Iran - Andrew Burke [247]
Many routes no longer have mahmooly services. The following fares are for Volvo buses except where two fares are listed (which refer to mahmooly/Volvo services). Departure times and durations are somewhat approximate.
SAVARI
There are occasional buses to Minab, but most people travel by savari (IR18,000, 75 minutes, 97km). The savaris leave from just south of Abuzar Sq throughout the day. Savaris for Bandar-e Lengeh (Peugeot IR40,000, 2½ hours) leave from the northeastern corner of the huge roundabout outside the Shahid Bahonar docks, about 5km west of the centre.
TRAIN
From Bandar trains run to Tehran, Esfahan and Mashhad, via points in between. The daily 1st-class train to Tehran (IR90,000 for a berth in a six-bed couchette) departs at 2.15pm and, insh’Allah, arrives at 9am. It stops at Sirjan (IR29,600, five hours) and Yazd (IR53,000, nine hours), though the arrival time (around 11.15pm) isn’t that convenient.
The Ghazal trains offer meals and more luxurious four-berth couchettes. They run to Tehran (IR230,000, 19 hours, 3pm) and Mashhad (IR230,000, 22 hours, 3.30pm), both three times weekly.
An entirely different train goes to Esfahan (IR41,700/66,100 1st/2nd class, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday), departing at 5pm and arriving at a rather unusually civilised 8.30am.
The train station is 8km northwest of the centre and you’ll probably have to charter a taxi (IR15,000). Buy tickets in Bala Parvaz Travel Agency.
Getting Around
It’s easy enough to get around Bandar on foot, though shuttle taxis make good sense in summer.
TO/FROM THE AIRPORT
It is easy enough to charter a taxi to or from the airport for about IR15,000. A shared taxi (which is harder to find to the airport) will cost about IR3000.
TAXI
Shuttle taxis are easy to find and cost about IR1000 to IR2000 depending on the distance. To places like the bus terminal, train station and airport, it’s far easier to charter one, especially in summer.
The professional Ani Taxi Service ( 555 5539; Taleqani Blvd; 7am-9.30pm) has air-con Peugeots for which it charges IR30,000 per hour (including driver) within Bandar Abbas. For a half-day beyond the city limits (eg Minab), expect to pay about IR230,000.
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QESHM ISLAND
0763 / pop 95,000
The largest island in the Persian Gulf at 1335 sq km, Qeshm boasts attractive beaches bounding an arid, sun-scorched interior of starkly beautiful hills and mountains. The coast is dotted with Bandari villages but the interior is largely deserted.
Qeshm is a duty-free zone – a sort of poor person’s Kish – but in a Gulf increasingly full of gleaming skyscrapers it remains refreshingly attached to the traditional Bandari ways. Sure, Qeshm Town is developing pretty quickly. But elsewhere you can still visit boat-building yards turning out lenges, the large wooden cargo boats that have criss-crossed the Gulf for centuries. Fishing villages don’t come much more traditional than Laft, with its supremely photogenic forest of badgirs. The west of the island has been declared Qeshm Geopark in recognition of the quite stunning geology, which includes the world’s longest known salt cave.
Qeshm seems destined to grow quickly as a tourist destination, but for now it feels untouched enough to reward the intrepid. And we do mean intrepid. Outside Qeshm Town there are few facilities and much of the southern coast is a naval military zone, evidenced by the hundreds of concrete bunkers being built when we took the road. Going anywhere for longer than a day carries an element of uncertainty – there are no formal lodgings – but that adds to the fun. Just don’t be tempted to camp in a military zone.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Qeshm is accessible by air, speedboat and car ferry.
Air
Qeshm International Airport is about 43km southwest of Qeshm Town. Iran Air has daily flights to Tehran (one way IR633,000, 80 minutes) and flies twice-a-week to Shiraz (IR315,000). Iran Aseman (www.iaa.ir) flies daily to Dubai (35 minutes). A taxi from the airport will cost about 70,000, depending