© Lonely Planet Publications 332 Northeastern ﺍﻳﺮﺍﻥ ﺷﻤﺎﻝ ﺷﺮﻗﯽ

NORTHEASTERN IRAN Sandwiched between the vast desert emptiness of the Dasht-e Kavir and the steppes of Central Asia, northeastern Iran has a spine of mountains that become more lushly forested as you head west. East of Minudasht the wilderness has been declared the Golestan (Paradise) National Park. Above the overdeveloped Caspian coast rise more forests and the grand Alborz Mountains. A trio of beautiful but busy roads take you across that dramatic range but there are lesser-known alternatives that get you into more remote, less spoilt zones around and Baladeh. Historically, the area developed as Khorasan (Where the [Iranian] Sun Rises) and Tabarestan/Mazandaran (the southeastern Caspian littoral). Millennia of culture reached a zenith here around 1000 years ago, producing many of the era’s great scientists and poet-philosophers. But the 13th- and 14th-century ravages of the Mongols and then Tamerlane were so complete that Tabarestan’s settled civilisation was virtually wiped out. Even now the sites of several once-prosperous cities are mere undulations in the steppe. A few marvellously over engineered towers, most astonishingly at Radkan and Gonbad-e Kavus, are the last witnesses of former glories.

The 16th-century Safavid regime’s move towards formal state Shiism was a major factor in the growth of from a shrine-village to the region’s foremost city. Mashhad’s extraordinarily grand Haram-e Razavi complex surrounding the tomb of Imam Reza remains Iran’s holiest site and draws millions of pilgrims each year. Mashhad is also the logical staging point for visiting or Turkmenistan. But rather than face the bureaucratic hassles of the latter, consider exploring northeastern Iran’s own culturally Turkmen areas north of Kalaleh or .

HIGHLIGHTS

„ Feel the emotion of pilgrims at Mashhad’s glorious Haram-e Razavi ( p354 ), the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza „ See the magnificent Alborz Mountains at their peaceful best by driving the little-known mountain road through Baladeh ( p334 ) to Pol-e Zanguleh „ Go horse-riding and sleep in a Turkmen öy (yurt) tent at the Gharra Tappeh Sheikh

( p343 ) stud farm Gharra Tappeh Sheikh (GTS) „ Ask yourself if a forerunner of NASA didn’t Gonbad-e Kavus help build the incredible 1000-year-old tower West Radkan Mil-e Gonbad in Gonbad-e Kavus (p342 ) Baladeh Tower Kang Mashhad „ Hike across the bald Binalud mountains to the splendid stepped village of Kang ( p363 ), nicknamed ‘Mashhad’s Masuleh’ „ Enjoy an incredible Caspian panorama as you wind up through ridge-top forests towards a ‘secret valley’ hiding the lonely West Radkan Tower ( p341 )

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(441km) (408km) Zahedan (486km) Zahedan 1

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Lasjerd

Kashmar Torbat-e Heydariyeh Torbat-e

Semnan

Kalsh

Jam

Fariman Torbat-e

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Mahdishahr

Band-e

Firuzkuh

Pollur

Ahowan

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Chashm Rudab Abad

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Baladeh

Malek

Alasht

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Davood Hut

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Mojen

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Mayamey Mashhad

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Babol

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Qaleh Now-e-Kharaqan Qaleh

Babolsar West Radkan West Abardeh

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Khoran Shirinabad

Kordkuy

Mahmudabad

Galugah Farahabad

Saraghs

Nahar Kabud Falls Kabud Gaz

Chenaran Jajarm

Baran Aliabad

Gorgan Rasht (235km) Rasht

Garmeh

Gohar

Shirabad

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Esfarayen

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Minudasht (Sadd-e Eskander) (Sadd-e

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Dushak Qoshan Emam Gharra Tappeh Sheikh (GTS) Sheikh Tappeh Gharra

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CASPIAN SEA CASPIAN Garmab

Ashkhaneh

Bajgiran

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Dasht Borun Dasht

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