Farewell to Iran Under a Sleeping Volcano
Vistas of Persian highland
For long enough, I tried to force myself to write an overall review of my 2021 impressions of Iran… and I cannot start. Because a lot of information still wanders in my head, I need to systemize it and convert it to a readable view. Instead, I began from the end — the last day in this country, where foreign tourists seldom visit.
It was a kind of escape from inclement, smoky Tehran, which was totally closed to the quarantine red zone. Even parks and a viewpoint of Azadeh Tower were closed. If we’d gotten on it in clear weather, we could see Demavend despite it being 75 km away from Tehran. It’s the highest mountain in Iran and belongs to the Elburs mountain range.
Low prices in this country allowed us to improvise. The group leader rented a bus, and we went east. That road leads past the mountains to northern Mazandaran province (green, wet, and atypical for Iran). As we went along, we turned out on a secondary road and stopped in the middle of nowhere (likely here) between villages Polour and Rineh. It was 2400 meters above sea level and nine kilometers from Demavend.
A local inhabitant was already waiting. Despite his proud view, he escaped and didn’t let us pet him.
From that point, Demavend was in full view. Because of its form, it’s easy to understand that it is a sleeping volcano. You’d recognize it among other mountains even if you see it for the first time. But clouds hid its top from us.
Anyway, there was something to admire about the whole 360 degrees. A main road afar below:
Flocks of sheep dispersed on endless plains looked like poppy seeds.
What strong nostalgia I felt for the Kyrgyz plateaus Barskoon and Song-Köl, or maybe just for calm pre-COVID-19. And how nostalgic and charming even red-zoned April 2021 is feeling now.
At least one donkey got lost among the sheep.
We could also see a river. It was so low relative to us that the head was spinning.
And just fantastic mountains around us:
I don’t know their names or what to say here in general. I think sometimes it’s allowable to show such vistas almost without comments.
It was probably the highest place where I ate strawberries.
Meanwhile, the clouds didn’t hover static; they moved lethargically about their business, slowly baring the top of the sleeping volcano.
We moved to another side of the road to Rineh for a better view. It was an unexpected place for Iran: cold and gray with snow around (in the middle of April).
There were pretty different landscapes despite the same mountains around. But mountains will never tire me.
The only building in visual range could be either a middle-aged tower or a banal sheepfold.
When we were saying goodbye to our local guides in Shiraz, they told us that we had pure souls and intentions because all doors had opened for us, even in unstable times of quarantines and uncertainties. That was a good compliment for my paltry soul, and one way or another, finally, even the capricious harsh volcano took pity and revealed itself to us in all its beauty:
In the max zoom, I could see frozen stones on its top. Climbing is possible but takes no less than three days (because of the necessity to adapt to rarefied air).
Meanwhile, an Iranian family appeared from somewhere. They are unpretentious regarding family leisure: if there is a flat surface, they lay a rug and make a picnic. I imperceptibly took many photos of local people in those days and was tired of it. So, I just came to them and asked permission without any frills.
People in Iran are incredible in their kindness and immediacy; they don’t fit with the totalitarian regime they live under. It’s a separate big topic I hope to talk about one day. Unfortunately, it won’t be pure admiration I felt there. I realize these ordinary people aren’t responsible for Iranian drones attacking us from Russia, but I can’t treat them like before. It doesn’t matter how kind you are, but living in such a country, you have to accept that its weapons destroy houses and kill children somewhere.
That way, my trip to one of the most vivid and unusual countries nowadays was finished. After the accident with the Ukrainian plane in January 2020, I calmed down only when our Turkish Airlines plane crossed the border with Turkey. Even then, I didn’t hope to see Iran again. Moreover, now, when such a big abyss lies between us.
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