Iran - Andrew Burke [301]
Getting There & Away
To Mashhad, savaris (IR25,000) are sporadic and buses (IR8000) are rare. For the pretty but very winding road to Dargaz (1¾ hours, 120km) you’ll almost certainly need to hire a taxi (Paykan/Saipa IR100,000/120,000). Talaydaran-e Khesht Taxi Agency ( 272 2637; Imam Khomeini St) can oblige.
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DARGAZ
0582 / pop 39,000
Whether slithering down the endless hairpins from Quchan or winding past the ‘Thousand Mosque’ mountains west of Kalat, travelling to Dargaz (Daregaz) is much more interesting than arriving. The sprawling town has one specialist attraction, the Bandiyan Archaeological Site (Artyan rd, km 2; admission by invitation; 7am-7pm), where unusually well-preserved stucco mouldings in white gypsum depict faces and floral patterns on wall and column stumps. Experts believe it was once a particularly fine Sassanian fire-temple complex. Covered with corrugated sheet-roofing, the three adjacent dig sites sit in a cornfield 2km west of Dargaz’s northern edge. Annoyingly the caretaker won’t let visitors in without permission-letters from Dargaz’s Miras Ferhangi ( 522 5247; Modarres St; 7.30am-2pm). Near the archaeological site, an abrupt tumulus-style mud hill called Yarim Tappeh possibly started life as a Zoroastrian ‘tower of silence’.
One block east of central Imam Khomeini St, Hotel Sarim ( 522 5247; fax 522 5147; Imam Khomeini 29th Lane; s/tw/tr IR160,000/190,000/230,000) has accommodation that is comfortable and would be fairly appealing if they fixed the droopy curtains and threadbare corridor rugs.
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THE ROAD TO AFGHANISTAN
There are direct buses from Mashhad to Herat (Afghanistan) but you could add a little spice by doing the trip in bus/savari hops via Fariman, Torbat-e-Jam and Taybad. For intermediate stops you will generally need to pay a private taxi.
Mashhad to Torbat-e Jam
In the scrappy railway-junction village of Sang Bast (40km from central Mashhad), you could climb the AD 1028 Ayaz Minaret. But don’t hope to get inside the caravanserai in case your wish comes true: it’s now the local prison.
Flat Fariman’s unexotic caravanserai (Musa Sadr St, 14th Alley) isn’t really worth the 2km walk north of central Imam Reza Sq but you might consider a IR20,000 return taxi trip to the Band-e Fariman, 10km south. This unusual dam was built in pseudo-Safavid style with multiple arches creating an opal-blue reservoir that contrasts strikingly with its arid surroundings. Swap from bus to taxi in Fariman if you want to visit Langar en route to Torbat-e Jam (IR40,000 dar baste). Pretty Langar village is an archetypal scattering of mud-walled courtyard houses (2.5km off the main road, initially following signs to Mahmoodabad). It’s overlooked by the impressive, un coloured Imamzadeh Qasm Anvar and an unusually large domed abambar (water cistern).
Torbat-e Jam
0528 / pop 85,000
Where the last ripples of mountain ridge disappear into a vast dusty plain, you’ll find this friendly, adamantly Sunni town. White beards and whiter turbans create a street-vibe that’s more oriental than in most Iranian cities.
Imam Khomeini Blvd runs 4km from Imam Reza Sq (northwest) to Falakeh Sharak (southeast), passing Shahrdari Sq halfway. The town’s central Valiasr Sq is 600m east of Shahrdari Sq along commercial Al Mahdi St. The culture-information office, Miras Ferhangi ( 222 4790; Robat Karim, Beheshti 3rd Alley; 7am-2pm) occupies a pretty, mini-caravanserai, two blocks south, then one west from Valiasr Sq, passing E1 Technology ( 222 8030; Beheshti/Modarres St; internet per hr IR5000; 8am-10pm) en route.
JAMI MAUSOLEUM
Torbat-e Jam’s highly impressive must-see sight is the beautiful Jami mausoleum complex (Aramgah St; admission free; dawn-dusk). Here, 10 religious buildings intertwine around the grave of 12th-century Sunni mystic and poet Sheikh Ahmad Jami. His tombstone rests under a very old pistachio tree, above which soars a particularly impressive blue-tiled main iwan. In this iwan there are