Iran - Andrew Burke [286]
Damghan Inn ( 524 2070; fax 524 6800; Azadi Blvd; r US$27; ) With multiple-domed roofs, this remarkably swish hotel is designed to faintly resemble a caravanserai while offering full midrange facilities. It’s beside Park-e Shahrdari, five minutes’ walk north from Chaharshir Sq.
Caffe Sun City ( 524 8131; Beheshti St; coffees IR500-800; 9am-midnight; ) Thirty metres northeast of Imam Khomeini Sq, this is an appealing spot for a decent Turkish coffee. Or for a real espresso if they ever fix the machine.
Of several pizza and burger joints around lower Azadi Blvd, the most appealing is Konj (Kandagh St; noon-10.30pm; ) facing Bazaar Khandaq.
Getting There & Away
Damghan’s quiet terminal looks more like a covered bazaar. It’s 1km west on 17 Shahrivar St, a IR500 shuttle-taxi hop from outside Imamzadeh Jafar. Buses/savaris run to Semnan (IR12,000/25,000, three hours) and Shahrud (IR3500/14,000, 75 minutes). Arriving in Damghan, incoming transport often leaves passengers obligingly at central Chaharshir or Imam Khomeini Sqs.
Return to beginning of chapter
AROUND DAMGHAN
Local picnickers love Cheshmeh Ali where the skeleton of a lonely Qajar-era pavilion sits amid willow trees in a spring-fed reflecting pool. It’s almost worth the taxi fare (IR30,000 each way from Damghan, 30km) for the scenic contrasts en route: high snow-topped ridges, dry rocky outcrops and mud-walled plum orchards.
Along the slowly degenerating ex-asphalt north of here there are some fabulous 360-degree views of a wide mountain-ringed bowl-valley just beyond lonely Dibaj. To reach Mil-e Radkan, you’ll need a 4WD to get through deep squirming mud around Chamansovar village.
Return to beginning of chapter
SHAHRUD
0273 / pop 135,000
Shahrud is a pleasant small town with leafy streets squeezed against dusty ridges rising abruptly from the Dasht-e Kavir. It’s a useful hub for visiting Bastam (7km northeast) and the stepped village of Mojen (35km west).
Shahrud’s axis, 22 Bahman St, leads 1.3km from central Jomhuri Sq to Azadi Sq, passing Coffeenet Almas ( 223 8419; 22 Bahman St; per hr IR8000; 9am-11pm), easily missed downstairs, after one short block.
Imam Sq (nicknamed simply ‘falakeh’) is 300m north of Jomhuri Sq. Here winding Ferdosi St leads up to the small but beautifully presented Shahrud Museum ( 222 1784; Ferdosi St; admission IR3000; 7.30am-12.30pm & 4-6pm Sat-Thu), housed in the 1927 former town hall.
Northwest from Jomhuri Sq, Sadeghi St leads towards leafy Abshar Park (1km) closely paralleled by the covered bazaar, which is lively if less than photogenic.
Southwest of Jomhuri St, Tehran St passes very close to the tourist office (Miras Ferhangi; 223 0760; off 8 Shahrivar St; 8.30am-8pm Sat-Thu, 4-9pm Fri) after 500m. Look for the wind tower in the side lane (left) behind a shop marked ‘Iran Plast’.
Sleeping
Mehmankhaneh Islami Noh (Inn Islam New; 222 2335; Shohoda St; s/d/tr/q IR48,350/65,900/77,800/89,900; ) Barely 15m southeast of Jomhuri Sq, the location is very handy but the rooms range from bearable (with tap) to highly dishevelled (without). Friendly but no showers.
Hotel Azadi-Sharif ( 222 8454; Bahar St; tw/tr/q IR120,000/170,000/220,000, with bathroom IR153,000/ 220,000/270,000) Rooms are a very mixed bag: some ageing with tight-packed beds and shared toilets; others neat and relatively spacious with newer tiled floors. There’s a shared kitchen, family feel and an effusive welcome in approximate-English. To find it, walk 400m down Azadi Blvd from Azadi Sq, take a short block left on Khaqani St, turn left again and it’s on your right.
Hotel Nader ( 333 2835; fax 333 2836; Daneshju St; s/d/tr/IR140,000/160,000/180,000, with shower 180,000/210,000/240,000; ) Simple but very clean rooms with monogrammed sheets. Toilets are shared. Head two blocks down Tehran St from Jomhuri Sq, right on Madani Blvd, then take the first