Travel to northwest Iran
As I had planned before, I did a 6 day travel to northwest Iran, doing some 2500 km by car. This region has fantastic photo opportunities for which most of them are unexplored and not photographed much. The people are super nice and hospitable, and we met many people who greeted us warmly, inviting us to stay with them or helped us to a great extent. I was surprised by this hospitality and it became the best memory of this trip for me.
Here is the itinerary that we did in this trip.
We started the trip the very same day I arrived in Tehran and went to Masouleh, a picturesque village in north of Iran. Unfortunately, the day we arrived it was so immensely overcrowded that I did not enjoy the overnight stay at all. When planning to travel in Iran, it is highly recommended to avoid the national holidays, but I had no other choice. Anyway, I did not do any photography over there. Next day we did the “Asalem-Khalkhal road” which is a beautiful mountain pass crossing the Alborz ranges.
From there, we headed to Marand, where we stayed for 3 nights. The highlights of the trip where Lake Urmia, Jolfa, and Colored Mountains close to Tabriz. Lake Urmia is a salt lake in northwestern Iran. It is the largest lake in the Middle East, and the third largest salt water lake on earth. The construction of a dam on part of the lake and the recent drought has significantly decreased the annual amount of water Orumieh receives. This in turn has increased the salinity of Orumiyeh’s water, causing the lake to lose its significance as home to thousands of migratory birds. If urgent measures are not taken soon, the lake will become a large desert in a few years, destroying the ecology of the entire region. Anyways, photographically speaking, it’s awesome! We visited Sharafkhaneh, a deserted port with a lot of photo opportunities. There are rusty landed boats and remains of the old port which are now far from the water. But it was kind of illegal to get close to them, and we got notices from the guard over there!
The next day we went to Jolfa, which is a border city and is famous for several touristic sites. We visited the waterfall beside “Asiab-Kharabe” which is the ruins of a mill. Over there I tried to do a long exposure of the waterfall where I saw an old man trying to make “Wudhu” (ritual washing). Needless to say, I took the opportunity and tried to capture his ritual along the water. The relation between religion and water is of the essence and I like capturing it in other religions too. My eminent trip to India is a great opportunity for that purpose.
We then went along the border, Aras River, to west to see “Saint Stepanos Monastery”. Along with two other churches, Saint Stepanos is a UNESCO World Heritage site. We then carried on to visit Chaldoran plain to visit the site of the famous battle between Persian and Ottoman armies some 500 years ago. We were driving while I saw a small herd of sheep and two shepherds beside the road. Having the best light possible at sunset, I was sure there is an opportunity waiting for me! We quickly pulled over and I asked the shepards if I can take a picture of their herd. They were amused by the idea and agreed immediately. I started shooting the herd, while they were chuckling together, perhaps to my naivety! Anyways, they were so kind and sympathetic that the elder one invited us to stay the night at their place (this happened frequently during this trip). Meanwhile, I saw the younger shepherd leaning on his stick. I could not resist and asked him if I can take his picture. He happily said yes, and stayed put until I took his photo. When I shot him with the 20mm lens, I knew that I have the shot, but I wanted to take another one with the 85mm. I immediately changed the lens, and shot him waist up, and portrait… and Bingo! I was as happy a kid with THREE BIG ice-creams!
The next day we went to Tabriz to see Colored Mountains. I had seen great photos of these mountains, but unfortunately I did not find a great spot for photography. In the absence of an exact location, it was difficult to find the location I was looking for. Nevertheless, I took some shots.
We then went to Zanjan and stayed the night over there. The next day we visited Soltanie Dome (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and headed back to Tehran. All in all, 6 days was not enough to see all the beauties in this region. If one wants to see all picturesque sites of northwest Iran, he/she needs to spend a couple of weeks over there. I will definitely come back!