Iran - Andrew Burke [276]
Information
Arpa Coffeenet (Valiasr St; internet per hr IR7000; 9am-3.30pm & 5.30-10.30pm) Near Edalat 10th St.
Golestan Miras ( 226 1802; Taqavi House, Taqavi Lane; 8am-2pm Sat-Thu) Cultural-tourist office. Occupies a splendid, part-renovated 19th-century merchant’s house. Plentiful colourful brochures.
Hoshkshuye Asia ( 222 6420; Beheshti St; 8am-2pm & 4.30-8pm Sat-Thu) Laundry. Corner of Behesht 7th Alley.
International telephone office (Beheshti 2nd Alley; 7am-9.30pm Sat-Thu, 8am-2pm & 4-9.30pm Fri)
Police Foreign Affairs Department (Niwentisdam Atboye Khoreji; 218 2648; Molaghaty St; 8am-2pm Sat-Thu) Visa extensions. Staff are helpful despite being sometimes overloaded with Central Asian applicants. Apply by 9.30am; collect around noon. The office is two short blocks from the big Bank Melli tower where you need to pay the IR100,000 fee.
Tourist Exchange ( 232 1929; Valiasr St at Edalat 23rd St; 9am-1pm & 5-9pm) Painless moneychanging.
Sights
Built around a quadrangle in the bazaar, the attractive 15th-century Jameh Mosque (off Aftab 27th Lane) has blue-tiled portals, sections of traditionally tiled roof and a distinctive Mazandarani-style capped minaret.
Imamzadeh-ye Nur, accessed via Aftab 15th Alley, is a 15th-century brick tomb tower of relatively minor interest, but finding it is a great excuse to poke around Gorgan’s most interesting old alleys. The magnificent Taqavi House (Taqavi Lane) houses the Golestan Miras cultural-tourist office. Ask to peep inside the ‘eight-wife’ harem building.
Gorgan Museum ( 222 2364; Shohoda St; admission IR3000; 8am-6pm) has limited, dusty ethnological exhibits, and displays sparse finds from local archaeological sites such as Jorjan (Gonbad-e Kavus) and Turang Tappeh (a large tumulus 22km northeast of Gorgan). The still-growing Imamzadeh Abdollah (Shohada Sq) contains dazzling mirror work. Its large blue dome looks especially photogenic viewed through trees from near the bus terminal against a distant backdrop of seasonally snow-topped ridges.
The forest paths of Nahar Khoran offer an easy clean-air escape, albeit crowded with weekenders and adorned with litter. The road continues several kilometres through Ziyarat. This once-picturesque village has suffered an extensive building boom but remains idyllically set with views up through a cleft green valley to high ridges behind.
Sleeping
BUDGET
Guri Camping ( 553 0248; Valiasr St km6; pre-erected tents IR30,000; No Ruz & summer only) Outside the Guri restaurant-teahouse, a row of seasonal tents are filled on a first-come, first-served basis: there are no reservations. Bring mat and sleeping bag.
Hotel Pars ( 222 9550; First Alley, off Panzhdah Metri 2nd Alley; s/tw/tr/q IR52,000/71,000/85,000/100,000) Set around a pleasant courtyard of orange trees, this clean, central yet surprisingly peaceful mosaferkhaneh (cheap hotel) lies just a minute’s walk from Shahrdari Sq. Ali, the gregarious, philosophical owner, speaks great English, having lived in the UK for nine years.
Hotel Razi ( 222 4613; s/tw/tr IR50,000/70,000/80,000, tw with shower IR89,000) Opposite Hotel Pars, this is almost as good.
Hotel Tourist ( 335 3797; Jorjan Blvd; tw/tr IR100,000/120,000) These simple, newly tiled rooms have sinks, slightly musty shower booths and ageing beds. Squat toilets are shared. It’s close to Istgah Gonbad and rather noisy.
Hotel Khayyam ( 222 4924; Aftab 15th Alley, Imam Khomeini St; s/tw/tr/q IR104,000/218,000/248,000/282,000) A cosy mosaferkhaneh whose small but relatively pleasant rooms have attached showers but ageing shared squat toilets. Comparatively overpriced.
MIDRANGE
Most are off Valiasr St, well south of the centre in the Nahar Khoran woodlands.
Hotel Maroof ( 442 5591; Jomhuri-ye Eslami St; s/d US$24/32) Although slightly scrappy this is the cheapest option to have en-suite toilets, some Western-style. It’s better value than the nearby Hotel Tahmasebi, despite road noise and underlit corridors.