Travel to Iran

Day 8 Lut desert - Shahdad - Kerman

After breakfast, Amir shows us one of the Qanats, located next to the ecolodge. A "qanat" is a hydrogeological infrastructure for the capture of a layer of groundwater, its suction to the outside and conduction by one or several drainage galleries slightly inclined and equipped with vertical access shafts and aeration wells. The end of the mine is usually a cistern, registry chest or some other type of exsurgency. For the villages of the arid or semi-arid regions, a "qanat" still constitutes a constant and stable source of water, independently of the season, and allows, for example, the irrigation of agricultural crops.

The qanat arose around 1000 BC, probably in ancient Persia. Currently, and despite the existence of new techniques, it is still an important method of irrigation. In Iran, there are around 20,000 still actives. The largest and oldest, located in the city of Gonabad, provides water to 40,000 people.

Shafiabad: We stop to see the caravanserai of this little village. Currently it is under reconstruction because they are preparing it to convert it into accommodation for tourists. In a couple of years (2019) the reforms will be finished. In addition to the walls and the structure of the entrance, stands out its four decorated adobe towers.

(in 18 km.) Shahdad: We entered inside one of the deposits that stored the water of the qanats that fed this city. Although it is empty, we notice the sensation of freshness produced by the wind towers. Amir explains us that the water entered to the tank. Once full, people had to wait one day for the sediments of the water to fall to the bottom and then collect the water. Again the tank was refilled and the same process was repeated. After the visit of the deposit, we left the city and just outside we see one of the few gorges for which the river still carries water.

(in 96 km.) Kerman: We arrived in Kerman at lunchtime. Amir takes us to one of the most typical restaurants in the city, the Vakil Tea House. It is a tea house located in an old public bath founded in 1280 during the period of the Qajars, in the heart of the bazaar. While we eat we have live Iranian music. After lunch we stay for tea and smoke a shisha (Hookah) or waterpipe.

After the break we bought some typical products of the region in its bazaar: dates, pistachios and some saffron. We especially liked the Sartasari bazaar of Kerman. We enter through the Tohid Square and quickly find Ganj Ali Khan Square. Although it is smaller than those of Isfahan and Yazd, for example, it had a lot of activity and therefore a very special charm. Actually the bazaar is a main street, most of it covered, with four smaller bazaars.

After leaving the bazaar we arrived at the Friday mosque or Mosque Masjed-e Iman of the fourteenth century, on which highlights its central courtyard. This mosque stands out, like the Lotfollah of Isfahan, for not having minarets. When visiting it after sunset we contemplate the tiles of its iwanes illuminated with a green light. In front of the entrance we find a pond on which its main door is reflected.