Iran - Andrew Burke [136]
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RAMSAR
The tiresome Caspian coast road offers barely a glimpse of beach, but at Ramsar mountains and sea conjoin fairly attractively. A grand avenue of palmyra palms sweeps up from the tatty seafront to the wonderful Ramsar Grand Hotel ( 522 3592; old wing s/d/ste US$40/57/76; ). Its ‘old wing’ lobby oozes neo-colonial charm and the manicured rear gardens are impressive. Rooms are somewhat less luxurious but fair value, especially if you opt for a more spacious suite. Avoid the new wing, a drearily ordinary 1970s concrete-box appendage (20% cheaper). Just five minutes’ walk west, the Caspian Museum ( 522 5374; Motahhari St; admission IR40000; 8am-3pm winter, 8am-1pm & 4-8pm summer) is housed in the 1937 summer palace of Reza Shah. In between a (male-only) bathhouse is ideal for relaxing the muscles after the trek from Alamut.
Westbound savaris use Imam Khomeini Sq. Eastbound (from Basij Sq) you’ll usually have to change savaris in Tonekabon (aka Shahsavar) for Chalus via Abbasabad where a forest road short-cuts to Kelardasht.
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CHALUS & NOSHAHR
0191 / pop 83,000
Of these twin towns, Noshahr (Nowshahr) is the more attractive, with palm trees, manicured gardens and a neat little bazaar around central Azadi Sq. The main reason to come is to use the spectacular Chalus–Karaj road that starts at Mo’allem Sq in Chalus (marked by a tall telephone mast). From this square, 17 Shahrivar St leads west across a bridge into central Chalus while Noshahr Blvd leads east passing the Malek and Kourosh Hotels (2km) and airport (4km) before reaching central Noshahr (6km) at Jame Mosque Sq. Azadi Sq is a block further.
Sleeping & Eating
Mosaferkhaneh Tavakol ( 222 2157; central Chalus; d IR70,000) The Tavakol has basic rooms, shared toilet, no showers and a strict 10am check-out time. It’s a short stroll from Mo’allem Sq in a lane off 17 Shahrivar St: turn beside Tejarat Bank.
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THE MIGHTY CASPIAN SEA
At 370,000 sq km the Caspian (Darya-ye Khazar) is five times the size of Lake Superior. That makes it by far the world’s largest lake. Or does it? Its littoral states (Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan) can’t decide if the Caspian’s a lake at all. Perhaps it’s a ‘sea’. That’s more than petty semantics. In international legal terms, each nation deserves its own territorial slice of any ‘sea’ it borders. But with a ‘lake’, resources below must be shared equally among all littoral states. So the exact definition has vast economic implications given the Caspian’s immensely valuable offshore oilfields. The debate continues.
The Caspian has many environmental worries (see www.caspianenvironment.org). Under-sea mud volcanoes and oil vents add to the murk of industrial effluent flowing in through its tributary rivers, notably the Volga. And at 26.5m below sea level, there’s no outlet from which pollution can escape. Pollution along with climate change are probably to blame for increasingly severe algal bloom, the vast annual growths of surface water-weeds which, in summer 2005, covered an astonishing 20,000 sq km of the Caspian. Scientists are also worried by the appearance of Mnemiopsis Leydiyi (a comb jellyfish) whose explosive 1990’s reproduction in the Black Sea had threatened fish stocks there. All this along with heavy over-fishing is a particular worry for the slow-growing Caspian sturgeon, which produces 95% of the world’s caviar, but is now facing possible extinction.
To Westerners brought up reading CS Lewis novels, the name ‘Caspian’ sounds romantic. Sadly the reality isn’t very beautiful. Between 1977 and 1994 Caspian Sea levels rose an astonishing 15cm to 20cm per year. Those