Travel & Photography
Distance: 4100 km
Time: 30 days
Date: October 2015
After a trip by Iran for nearly a month put the question: where to go out? I entered the north of the country on the border with Turkey, went down towards the south, and the exit from Persian Gulf towards the United Arab Emirates made perfect sense, adding to the advantage of these sites offer attractive flights fares for Southwest Asia, my next destination.
But was hard to get information about how to cross the Gulf by ferry, nor in relation to the port of departure, destination, schedules or prices. In general all the places where I inquired about ferry trips, the information were often inaccurate, confusing or even contradictory.
However detailed information can be found at this site:
http://caravanistan.com/transport/persian-gulf-ferry/bandar-abbas-sharjah/
Despite being more focused in transporting people with vehicles have reliable and detailed information.
The ferry company is the Valfarj Shipping Co. http://www.valfajr.ir/52/Home.aspx
Monday and Wednesday: 9.00 pm (passenger + cargo: 12 hours)
Sundays and Tuesdays: 10:00 pm (passenger + cargo: 5-6 hours)
Saturday, Monday and Wednesday: 11:00 am (only passengers: 4.5 hours)
The option was at Bandar Abbas route (to save on yet another trip to Bandar Lengeh) and to enjoy the evening to make the trip coming to the Emirates in the morning.
http://www.valfajr.ir/156/index.aspx
Bala Parvaz Travel Agency in Imam Khomeini Street, Bandar Abbas
The amount has to be paid in rials and is required passport.
No fee or commission is charged.
No need to buy the ticket in advance nor trying to book because the ferry was little more than 20% occupancy.
It is essential to exchange rials before leaving Iran because you can’t do it outside the country!
The option was to Morvarin Exhange, situated in a commercial area in Imam Khomeini Street, next to the Velayat Square; right in front, in the same shopping area there is another currency exchange store.
Here you can exchange rials per dirham or other currency, such as dollars or euros.
Taxi: 70,000 rials (30,000 rials if shared taxi)
It takes 30 minutes, from downtown to the port, depending on traffic. The taxi can enter the port and drop off passengers in front of the departure lounge.
Not worth arriving early. Though the boat starting at 9.00 pm, you must be in port by 5:00 pm… are hours of formalities, stamps, customs plus the time required to accommodate cargo and vehicles in the basement. Only there is a kiosk selling soft drinks and packaged snacks, cookies and little else.
In the port is expected to more than an hour to start boarding, passengers and goods (which are plenty) to spend the departure lounge by security devices (rx, metal detector, etc ..).
In the second room, for those who have no goods (the backpack does not count) can drive up to a counter and order your boarding pass showing the ticket.
The following is a wait of over an hour in this room, while all the goods are dispatched to the basement. Backpacks and suitcases remain with the passengers.
This room, are located immigration services, where they proceed to the formalities of stamping passports. It may take a few hours. Coincidentally or not the majority of western passports were trapped in the services being returned over an hour later, without justification.
Despite the departure being scheduled for 9 pm the boat just started the journey after midnight because of the time required to board vehicles and cargo.
Although there was reserved seats, these are not respected because of the small number of passengers, so crew direct people on the way that everybody can get over the three places and be able to lie down overnight.
At the boat is served dinner: meat with lentils and rice, bread, water, yogurt and doogh (yogurt-based drink but slightly salty(.
In the morning, around 7.00 am is served breakfast: bread, jam, processed cheese and tea.
As the boat is Iranian segregation keeps going on, with the front of the room reserved for families and women, and the rear compartment reserved for men.
The environment and noisy and confusing, especially in family area.
It is possible to access to the outside of the boat.
Despite the delay on departing the ferry arrived at 10:30 to Port Khalid in Sharjah.
Passengers are directed to a bus that leaves us in front of the immigration services. Then the process slow but priority was given to Western foreigners; however from landing until we have the passport stamped is more than one hour.
Leaving the Port Kahlid the gate we are in the Emirates. To get to Dubai:
Khalid Port to Jubail Bus Station are about 5 km to the route is done by car, so the taxi is also an alternative. However the value proposed by the taxi driver was too high for what the option was to walk.
Please note: You must purchase a card to use the Inter-Emirates bus, which is also valid for the metro and buses in Dubai. There is the possibility of buying a single ticket. So the cheapest option for those wishing to stay for a short time in the Emirates is buying Silver Card of the RTA. You can recharge it in the bus terminals and Metro stations. It costs 25 dirham with a credit of 19 travel dirham.
… The secret parties taking place in apartments by the city of Tehran, in a country where almost everything that is synonymous of party is prohibited.
… The small town of smiling and kind population, which in addition to palaces, gardens and historic houses, offers a bazaar of beautiful architecture.
… The bridges over the River Zayandeh that even without water still provide a magical atmosphere with the approach of the sunset.
… The ruins of an extinct civilization, that despite the many visitors still mirror the greatness of an empire that is the heart of Persia.
… The atmosphere of Masoleum of Hafez (Aramgah-e Hafez) in a mixture of religious devotion, intellectual respect and artistic mystique that is still given to this poet.
… By Dakhme hills (Towers of Silence), where the bodies of Zoroastrianism followers, religion originated in Persia, were left to be eaten by vultures so as not to defile the sacred elements such as fire, water, earth and air.
… The best were the Tabriz by the atmosphere and the Kashan by the architecture of the building and the sidewalk terrace.
… And people! The generosity and the kindness.
… For an upcoming trip:
Yes, Iran is different… not exactly exotic with reference to the said culture “western” but has its own characteristics. It has little to do with the Arab neighbors, that are often confused, in addition to the Muslim religion that they share, although predominantly Shiite in Iran. But Iran has nothing to do with the image that for many years was passed to the west of radical religious fanatics. Yes, the weight of the Muslim religion is significant, but the value of 99% recorded in the statistics is not real, at least at the level of the urban population; but in a country that lives under a religious dictatorship for over 30 years there’s “room” for non-Muslims to assert themselves. For an informal survey, perhaps more than twenty percent of the population does not follow the Muslim religion, feeling an attachment for the history of Persia, the Zoroastrian symbols and their earlier traditions before Arab rule that brought the Muslim religion in this territory.
All hate to the West and especially the United States, is far from being real, not going beyond the extremists and some radical religious, with many people trying to get visa to immigrate abroad, with America as a favorite destination. And this desire to immigration, more for freedom than for economic reasons, it takes a lot of Iranian youth with better economic power and higher level of education to want to leave the country, a situation which in the long run impoverishes a nation.
No one ever expressed hatred to America or to the West, but often people showed me their displeasure and disgust toward the ayatollahs, with the imposition of the headscarf, lack of freedom, with the fanaticism of some mullahs, with bad policy and the disastrous economic management governance, which is a holder of one of the country’s largest oil reserves is less successful than some of his Arab neighbors.
In a country living under a theocracy where religious command society and politics, where almost everything is forbidden, parties, clubs, alcohol, premarital sex, satellite TV, certain books, facebook, youtube, blogs .. . and another list of things that do not seem real … much of the population breaks all these rules… here people drink alcohol, listen U2, dating, went to private parties where apartments turns into nightclubs, are sold pirated copies of prohibited discs and movies, where is normal the use of smart-phones, social networks, modern clothes, where women drive cars, are lawyers and taxi drivers… there are stores Bershka, Diesel, Mango and Coca-Cola is everywhere.
A very westernized country and worship a result of the time the Shah Reza Pahlavi ruled (bad or good) the country, and that the Islamic revolution could not erase, revealing itself for example in the high number of people who speak English even among the population older, language that is popular among young people; knowledge showing for Portugal, far beyond soccer, is another example.
One of the safest countries, not only by heavy penalties, where the death penalty and corporal punishment are common, but also by the formation of the people, where hospitality and generosity are genuine as never seen in any other country.
Iran is a too vast country to raise awareness on a journey of a month; vast in terms of history, cultures and ethnicities. A country where many people shows revolt by repressive theocracy that dominates the political and social life. A country where many things are forbidden but where constantly the rules are broken, where the majority of students in universities are women, where social networks and the Internet reach everywhere, were is visible a clear economic growth. A country that in addition to Islamic law are also the weigh of traditions, but which notes a desire for renewal, a desire for freedom, but where dominates a deaf revolt.
A country where life isn’t easy and where many people expect changes!
In Iran speak farsi, distinct from language Arabic that is often confused but are in fact quite different, with farsi with his own characters although resemble the Arabic script with the right-to-left.
In general little is written in latin characters with the exception of route orientation plates, plates with the names of towns, street names, the metro and shops and restaurants in areas with more tourism.
However, there are more languages spoken in Iran, corresponding to different ethnic groups such as Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Luri, Arabic and Balochi.
In Iran the numbering system is in arabic characters, which at first glance have nothing to do with the numbers we have learned to call “arab” that apparently had origin in India.
At first it seems confusing and impenetrable but after a few days, after finding the logical and with the help of some mnemonics we become accustomed to this numbers, which like the western numbers, are written from left to right, unlike text .
Here is a table that helps to memorize the Arabic numerals used in Iran.
Following Muslim tradition, the day of rest in Iran is on Friday, with Saturday and Sunday to work normally. However many markets and bazaars, as well as bakeries are working also on Friday, where the exception was the bazaar of Shiraz.
Small shops style grocery stores are also open every day selling commodities for food, soft drinks, tobacco, mobile phone charging … and a little of everything.
As for shcedules, shops and bazaars not start too early, with most opening by 10:00 AM, but extend to the 9:00 or 10:00 PM.
The Iranian currency is called rials … and they are in thousands
There are ATMs everywhere but because Iran banks are not connected to international banking networks, the only Iranian cards work to get money. For the same reason the credit cards did not have any utility in Iran.
Alternatively it is possible to send money to Iran by Western Union, which has branches and agents in some cities. It may be a good option in an emergency for lack of funds.
But no doubt that the best option is to bring money on “paper” the good old-style, preferably dollars or euros… yes, yes, despite the “war” to America, the dollar bills are very welcome.
As Iran is safe in terms of crime, not isn’t a great risk carrying big amounts of cash, yet need to use the normal.
According some information the money should be exchange slowly because of inflation and variation of exchange rate between rials and foreign currency. There is a high inflation but rather affects those who live here and is not visible to anyone here if it takes a month. Regarding exchange rate there is a big difference from city to city (according to the competition between money changers) and special from shop to shop. From my experience, in big cities can be the best deals, often without commission or with small values (30,000 rials); in Tehran and Esfahan got 1€ = 39,600 rials*, in small towns like Bam or areas with little or no tourism as Bandar Abbas 1€ = 37,000 rials *. So it is better to exchange a significant amount of money (100€ for example) when you find a “good deal”.
But changing money in banks is generally a bad choice: the euros have less value and bank fees are charged (1€ = 35,000 rials) *.
Another option are some hotels or guesthouses that “informally” exchange money, without commission at with a rate a bit better than the banks.
The only disadvantage to exchange a large amount of money at once is that you get a big amount of bills, were one hundred euros “result” in almost 4 million of rials… but there are the ‘Bank Cheques’ that look like bills, with the values of a million and half a million which makes things easier but that does not always available in exchange shops.
Apart from the difficulty in dealing with the many “zeros” present on rials bil, there is also other adversity for who arrives in Iran: the toman, where 1 toman are 10 rials, with the prices indicates sometimes in tomans others in rials… confusing.
But in general, the products in markets are displayed in tomans, but accommodation and transport are in rials, when values are expressed verbally may be either in taking in rials with… very confusing.
* values from October 2015.
In term of costs, traveling in Iran is not expensive compared to European standards.
Examples:
bus ticket between major cities: 100000 to 300000 rials (2.6 to 5.3 €)*
falafel: minimum 30,000 rials (0.8 €)*
ash-e reshteh or halim: between 30,000 rials (0.8 €) and 50,000 rials (1.3 €)*
pizza: 150,000 rials (€ 4)*
The largest share of the budget goes for accommodation; some examples, with the amounts vary widely from city to city, with a room in Tabriz costing half of a bed in a dormitory in Kashan. Almost all hosts include breakfast, and almost all with shared tolets:
A one month stay the average cost were 15 € / day with:
* values from October 2015
** With vegetarian food: ash soup, falafel, pizza, snacks, fruit, nuts …
The price of the rooms can be negotiated, getting better deals when traveling in low season.
The price of goods in markets, even when marked can be negotiated; exceptions are the food, restaurants and buses.
If there were a ranking in terms of honesty about money, Iran would be in the first places of the countries visited. At the very start, when we still do not get used yet to the money full of zeros, and when not yet know the price of things, did not realize they have been cheated on prices; even unable to communicate with people who do not speak English, where I had to show some rial bills for them to take required value, I did not realize that the shopkeepers were taking advantage of the situation. Exception are the taxi drivers. In the words of a friend “as they are Muslims and fear Allah, even if they cheat is just a little!”
The climate of Iran is characterized by four seasons, with the summer with very height temperatures and the winter, cold with snow in some places. The area near the Caspian Sea is less dry with cold and rainy winters, and snow in some places. Tehran and all the north of the country have also cold winters. The best time to visit is autumn (October, November) and spring (March, April and May).
The Muharram, when Ashura is celebrated, vary according to the Islamic calendar, and as it is a lunar calendar has no fixed date in the Gregorian one, but in 2015 began at October 13th. The Nowruz, the Persian New Year is on March 21, marking the beginning of spring.
A bit like Turkey, but in a more rigorous version, in Iran there is segregation between the gender in public transport, but not only in trains and long distance buses, where men and women can not be sitting side by side if they are not married or family, but also in city buses, metro and taxis.
In local buses women traveling on the back, using the back door to get in and out. If you need to buy ticket to the driver must first get through the front door and then use the back door to reach the female side of the bus, as there is a bar that separate the two sides. Couples must travel separately. In some cities this system is more flexible, and there isn’t a physical barrier and people tend to disregard this rule.
Almost naturally when people line up at the bus stand follow the same criteria of segregation, with men and women lining up in opposite directions.
In Tehran subway the first and the last carriage of the composition is exclusively reserved for women, separated by a locked door with chains and padlock, with the remaining carriages accessible to both sexes, yet with almost no female presence other than some couple.
In shavaris (shared taxis) a means of transport widely used across the country both in cities as in trip between cities, also applies this rule. It’s not unusual when a taxi stops to pick up more passengers, people have to exit and re-enter so that in the back seat only seat people form the same sex.
For men the dress code is very flexible but apparently is forbidden to wear shorts on the street. However t-shirts and short-sleeved shirts are accepted without any problem.
Women have more restrictions. The hair must be compulsorily covered, but only the Muslim women use the hijab, covering totally hair, hear and neck. Most often is a scarf over the head, with the ends thrown back over the shoulders, revealing some hair. It is normal for women tight their hair, which helps to hold the scarf over the head. Between young women if often the scarf slides reviling most of the head.
Long sleeves and legs covered to the ankle. Rarely see a woman with skirt, but jeans tights are very popular among young people. The tops must be long in order to cover the hip, being very common the use of manteau, which resembles a raincoat, that may be used totally fair and buttoned or have a looser form open at the front.
As for colors, there is no obligation to wear dark clothing, with light colors being more suitable in the sunny hot weather.
One can walk in sandals but rarely I saw someone with them.
In girls the veil of use is required from 9 years, but many schools include it in the uniform since the beginning of schooling.
Chador, a garment that covers from head to toe open at the front is only mandatory in some religious sites, being provided at the entrance.
One might almost say that they are a national obsession, and we often see people on the streets with little patches on the nose, synonymous with recent surgery to change the shape of the nose, both men and women. So with this Iran is loosing a bit of ethnic identity in a country where dominates the aquiline nose.
But the fact that the female population being forced to use the hijab covering the hair and the restrictive dress code, which prevents display arms and legs, etc… means that the face is the center of all attention, with almost all women to wear make-up, resulting from the exaggerated importance given to the shape of the nose.
It is said that those who want to show that what to look “in” but doesn’t have the financial capacity for surgery, limited to place the patch on the nose.
Tap water is drinkable and despite not always have the best flavor ever caused me any problems.
There are water fountains all over the place, in the city streets, parks, and historic areas, often with chilled water.
The international mobile phone networks do not work in Iran.
So the best option is to buy a national SIM card as it is useful to have a phone to book hotels (emails don’t always have quick replies). Call and message to foreigner countries don’t work.
The card with some credit on call costs 200,000 rials. For this a form must be fill in one IranCell shops and is required three signatures, the name of the father, and the fingerprint of the right index finger… who knows for what?!?!?!
Calls as well as the messages are very cheap. Loading are made based on a code that you can buy in stores Irancell (which are not easy to find) but are also available in grocery stores, they are sold in amounts of 20,000 rials.
Wi-fi is available in all hotels, and even some hostel and mosaferkhaneh have free wi-fi.
However due to the many filters imposed by the government on access to information, the internet is slow and downloads almost impossible. Facebook, youtube, blogs and some seemingly innocent pages are blocked… but you change this by paying someone to change some settings on your smart-phone, tablet or lap-top.
Note that in Iran https isn’t working, whereby the bank movements and the use of credit cards have some risks.
Iran attracts Afghan immigrants, resulting from the protracted war, who easily identify by the traditional form of dress, and often working as porters at the bazaars. It is also in the bazaars and in less skilled jobs that we can find many Kurds, easily identified by balloon trousers, tights on the ankle.
The war in Iraq also brought many immigrants that are more concentrated in southern Iran, but they are all over the country, easily identifiable by the long robes, and more often by the scarf, shemagh, with typical black and white pattern.
A very present tradition in Iran reveals an exquisite courtesy code. When someone offers us something, for example a tea, a meal, a free bus ride, a sweet, etc… we must always refuse, even if our wish go in the opposite direction. From those who offer competes him the paper to insist again and again, and on our part we have to evaluate if this offer can be accepted or not… left hungry those who have little to eat, not harm a business or harm who do not have good financial situation.
A complex practice that is not easy to incorporate for whom it was not used to this system, and that, as a foreigner, is often subject to offers, be it food, bus tickets, rides, tea…
Tea, Iran called “chai” is definitely the national drink and is consumed in the morning for breakfast and then, throughout the day, as a reason for a break, a conversation… Here as in other countries is also common the samovar, large metal container from which the water is kept hot, which is added to the tea prepared in a small pot, laid on top of the samovar, keeping the tea hot all the time.
There are tea-shops, where you can drink tea, talk and smoke qalyān (or hookah) but where women are not allowed, or at least are not supposed to enter.
According to the famous tourist guide that everyone who travels by Iran follows, as there are many more interesting alternatives for those traveling on their own, the city of Bandar Abbas, came not even mentioned in a older version of this book in addition to a point on the map. Although the latest version is dedicated a topic to Bandar Abbas where it is mentioned that nothing attracts a foreign visitor beside being the port to catch the boat to Qeshem and Hormoz islands, located in the Persian Gulf.
However, what brought me here was any of these options; I arrive here because Bandar Abbas is the port to catch the ferry towards the United Arab Emirates, a way out of Iran as an alternative to popular route requiring the return to Tehran to follow by plane.
But Bandar Abbas, although it lacks the famous tourist attractions such as mosques, palaces and gardens, not all devoid of interest, with a lively and diverse bazaar and fish market.
Historically this port was Portuguese in the sixteenth century when Portugal dominated the Strait of Hormuz. In 1622, Shah Abbas won this port, so called Cambarão, and the name changed to the name of the Iranian conqueror, where “bandar” means harbor.
The city itself, consisting of straight avenues and modern buildings, no particularly attractive, with a long sidewalk along the sea that without any tree or shading doesn’t seams appealing in this kind of climate. But as one of the main Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf, Bandar Abbas attracts many businesses in more or less legal activities, being famous for smuggling.
The city dominated by the warm and humid climate, which contrasts with the dry air of most of the Iranian territory, appears more relaxed, with the flowery clothes of Balochi women, ethnic group dispersed by Southeast region of Iran, in particular Kaluts Desert.
The bazaar, half asleep by the day’s heat which together with the moisture invite inertia, buzzing intensity after going sun-set, along the narrow streets where it sells a bit of everything, with as tobacco sold in leaves, dried seafood with the characteristic sickly smell, and the sweet dates, with soft and intense flavor, glow under the electric lights. In the streets around, is the fruits and vegetables market, with the goods on the ground or in improvised stalls. A small market selling fish and seafood unexpectedly appears at the end of one of these streets, dimly light by lamps hanging in a net of electrical wires within walking distance of our heads.
If the night is time to wander around the bazaar, but in the morning is time to visit the fish market, where both inside as outside is visible bustling activity, with many customers walking around, the calls of vendors, the rush of porters and… where fish smell growing in intensity as the temperature of the air raise. Women squatting at the curb, peel in automatic gesture small shrimps, while around under running water fish is flaky and free of viscera, which leaves a trail of bloody water down the street.
Bandar Abbas, with its tropical climate, relaxation and friendliness of the locals, the color of women’s clothing, the smell of the fish market, the animation of the bazaar, and the delicious dates was a pleasant surprise for the farewell of Iran!
Bandar Abbas, as Esfahan isn’t prepared with accommodation for backpackers, yet there are dozens of hotels in the city, most focus on business people, with a wide range of prices, but a bit higher than the values that are in other cities.
As the Hotel Darya, I was full was forwarded to another, less than two minutes walking, at the end of the same street, the Kowsar Hotel. After some negotiation a double room (but only for one person) with en-suite shared, wi-fi, fridge and air conditioning (which here makes even lack) stood at 500,000 rials… still one extravagance to say goodbye Iran!
The staff speaks English and is extremely helpful in providing information.
To show how Bandar Abbas is off the tourist circuit, the Kowsar Hotel business card is written only in Farsi, as well as phone numbers.
Asking here and there for a falafel I was strongly advised to look for a small stall that at end of the day, around 5.00 pm starts the make this snack, which judging by the number of people waiting aroused the curiosity. It is a narrow street perpendicular to Imam Khomeini Street, next to the Velayat Square, with this narrow street to emerge between a goldsmith sequence of shops and a massive building belonging to a bank.
A good surprise was the halim, somewhere between soup and a poridge, that I was indicated by a group of men sitting on the street shared one of these meals. So, following their indication I found the restaurants that served one of the best halim, and that refused to get paid as much as I have insisted with… as happened many times over this trip by Iran. The shop is in a perpendicular to the Imam Khomeini Street, but in the opposite direction to the sea, probably at Shahid Beheshti Boulevard, but the best is to show the logo of the restaurant, printed on the bag and ask someone in the streets were it is situated, because is quite popular restaurant in the city center.
Being the last point in the Iranian route, it was time to change the past rials for dinars and dollars. It is essential to exchange rials before leaving Iran because outside the country can not … and who save notes for a next visit, we risk that the inflation that the economy is subject to the notes lose value or even go out of circulation.
The option was to Morvarin Exhange, situated in a commercial area in Imam Khomeini Street, next to the Velayat Square. As the service was friendly and the amount was small, I did not look for the best rates, but right in front, in the same shopping area there is another store.
Travel between Bam and Bandar Abbas, more than 400 kilometers can be done at night bus, coming out of Bam in the evening and arrive the next morning to Bandar Abbas. But on the advice of Akbar, who owns the guest house in Bam the trip was made during the day to enjoy the landscape, which really paid off because the route cross the mountains on south of Bam, and was one of the most interesting landscape in Iran.
But this day trip has the disadvantage of having to be made by savari (shared-taxis), that only make trps between cities and never go for far distances; so are need 3 savaris to reach Bandar Abbas, stopping at Jirot and Kahnooj. The system seems complex but it is a common practice among the local population that uses this system to travel in areas where buses are scarce, so the savaris, end the service in a kind of terminal, more or less improvised, where other taxi drivers wait until the vehicle is full.
The trip was more expensive than the bus, totaling 450,000 rials, compensated by the landscape and to avoid the hassle of a sleepless night on a bus.
Bam – Jirot: 140,000 rials
Jirot – Kahnooj: 110,000 rials
Kahnooj – Bandar Abbas: 200,000 rials
Buy the ferry ticket in advance to the UAE, whether for Sharaj or Dubai it is difficult if not impossible. Tried in several cities, Esfahan, Yazd, Shiraz, Bam… but it was almost impossible to take precise and reliable information.
However the best information on how to cross the Strait of Hormuz is in site below, with maximum detail and updated information, although more focused for those who make the trip with car or motorcycle and needs more complex legal procedures.
http://caravanistan.com/transport/persian-gulf-ferry/bandar-abbas-sharjah/
In short:
The bread play a very important role in the diet of the Iranian people, and it can be found all over the place, whether in bazaars or along city streets, small bakeries that work at the same time of shops. Sometimes difficult to find, hiding in secondary streets and small alleys, discrete, often without signs or any kind of identification, only recognized by one bread at the entrance hanging or the line that makes at the door.
The most common bread and perhaps what is more often is the barbari (Nan-e barbari), with a distorted oval shape, thickness and some strips that make it thin and crispy in that places. Also very popular is the lavash (Nan-e lavash), very thin, whitish, slightly crispy, it has the advantage of being able to save for a long time. It’s not the most interesting options with little flavor and a very industrial look, but it is the most ancient breads Middle East.
Both barbari as lavash are cooked in ovens, which are electric current. But sangak (Nan-e sangak) has the particularity of being cooked in a woven over small stones, which gives a surface with “hollows” on the base, resulting in a crispy bread, with the same shape barnari, and a delicious taste.
With a different shape, being rounded and thin, but softer than lavash, the taftoon (Nan-e taftoon) has the advantage of being of smaller because in Iran the loaves have a family size.
There are several batches during the day, and seam that people know when to find the hot bread, making sometimes lines in front of bakeries; I limited myself to rely on luck and when passing by one of these small shops to delight me with bread handmade and fresh from the oven.
Being a follower of a vegetarian diet a month in Iran was not the best experience at gastronomic level, with some exceptions to this diet, often through ignorance or language barrier, others by not refuse a meal kindly offered as in the Ashura Day.
So the famous Iranian cuisine was unexplored and may not my experience do justice to what is eaten in Iran.
But in terms of restaurants, for those who do not intend to go to the upper range, there aren’t many options, except the so-called fast-food, which are basically kebaks, burgers and falafel. This lack of options reveals that people often do not do a lot of eating out, which is understandable in a country where many women are still domestic.
According to the Iranian tradition the meals should be balanced between hot and cold food, and this is nothing to do with the temperature that they are cooked or consumed but comes from their intrinsic properties, with hot foods speed up metabolism and cold foods to slow down. Examples of hot foods: meat, sugar, wheat, alcohol, dried fruits; cold food is yogurt, fruit, vegetables, rice…
Meat dishes are consumed often with a mixture of raw vegetables, including spring onions, radishes, mint, coriander, lettuce, arugula… and yogurt that is often present at meal, balance the energetic value of food.
The traditional breakfast in Iran has the obligatory presence bread, which appears in various forms but always following the tradition of Middle-East flat breads, ant that can be long or round shape. Accompanying bread, is the cheese, butter, tomatoes, cucumber, dried fruits, nuts, dates, honey, tahini … and the ever-present tea that is consumed throughout the day and indispensable in the mornings.
So, balancing bread, nuts and dates, joins the yogurt, tomato and cucumber … and tea, which like rice are considered neutral food.
Are undoubtedly a strong presence in Iranian diet, with yogurt to be preset at meals, cheese for breakfast, milk-based sweets, butter served on top of rice …
Clearly dominates the uncured white cheese made from sheep’s milk, more or less creamy, sold in roughly square blocks. In the markets the ripened cheese is absent. The dairy shops, beside cheese also have yogurt and butter, exposed in freezers in large blocks easily identified by the yellow color and the fingerprints as a kind of “decoration”.
There are many pastries dedicated to the manufacture and sale of sweets, where the cakes follow the French style pastry but in a less sophisticated version, with biscuits and cream cakes. In some more sophisticated areas of the big cities you can find the traditional Turkish sweet baklava.
However the Iranian sweets has much more to offer, with each region associated with at least one specific sweet. In Fuman the Koloocheh, a stuffed cookie with a sugary paste, Esfahan, the Fereni, a milk pudding with dates syrup, in Shiraz the Foloudeh a kind of noodles served ice cream and drizzled with rose-water, in Yazd where the sweets have a strong tradition stands the Iranian version of baklava, which here doesn’t have the thin layers of puff dough, being more compact and stuffed with almond paste. Kashan is famous for rose-water and sweets from using it.
Everywhere, in shops or bazaars, you can find halva, a more or less smooth paste made of flour, butter or oil, and sugar or honey, flavored with spices like cardamom and cinnamon. It is found in rectangular blocks where it is sold by weight, or packaged. The tahini is also very popular in Iran, where this rich sesame past is mix with honey. In Yazd lies one of the best combinations: tahini with halva.
Definitely Iran is not a street-food country, with the exception od some vendors circulating in the bazaars streets and occasionally in the surrounding areas, with baked broad beans that are seasoned with vinegar, and others selling sweet potatoes, beet-root and other roots cooked in sugar syrup.
In Tabriz had happy encounter with a rustic sort of wrap, with the bread to be stuffed with roast potatoes, boiled egg and salad, resulting in a meal that can fill your stomach for a few hours.
The markets are sometimes fruit juice vendors freshly made; but in small shops scattered around the town, the so-called juice bars have a wider offer (apple, orange, pomegranate, melon, carrots…) and are a good option to gain energy and combat the heat with a cool drink .
A sweet mixture of water and chia seeds, which gives it a certain texture and consistency is also very popular and refreshing.
In terms of fruits there’s a bit from everything, with the month of October filling the markets with the appetizing pomegranates and delicious grapes. But are also available in big quantities find watermelons and delicious apples and juicy peaches. Bananas are also common but they are probably one of the few tropical fruits available here.
But the focus go to the dry-fuits: prunes, raisins, apricots, figs… lying in many varieties and presentations (some sweeter, some more acidic, others a bit salty, etc. ..), with the dates having a special place here in Iran, being part of the daily diet as in the preparation of dishes or consumed simple for breakfast or as a snack during the day. The city of Bam and the Kerman region are particularly famous for dates, that are commercialized in the fresh version, sweet and soft, having to be kept refrigerated. In other places around Iran are more popular and easy to find the more dry dates, sugary and stick but also delicious.
Nuts, which include, walnuts, almonds, cashews and pistachios are everywhere… and can be found simple, roasted, salted, spicy… in October, perhaps because the pistachio seasons you can find so-called “fresh” with a thin layer of skin that covers the shell, with a most tender and sweet nut than dry version commonly found.
Tabriz and Bandar Abbas, curiously the first and last stop on this journey in Iran, were the places where I found a greater variety of nuts and dry-fruits.
The ash-e reshteh is one of the best gastronomic memories of Iran, since in terms of vegetarian food there are not many options in restaurants. A soup made from vegetables, lentils, beans and noodles, cooked in pans giant until all ingredients were almost broken (and this includes the noodles that are not “al dent”), resulting in a consistent and thick soup. This soup alone is a substantial meal being sometimes accompanied by bread. Depending of the places the ash-e reshteh can be served with a topping of fried onions, a blend of herbs in oily paste, or some drops of Kashk, a kind of thick and sour cream. Great meal.
The halim (haleem) resembles more a puree, made with wheat-based grain, milk and meat (lamb or turkey), which are cooked together for a long time until reach a thick puree; there are other version with saffron that gives it a yellow color. Meat gets crushed until reduced to almost invisible wires. It can be served plain or with sugar and cinnamon is often consumed for breakfast… a kind of porridge but richer and caloric.
Generally shops selling ash-e reshteh also sell halim, dedicated exclusively to preparing these dishes, having no more options. Many of these shops do not even have space for dining inside, being only for take-away.
“Akbar English”… are the first words they hear when we are abruptly dumped from the bus in a roundabout somewhere outside Bam. So without knowing where we are, we feel the ironic comfort of knowing that others know where we want to go.
At the insistence of the taxi drivers to take me to “Akbar”, which in fact was the place elected to stay in Bam, I followed my intuition and decided to do the way, without have any orientation, nor a map, and with little chance to communicate in English with the population. After walking from one the roundabout to another roundabout, this option proved to be a mistake, because the distance was too long to be made with a 14 kilos backpack, being advised by a local to get a taxi.
Bam, formerly popular stop for anyone traveling to Zahedan, close to the Pakistan border, is famous for dates and the Arg-e Bam, one of the main tourist attractions of Iran along with Persepolis; but the earthquake of 2003 destroyed nearly all the city, killing more than 25,000 people, seriously affecting the Arg-e Bam, castle and fortress built in adobe.
Despite the Bam city have been rebuilt, being organized and modern but with a lack of identity, Arg-e Bam with over 2000 years, and classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, was irreversibly destroyed and despite efforts for reconstruction which is still ongoing, it is far from evokes admiration and the impact of old times. However worth the trip and the visit for the view over the city with their fields of palm trees, whose green contrasts with the aridity of the desert around Bam, making us remember that we are in an oasis.
From these vast plantations of palm trees result the delicious dates that give fame to Bam and Kerman region, at national and international levels, with much of the production to be exported. I can say that were the best dates ever, fresh, sweet and soft, having to be kept refrigerated.
But if Arg-e Bam is impressive despite the destruction, what left the strongest memory were no the heritage, buildings or castle … it was a person: Akbar … “Akbar English” whose nickname comes from the fact that he was for many years a english teacher, expressing himself fluently with a curious American accent. Despite the simple conditions of the guest house, still being rebuilt after the earthquake, the stay in Bam was marked by the hospitality of Akbar, by his history, his stories and by the long and interesting conversations we can had the privilege of listening, sitting on the steps of the front door in the afternoon.
It is moment like these that remind us why we keep on traveling…
Akbar Tourist Guest House
Address: Sayyeh Jamal od-Din Street
Contact: 0913 246 0731
… But just ask for “Akbar Inglês” and everybody knows the location and the charismatic owner who by itself is a good reason to stay a couple of days in Bam.
The price of the room is agreed with the owner, according to the room type: single, double, or triple, with en-suite or shared bathroom. But whatever the choice it’s an economic option.
Like any small town, where the distances between home and work are shirt, making most of the inhabitants have meals at home, does not offer many options in termos of restaurants.
Yet very close to Akbar Guest House there is a fast food restaurant, which serves a very competent falafel (30,000 rials) as also kebabs; as the place lacks atmosphere is preferable to take-away.
For a “improved” meal there is a restaurant about 15 minutes walking, which at first glance seems an ordinary pizzeria that look a urban modern fast-food, but that proved a surprise, with garden on the backyard, full of trees, shrubs and a sweet aroma of jasmine; the tables are scattered through the garden or along a hallway, and the meal is served to the traditional Iranian way, in carpets based on where we sit and we can recline on cushions.
They serve very good pizzas, as also traditional Iranian food, and despite the presentation of the place and the nice service, a meal doesn’t cost more than 60,000 / 70,000 rials. The name and the location were lost in time, but just ask Akbar.
Buses run between Kerman and Zahedan, stopping in Bam. There are several buses during the day , most od them during the morning, but it is difficult to obtain information on schedules. However from the Kerman terminal, one bus leaves at 14h, and it takes 3.5 hours to Bam.
In Bam there aren’t exchange shops, so the only chance is the banks, which charge commission, or the guesthouse.
Ticket: 150,000 rials (not free as mentioned in tourist guide), plus 75,000 rials to enter “illegally” in the castle, which is closed for reconstruction works.
Hours: 9 am to 5 pm (check with the Akbar)
The best time to visit Arg-e Bam and is around 4:30 pm, at which the sun is less strong and the air more fresh. The light from the end of day reflects on the clay plaster of buildings, walls and castle, provides fantastic color and a magical atmosphere, with the sun disappearing behind the mountains, as usually in Iran, were the monotonous flat landscape of extensive deserts is always interrupted by hills and mountains.
The castle is under reconstruction, so it is not possible to be visited… but there’s a way to climb to the top of Arg-e Bam and enjoy the view of the citadel and the city of Bam with its palm groves. Approaching the castle entrance, blocked by metal pipes, try to draw the attention of guard, and ask to enter the castle. Communication is based more on gestures than in english words, and the answer is no. However insisting you maybe hear the word “money”. Agreeing with this “business” we are lead to the top of the castle by the guard, military uniform dress. Nice and easy… but the descent was a bit adventure with the guard to spot someone downstairs and motioning for us to hide behind a wall, where we waited, squatting, until have order to go down, in quick step to the exit . Under the sun and under the tension caused by the illegality of the whole situation, I could not help feeling joke by this adventure in military style, which cost 75,000 rials, an amount that can be negotiated.
I’m Catarina, a wanderer from Lisbon, Portugal… or a backpack traveller with a camera!
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