Journey through Iran, May 2003
(click on thumbnails to see a bigger image)
Part 1: Zagros mountains and Esfahan
One look at the map shows that Iran has a lot of
high mountain ranges. After reading guidebooks and searching the internet
I found surprisingly little about these mountains. Apparently not many go
there. We decided to do two short trekkings with the aid of a local agency.
One in the north in the Talesh region (see part 3) and one in the Zagros range
more to the South. In the zagros range we did a trek in the Dena chain (look
for the city Yasuj on the map). This chain has 36 peaks over 4000 meters and
has some pretty wild scenery. Here are some pictures.
| pic 1 | This macro was taken near the village Si-sakt, Zagros mountains |
| pic 2 | A muledriver coming up the mountains |
| pic 3 | Typical scenery in the Dena Chain |
| Pic 4 | 3 Qashqa-i nomad women taking a break |
| Pic 5 | Quite dramatic scenery there! |
| Pic 6 | Who wouldn't like a camping spot like that? |
| Pic 7 | Hiking in the snow in Iran; who would have thaught? |
| Pic 8 | Nice alpine looking valley. |
| pic 9 | 3 nomadic women coming down the mountain |
| pic 10 | View from the road back to Yasuj to the Dena chain. |
After the trekking our guides dropped us of in Yasuj from where we tok the bus to Esfahan where we spend the next few days. Esfahan is Irans most popular and well known city. May is also peak tourist season. We met maybe 10 other tourists.
| pic 11 | The beautiful Sheik Lotfollah mosque |
| pic 12 | In one of the hallways of the Lotfollah mosque |
| pic 13 | on the inner square of the huge Eman mosque |
| pic 14 | To give you an impression of the size of things |
| pic 15 | Some mosaiques in the Eman Mosque |
Pic 16
Esfahan's bazar; a souvenir hunters paradise
Pic 17
Khaju bridge
Pic 18
relaxing in the teahouse under the Si-o-Seh bridge
Pic 19
Khomeini square by night. View to Eman mosque.
Pic 20
Ali Qapu palace by night.
Pic 21
Some details in the Jameh mosque
Pic 22
Inside the JAmeh mosque
Pic 23
a mullah caught in fridays prayer
Pic 24
Detail of the stone altar dating from the mongol period
Pic 25
a chandelier hanging under an amber window in the Jameh
mosque
from here we went on to Tabriz and the Talesh region. See PART 3
All pictures on this site are taken by Marinka or me. They are not to be used on any other publication without our permission.