© Lonely Planet Publications 332 Northeastern Iran 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 Alasht 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 Mashhad 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 Afghanistan 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 Gorgan. 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 ) 114-northeastern-ira5.indd4-northeastern-ira5.indd 333232 111/04/20081/04/2008 111:15:101:15:10 AAMM 114-northeastern-ira5.indd 333 4 - n o r lonelyplanet.com Northeastern Iran t h e 0 100 km a NORTHEASTERN IRAN 0 60 miles s t e r n - i r a 5 Mausoleum of Chandir . i Garkaz Ashgabat n Makhtumkuli Valley TURKMENISTAN d Atrak d River Mary Maraveh 3 Karim Eshan Tappeh Howdan 3 Dasht Borun Khalid Nibi Madraseh 3 Shrine Bajgiran CASPIAN SEA Garmab Ashkhaneh Dargaz Etrek Malaisheikh Tamar Golidaq Bojnurd (Darya-ye Khazar) Haji Shirvan Pol Qoshan Gharra Tappeh Sheikh (GTS) Emam Dushak Kalaleh Qoli Tandoureh Incheh National Park Alagöl Borun A01 Alexander's Wall Galikash Kabkan (Sadd-e Eskander) Gonbad-e Minudasht Quchan Kavus Esfarayen Kalat Radkan To Nowshahr (30km); Bandar-e Aq Qal'eh Azad Shahr Gharsu River (Radkan Tower) Chalus (37km); Gohar Torkaman Shirabad Rasht (235km) Baran Ashuradeh Gorgan Aliabad Garmeh Jajarm Chenaran Farahabad Galugah Gaz Nahar Kabud Falls Sarakhs Saraghs Mahmudabad Kordkuy Khoran Shirinabad Abardeh Tus Gujgi Nur Babolsar Behshahr West Radkan Qaleh Now-e-Kharaqan Shandiz Neka Kondab Sholoq Chamestan Babol Bastam Ruyan Sari Rostam Mayamey Zoshk Mashhad Robat Sharaf Caravanserai Amol Kola Mojen Davarzan Kang (Alamdeh) Qa'emshahr Dibaj A83 Neishabur Torqabeh Kasjaf Shahrud Sabzevar Kharv River Shirgah Ivel Pol-e Cheshmeh Ali Hardowrud Kiyasar Qadamgah Fakhr Hut Sefid Langar Davood Damghan Biyarjormand Sang Bast Baladeh Alasht Malek Alborz Mountains Chashm Rudab Abad To Tehran ὄ Fariman (30km) Mt Damavand Shahmirzad (5671m) Veresk Ahowan River Langar Pollur Firuzkuh Band-e Mahdishahr ur Fariman Torbat-e Jam Sorkheh Semnan Kalsh Kashmar Torbat-e Heydariyeh Lasjerd Bardeskan Garmsar Roshtkhar To Tehran (47km) ὄὄὄὄὄ Dogharon NORTHEASTERN IRAN Taybad A78 DASHT-E KAVIR Khaf To Herat (115km) Gonabad Eshqabad 111/04/2008 11:15:13 AM 1 AFGHANISTAN / 0 4 Jandaq Ferdows / ὄὄ2 ὄὄὄὄὄὄὄ 0 Boshruyeh 0 8 Qa'en Khur To Birjand (20km); 333 1 To Na'in 1 To Yazd To Kerman Zabol (378km); : (201km) Tabas 1 (408km) (441km) Zahedan (486km) 5 : 1 3 IRAN NORTHEASTERN A M ὄ.