,000/250,000) At the base of the village where savaris arrive, this older hotel has 26 timber-walled rooms with bathroom and newly tiled floors, but some peeling paint on ceilings. Mr Nabizadeh speaks some English.

On sunny days, the best places for delicious mirza ghasemi are the terraces at Khaneh Mo’allem Restaurant ( 757 2122; meals IR30,000-45,000; 12.30-3.30pm & 7.30-9.30pm), behind the Monfared Hotel, and especially the Mehran Hotel’s superbly situated café balcony.

GETTING THERE & AWAY

From Fuman minibuses/savaris (IR2000/6000, 45 minutes) are regular in summer, but rare in winter. The forest scenery en route is charming and around halfway there’s a brilliant traditional thatched Gilani house at the western edge of Makhlavan (Makelun) village, now the backdrop for a roadside teahouse.

Qal’eh Rudkhan

This very impressive Seljuk-era mountain fortress (admission IR3000; 8am-5pm) covers the top of an idyllic wooded butte ringed by a curl of forested mountain. The brick rampart-ruins are relatively complete, with many photogenic towers, arches and wall sections calcified white with age or tufted with wild flowers. Access requires a steep, sweaty but gorgeous 50-minute walk starting out along a streamside full of mossy rocks then climbing pebble-studded concrete steps to the chorus of birdsong and tapping woodpeckers. The trailhead is beyond a pair of teahouses at Qal’eh Daneh hamlet. That’s 7km (IR5000 by motorbike taxi) from Qal’eh Rudkhan village to which five-in-a-Paykan savaris from Fuman cost IR2000 per person. Even if you don’t make the climb, the 25-minute drive from Fuman to Qal’eh Daneh is delightful, crossing rice paddies and skirting hills with neat green-tea haircuts. If cloud and rain make climbing impractical, a scale model of the castle in Rasht Museum shows what you missed.

Rasht to Qazvin

The Rasht–Qazvin highway is a frightening deathtrap with a few minor sights. About 33km out of Rasht the much-revered Imamzadeh Hashem is plonked on a wooded knoll by the roadside. Almost all public transport halts in Rudbar for passengers to buy nationally famous olives and pickled garlic. Olive groves and conifers grace the grassy, rocky valley walls above town, offering attractive random rambles.