• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1874 0

the Ferris wheel in Kazemi Park. At the back of the park you’ll find the Ateshgah Suites ( /fax 722 1732, 0918 888 3059; r IR150,000), where six concrete box-rooms with bathroom and unfinished kitchenette are carpeted and have blankets but no beds. It’s named Ateshgah for what was once Sassanian Persia’s second-greatest Zoroastrian temple complex (after Takht-e Soleiman) on a pronounced rocky knob on the mountain-top opposite. The site is very distantly visible from rooms 1 and 2 across a deep valley. Locals claim somewhat optimistically that they can walk there and back in a long day.

There’s cheaper accommodation, in little dormitories at the Ostad Khanim Mo’allem (Female-teachers’ Hostel; 722 5574; dm IR15,000) if they allow you to stay. It’s supposedly for women only, but the caretaker (who speaks no English) might accept foreign men if they’re suitably polite. Access is down steps marked with a restaurant sign featuring a chicken (beside the Pirayshfoad barber shop). By far the nicest dining option in Paveh is Kapr ( 722 1112; Shohoda Sq; meals IR12,000-30,000; 8am-10pm) at the top of the town’s little blue-glass shopping centre.

Getting There & Away

From the main terminal 3km east of central Paveh, Kermanshah minibuses (IR5500) and savaris (IR20,000, 1¾ hours) fill slowly. It might prove quicker to go in hops via Javanrud (IR3000, 45 minutes) or Ravansar (IR3500, one hour). En route you’ll pass the slippery-floored Ghuri Gahleh Cave (Goori Gala Qar; admission IR4000; 9.30am-5pm), which claims to be Asia’s longest, but what you see is very disappointing and somewhat claustrophobic.

For Marivan and Howraman shared Toyota (pronounced ‘tweeter’) pick-ups gather outside a trio of orange container huts, 1km west of Shohoda Sq. Departure times are highly unpredictable, typically before dawn to Howraman-at-Takht (IR70,000, five hours) if at all. To allow plenty of photo stops consider renting a taxi dar baste to Marivan from the delightful folks at Kurd Taxi Agency ( 722 777; Blvd Janbazan) either via Nosud (IR250,000) or in perfect dry weather via Howraman-at-Takht (IR500,000, very rough road).

Return to beginning of chapter

KERMANSHAH

0831 / pop 765,000

By far the largest and busiest city in central west Iran, Kermanshah developed in the 4th century AD astride the Royal Road to Baghdad. Its strategic position has brought both prosperity and attack. Most recently it suffered missile damage during the Iran–Iraq War. Briefly renamed Bakhtaran in the 1980s, the city is a melting pot of Kurds, Lori and other Iranians. Though not a major tourist draw, its backdrop of glowing red-rock mountains is impressive and, if you’re passing through, don’t miss Taq-e Bostan.

Orientation

Kermanshah is bewilderingly vast. The main street changes names (Kashani-Modarres-Beheshti-Sheikh Shiroodi) as it stretches over 10km from the busy commercial centre (the southern third) to the foot of the magnificent rocky Parom Mountain massif. Here the Taq-e Bostan carvings, ringed by parks and outdoor restaurants, form the city’s foremost attraction. Cheap accommodation is found south of the mammoth Azadi Sq, which has a mini Dome-of-the-Rock in its midst. Another key junction is 15 Khordat Sq, nicknamed Meydan Labab, actually a daunting high-speed flyover rather than a square.

Information

INTERNET ACCESS

Emperator (Modarres St; per hr IR6000; 8am-8pm) Upstairs. Fairly good connection.

Hesabgarnet ( 723 1309; Shari’ati St; per hr IR6000; 10am-9pm)

MONEY

Sepehr Exchange Co (Bank Sepah Bldg, Kashani Sq) Changes money, unlike the big Bank Melli on Azadi Sq.

TOURIST INFORMATION

Cultural Heritage Office of Kermanshah ( 836 7403; off Beheshti St; 7.30am-2.30pm Sun-Wed, 7.30am-1pm Thu) Lavish free brochures and decent if undetailed map.

Khadivi House ( 721 2696; Ma’adem St; 8am-3pm Sat-Thu) The Cultural Heritage Office operates a more convenient tourist information outlet at a beautifully restored Qajar mansion and garden used as occasional exhibition place.

Shapur Ataee ( 0918 856 6220; shapurataee@yahoo.com; per day plus tips